Tomato refrigeration is a surprisingly controversial matter. Cooks, farmers, and foodies will aggressively insist that it is best to by no means ever refrigerate your tomatoes! They are saying it utterly ruins the flavour and texture.
However what if this isn’t at all times the case? Tomato taste can rely extra on correct ripeness and room-temperature consumption than refrigerated storage.
Let’s dig into the nuances of whether or not or not it is best to refrigerate these iconic backyard fruits.
The Brief Reply
It’s completely wonderful to refrigerate vine-ripened tomatoes to delay their storage life. In case you have too many ripe fruits prepared within the backyard, it’s higher to reap them and put them within the fridge to forestall over-ripening.
Refrigeration received’t hurt the flavour of a ripe tomato. It may well truly protect the sugar content material and aroma, in comparison with the extreme acidity and “off” taste of an over-ripened fruit sitting on the counter.
Nevertheless, many style trials point out that having fun with the tomato at room temperature can improve the culinary expertise. For optimum taste and texture, refrigerate your totally ripe harvests till you might be able to eat them, then carry them again to room temperature and sprinkle with salt earlier than having fun with.
Don’t put under-ripe or inexperienced fruits within the fridge, as a result of this may halt the ripening course of. You could be dissatisfied to search out that the fruits stay inexperienced and laborious even one to 2 weeks later.
The Lengthy Reply
Most of us have been instructed by no means to place our tomatoes within the fridge. It seems that it is a delusion! In case you have two totally ripened fruits and you set one within the fridge, it can style the identical because the unrefrigerated counterpart.
The important thing caveat right here is ripeness. There ought to be no degradation in taste or texture if the tomato is already ripe.
Style trials with many types and cooks affirm this assertion. Intriguingly, many style testers even desire refrigerated fruit. It is because as soon as a tomato is totally ripe, it begins to degrade. Think about a bell curve of ripeness.
As soon as the fruit hits its peak, its optimum taste and texture begin going downhill. Refrigeration preserves and prolongs the height taste by halting the ripening course of at a decrease temperature.
Nevertheless, an unripe tomato is not going to ripen within the fridge. Ethylene is the plant hormone that impacts plant ripening. Analysis exhibits that ethylene manufacturing is dramatically diminished at low temperatures.
So in the event you put an unripened fruit within the fridge, it can seemingly cease ripening. While you pull it out to eat, it might lack sweetness or taste.
Advantages of Refrigeration
In case your tomato is able to eat and also you’re hungry to get pleasure from it, simply eat it immediately! However in case you have an overload of ripe fruits and you have to protect a few of them, refrigeration has many advantages.
Fridge storage can:
- Protect the flavour of totally ripe fruits.
- Forestall over-ripening and bizarre “off” flavors.
- Guarantee high quality texture (forestall mushiness).
- Forestall fruits from rotting in your countertop.
- Double or triple total storage time.
The beauty of refrigeration is that you would be able to cease it everytime you like. Many individuals desire to drag their tomatoes out of the fridge earlier than having fun with them.
Merely depart the tomato on the counter for an hour or so earlier than consuming. This may carry it again to room temperature, so you possibly can style all of the scrumptious flavors with out the distraction of chilly fruit.
Drawbacks of Refrigeration
The cons of refrigeration primarily apply to unripened harvests. Should you put an under-ripe or unripe fruit within the fridge, the ripening course of is usually halted. The plant hormone ethylene is barely produced at low temperatures.
Because of this {a partially} inexperienced tomato will keep partially inexperienced within the fridge. This may be disappointing whenever you go to drag it out to eat, with the expectation that it is going to be riper than earlier than.
In abstract, the primary drawbacks of utilizing the fridge embrace:
- Below-ripe or unripe fruits will stay under-ripe.
- Ethylene manufacturing stops.
- Fruits keep inexperienced.
- Sugars cease concentrating.
Essentially the most notable factor we’ve found in our yard style trials is—you don’t have anything to lose by refrigerating totally vine-ripened fruit! The negatives of refrigeration solely apply to under-ripe fruits. The partially inexperienced guys ought to positively be left on the countertop.
