I love using tomatoes for soups, salads, or topping burgers in the summertime, but sometimes they are not very flavourful and can taste watery when I bite into them. However, I recently discovered that my tomatoes are losing their taste and becoming mealy because I am storing them wrong by putting them in the fridge.
Tomatoes are often sold before they are fully ripe, and chilling them stops the enzymes that develop their rich flavour. While refrigerated tomatoes are still edible, they lose much of their flavour and unfortunately, you can’t fully restore that original taste once it is gone.
I only found out I have been storing tomatoes all wrong after making tomato soup and telling to my mum that hers tasted better, even though I followed the recipe perfectly.
It turns out if you want tomatoes to taste amazing then it is better to keep them on your kitchen counter for a few days as they need time to continue to ripen.
I put my tomatoes in a cool corner of my kitchen away from the oven or window, as heat can cause them to spoil and lose their sweetness.
I then put a clean tea towel over them just to give them a little extra protection. I was worried about fruit flies entering my kitchen, as these annoying pests are common in summer.
My mum also shared that it is not just about where you store tomatoes but also how you store them, as you need to place them upside down if you want to keep them fresh.
It might sound bizarre, but air, moisture, and bacteria can easily enter tomatoes through the stem scar, which can cause them to rot and even go mouldy.
Turning them upside down with the stem scar facing the plate is a simple yet effective way to protect the tomatoes to keep them firm and flavourful.
It is best to keep tomatoes on a vine if you can, as this will naturally protect them, but I did not realise this and pulled mine off while I was storing them.
You can also seal the stem scar with sticky tape, which prevents bacteria from entering the fruit and can slow down dehydration so your tomatoes stay plump.
I had my tomatoes on my kitchen counter for three days before I decided to make soup again, and I am happy to say it was bursting with much more flavour than my original attempt.
Keeping tomatoes fresh and tasty is actually really simple, and I now cannot believe how many recipes I have spoiled by not knowing about this easy food storage technique.