How can I prolong the shelf life of a tomato?

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Butrflynet found this information as we prepare for picking her garden tomatoes. ---BBB

Published July 1, 2008. From Cook's Illustrated.
How can I prolong the shelf life of a tomato?

We’ve heard that storing a tomato with its stem end facing down can prolong shelf life. To test this theory, we placed one batch of tomatoes stem-end up and another stem-end down and stored them at room temperature. A week later, nearly all the stem-down tomatoes remained in perfect condition, while the stem-up tomatoes had shriveled and started to mold.

Why the difference? We surmised that the scar left on the tomato skin where the stem once grew provides both an escape for moisture and an entry point for mold and bacteria. Placing a tomato stem-end down blocks air from entering and moisture from exiting the scar.

To confirm this theory, we ran another test, this time comparing tomatoes stored stem-end down with another batch stored stem-end up, but with a piece of tape sealing off their scars. The taped, stem-end-up tomatoes survived just as well as the stem-end-down batch.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 6 • Views: 6,476 • Replies: 19

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My first thought when viewing the caption of this post was. Blond or brunet ?

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I would also try the direct approach of telling the tomato that you are happy to have it in your home, and it is a beautiful tomato. This should be done similar to Ed Norton (Art Carney), in one episode of The Honeymooners, "addressing the ball" when he and Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) were learning to play golf ("Hello ball.").

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I have been purchasing green bags to keep mine, but it would be cheaper to do it your way.

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I'm going to try it. I wonder how being attached to the vine affects storage.

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@BumbleBeeBoogie,

Interesting information, thanks, BBB. and BFN. Interesting, and it makes great sense. I'm a tomato guzzler, though, so it's sort of moot for me, given I've only two plants. Back when I routinely had eight, in Venice, I had a bit of trouble keeping up, but even then, the plants' ripenings were stretched out over many weeks because they were all different varieties.

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@BumbleBeeBoogie,

that's useful

thanks for posting it

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@BumbleBeeBoogie,

Thanks for that, BBB. Interesting.

Me, I wouldn't mind some information on locating store-bought tomatoes that actually taste like real tomatoes! Wink

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@msolga,

Good luck, msolga. I don't bother. Kills me to waste my short money on crappo store tomatoes. So, much of the year, I used canned italo or a not bad brand of americano.

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@ossobuco,

I use (usually imported Italian) in my cooking, too, osso. Have been doing so for ages. But now & then I crave some tomato-tasting tomatoes in a sandwich, a salad, or something .... Wink

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@msolga,

I know, I know. Back in a past life, I either grew myself several varieties of tomatoes - eh, six to ten (it is to weep) or bought such at farmers' markets for extravagant money. Trust me, I'd rather grow them.

But, bereft of fresh from the garden or farmers' markets, what are you gonna do? I bought a can of regular old store tomatoes (cheaper) this last week, and they were f/g pallid.

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@ossobuco,

Have you tried tomatoes in a pot? I did grow, when I ran out of bed space, what, brandywines? in a 22 inch wide/28" tall (not real measurements, just guessing). Tomatoes can make it in containers, given space and nutrients.

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@ossobuco,

Usually I grow a couple of tomato plants during the summer, osso, but last year was a "bad" year for a couple of reasons: I was pretty disorganized & left my planting too late, plus the drought conditions made it a pretty dismal year for fresh tomatoes here. There wasn't even anyone's crop "surplus" to raid. Sad

BTW, I don't like hydroponic tomatoes at all! Tasteless!

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@msolga,

It has only been recently that I entirely gave up on ordinary store tomatoes. But I have. I suppose that is freeing.

But, back in north north, I went to a coop, and their tomatoes were from inland humboldt county, not cheap, but good.
I need to check out the co op here again, but it's a drive for me.

What - in some years this kind of movement will have grown. Which I am very much for.
But access is not easy for us here on the west side of the rio grande.
There seems to be a conjecture by the corporate mappers that all of us are dolts, and virtually no corporation seems interested in clicking with us, except the random cheapo corps.

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@ossobuco,

Well I guess that's their (financial) loss, osso. (Sounds like half of A2K is in your neighbourhood! And I'd imagine that all of them would prefer real tomatoes! Wink

)

I must check out my local organic fruit & veg markets. There's one very close to where I live, on every 2nd Saturday. (But there has been been the odd "organic" scam around, so often you're just hoping people are actually doing what they say they've been doing in their crop production.)

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@msolga,

You're so right, msolga...

Diane and I had a car argument with Dys, re positioning a superior kind of cafe here. Dys was no, re the economics, with good reason, and D and I were for the bolster effect, spitting tacks back.

Interesting subject, as we live west of Coors, street of mediocrity to start with, and west, a zillion cheapo houses.

Makes me want to vie for a position in city planning (not a completely scant idea), but I just look at all this with lowered eyes.

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@ossobuco,

I saw tomatoes in the store at 4.95 for a 12 oz - That's 12 OUNCE package. They may have been pretty good. I will keep on wondering.

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@roger,

Er, that's a fuckno, roger.

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@ossobuco,

do you have access to these tomatoes?

http://articles.directorym.com/Heirloom_Tomatoes_Albuquerque_NM-r1009962-Albuquerque_NM.html

Quote:

Bill Becker grows about 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes on some of the 111 acres of land at Jubilee Farm, an ecology and spirituality center located west of Springfield and run by Dominican sisters.

“When you grow an heirloom, you have to learn what it likes,” said Becker, a crop consultant who has a Ph.D. in plant pathology.

Heirlooms can be a little cranky. They take longer to harvest than hybrid varieties, are prone to cracking, have vines that run wild without staking and need constant tending. But the payoff is the flavor, which is intense and unique to each variety. For those who think all tomatoes taste alike, a sampling of heirlooms might change their minds.

“We saw a growing demand for locally grown food,” said Becker. “We knew it was going to be big, so we put in the heirlooms.”

Jubilee Farm sells two kinds of heirloom cherry tomatoes at the Schnucks supermarket at Montvale Commons and supplies the Dominican motherhouse with tomatoes and other vegetables.

The farm also offers a community-supported agriculture program, which rewards members who pay farm costs upfront with a stream of fresh vegetables during harvest season. Besides tomatoes, Becker grows peppers, green beans, eggplant, sweet potatoes and other organic vegetables.

ooh, or a workshare with these guys?

http://lospoblanosorganics.com/workshare.htm

http://lospoblanosorganics.com/images/directions_map.gif

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@ehBeth,

I've no clue about the first place -
and haven't been to the farmer's market at the second, though I know about it. We sometime go to the produce market in Corrales - like it - haven't yet this year.
One of my own two plants is a brandywine (the other a patio); so far so good.

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How can I prolong the shelf life of a tomato?

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