Q: My tomatoes are starting to ripen. How do I store them? I’ve heard you are not supposed to put them in the refrigerator. I have different kinds – cherry, beefsteak, and plum. –T.F., Northampton
A: Tomato month is here! You have a good selection there, T.F. Fresh off the vine, pop-in-your-mouth cherry tomatoes, sandwich slice beefsteaks, and plump for pasta sauce plums often ripen fast and furious in the warmth of our kitchens, so it is important to know a bit about their ripening process and how to store them. After all, there is nothing more disappointing than biting into a tantalizing bruschetta only to bite into a mealy bit of tomato.
Refrigerator or counter? Mention storing tomatoes in your refrigerator will often bring a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) “tsk tsk” from fellow gardeners; however, there is a small (tiny) window when a hit of chill can help. Let’s talk basics.
Various factors influence tomato ripening. Temperature and a naturally occurring hormone called ethylene are two biggies. You have probably seen the effects of ethylene when you put an overly ripe banana on top of a bunch of greenish ones and very quickly your green bunch turns yellow, seemingly by magic. That is ethylene’s ripening ability at work.
Higher temperatures increase ethylene’s tomato ripening ability, including the development of texture, color, and that wonderful, full-bodied tomatoey smell. There is a very broad temperature variance between storing a tomato on a summertime, un-air-conditioned countertop in air ranging from 68 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit versus the cool 37 degrees of the inside a refrigerator. Tomatoes ripen on the vine in the summer because it is warm, often hot! As you can probably guess, a tomato left on a warm countertop will rapidly ripen while one in the refrigerator simply will not ripen.
Anything other than fully-ripe tomatoes need to go on the counter. Ideally, remove their stems, place unripe or partially ripe tomatoes stem side down, in a single layer, out of direct sunlight and they will ripen. Super unripe tomatoes can go in a paper bag for more intense ripening action.
Fully-ripe tomatoes have that brief chilling opportunity I mentioned. The key word here is “brief”. Ideally, you eat your fully-ripe tomatoes once they are in their moment of Epicurean perfection. If you have too many, though, a day or 2 or 3 – no more! – in the refrigerator will keep them from turning rotten. Just be sure to bring them up to room temperature before serving.
Thanks for asking a (local) Master Gardener, T.F.! Happy eating!
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