How Tomatoes Ripen
A deeper understanding of tomato ripening is useful for rationalizing the refrigeration phenomenon. Think about a tomato’s ripeness as a bell curve. The greatest taste and sweetness are on the high of the curve.
Should you eat the fruit on its manner up the curve, it received’t be very candy or balanced. However in the event you eat it on the downhill half of the curve, it may have funky acidity resulting from over-ripeness.
Vine-ripened tomatoes are famously higher than their grocery retailer counterparts. Most discovered within the grocery store are harvested totally inexperienced, transported 1000’s of miles, after which sprayed with ethylene to ripen on the cabinets. In distinction, garden-grown crops usually flip totally crimson (or pink, orange, or purple) on the vine.
However most gardeners are unaware of this secret: You don’t have to go away the fruit on the vine till it turns 100% coloured. A tomato continues to be technically vine-ripened in the event you harvest it at 40-60% colour change. That is referred to as the “breaker stage.”
Breaker Stage
As the colour “breaks” and fruit ripening begins, the tomato truly has all the taste compounds and sugars it must ripen. The plant is not sending vitamins by means of the fruit’s stem, so leaving it in place doesn’t have a significant benefit.
Quite the opposite, leaving ripe fruits on the vine can current extra points with pests, ailments, or over-ripening. Birds and bugs are inclined to assault shiny, totally ripened fruits. Tomatoes also can shortly over-ripen and switch mushy or overly smooth if they’re left to hold within the backyard.
Harvest Hack
Harvesting sooner will be very helpful. Bear in mind, a tomato harvested on the breaker stage continues to be technically vine-ripened. It doesn’t must change colour 100% on the plant to retain the wonderful sweetness and complicated taste.
If you wish to delay your tomato storage time and improve the standard, strive these easy steps:
- Reduce the fruit from the vine on the breaker stage (40-60% colour change).
- Deliver it inside to ripen in your countertop.
- As soon as the fruit is 90-95% coloured, put it within the fridge.
- Preserve it within the fridge till you might be able to get pleasure from it.
- While you pull out the fruit, it can have peak ripeness with optimum taste and texture.
This methodology reduces the danger of pest injury, solar scorch, rotting, and funky over-ripe flavors.
Tips on how to Retailer Tomatoes within the Fridge
The easiest way to boost tomato storage is to place ripe fruits in a crisper drawer or in an opened bag. The plastic bag doesn’t have to be sealed. Slits are useful for breathability whereas nonetheless stopping water loss.
A clamshell or aerated container can also be an choice. Don’t depart them on an open fridge shelf, as this will dry them out too shortly.
Keep away from storing entire fruits in hermetic baggage or containers. However in the event you already reduce the tomato, put it in an hermetic container like Tupperware.
Bear in mind to permit full ripening earlier than refrigeration. Harvest at 40-60% ripeness after which let the fruit attain 80-95% ripeness (colour change) on the counter. At this level, you possibly can place the fruits within the fridge and retailer them for as much as two weeks!
FAQs
Opposite to common perception, refrigerating a totally ripe tomato is not going to destroy the flavour. The cooler temperatures will truly protect the sweetness, acidity, taste, and texture of the fruit as a result of it received’t over-ripen.
Nevertheless, placing an under-ripe fruit within the fridge can yield disappointing outcomes. The fruit ought to be no less than 90% ripe earlier than putting within the fridge.
Tomatoes last more when saved at cooler temperatures within the fridge. Storing on the counter is just really helpful if the fruits are under-ripe. As soon as the tomatoes seek for peak ripeness, refrigeration will protect their taste and texture whereas stopping mildew.
Sure, ethylene is the plant hormone that regulates ripening. Its manufacturing slows or stops within the fridge, which is why it’s essential to permit tomatoes to ripen earlier than refrigeration. A inexperienced tomato will stay inexperienced within the fridge, however a crimson tomato can preserve its high quality and taste for 1-2 weeks within the crisper drawer.
Ripe tomatoes will be saved within the fridge for 1-2 weeks. Refrigeration can protect freshness, taste, and texture. They’re greatest saved in a crisper drawer or a ventilated bag. Keep away from storing them in an hermetic container.