How to Store Tomatoes | Several ways
The tomato is a fruit that comes from the tomato plant. Tomatoes come in many varieties. In this blog, we will discuss how to store tomatoes for a long time.
How to store tomatoes?
This can be done in the following ways:
- A fresh tomato is best kept in a cool place, about 12 degrees.
- The refrigerator is not a suitable place to store the tomato.
- You can store sliced tomatoes in the fridge for 2 days.
- You can store tomatoes in the freezer for 12 months, but you must blanch them first.
There are several ways to store tomatoes. These methods sometimes take a little more time, but they extend the shelf life.
Store Fresh Tomatoes
The fresh tomatoes that you have bought are best kept outside the refrigerator in a cool, dark place. Since most modern houses do not have this place, a place in the kitchen is a good alternative.
You can keep the tomatoes for about a week, depending on the freshness.
Store Tomatoes in the Refrigerator
Tomatoes originally come from a warm culture. In the Netherlands, tomatoes are also grown at tropical temperatures. So it should be clear that tomatoes do not like cold.
You, therefore, do not store tomatoes in the refrigerator, not even fresh tomatoes. If they are ripe, it is best to use them or use one of the methods below to store tomatoes.
Store Tomatoes in the Freezer
You can put tomatoes in the freezer right away. You don’t have to blanch these first (remove the skin by placing the tomato in hot water, after you have scratched a cross in the skin of the tomato. After a few minutes you can easily peel off the skin). When you take the tomatoes out of the freezer, you can only use them for a sauce or soup. They get a bit mushy after they thaw.
Store Tomato sauce in the freezer
When you have made freshly made tomato sauce yourself, you can keep it in the fridge for about 3 days. Always make sure that it is in a well-sealed container. It is recommended to always look, taste, and/or smell whether the sauce is still good.
The homemade sauce can stay in the freezer for 3 months. Tip: put a sticker on it with the date. You do not know exactly when the 3 months are up.
Store tomatoes in a jar or preserving bottles?
When preserving tomatoes, as it is called, tomatoes that have been skinned (see the explanation above) go into a preserving bottle. The advantage of this is that the tomatoes retain their freshness, taste, and smell.
The tomatoes are cut into small pieces and put in the bottle. To the edge. Then water is added to the brim. Some sugar and salt are added to serve as a preservative. When the bottle is closed, it goes into a large pan of hot water. The bottle must be submerged in water. This happens for 45 minutes.
After that, the bottle is removed from the water and left to rest for 24 hours. The bottle is then stored at room temperature and in a dark place. These tomatoes keep well in the bottle for another year. Once open it is advisable to consume the tomatoes as soon as possible. There are plenty of recipes to do this the right way. It’s a meticulous job.
Store tomatoes by drying
To store tomatoes, you can dry them in the sun, but certainly also in the oven. I’ve seen several recipes with different oven temperatures, but this one is between 100 and 120 degrees C, for drying tomatoes.
The tomatoes are placed on a piece of baking paper, with or without thyme, garlic or other herbs. After drying in the oven for about 2 hours, check whether the drying is to your liking. The tomatoes should not be super dried out. There may still be some spring in the flesh of the tomato.
After the tomatoes have cooled, they go into a clean, boiled pot. This pot is therefore sterile and should not be dried with a tea towel. This prevents bacteria from entering and the tomatoes stay fresh for longer. So the tomatoes go into the pot, with or without herbs or garlic, and are then filled with extra virgin olive oil! By closing the lid tightly, the tomatoes will stay good for a few weeks.
Make sure that when you want to use the tomatoes, you take a look or taste whether the tomatoes are still good.
Freezing dried Tomatoes
It is also an option to freeze the dried tomatoes. These will keep for 3 months in a sealed container. Again, pack them per 3 or 4. You probably don’t need them all at once. That’s easy to use.
Candied Tomatoes
Candied tomatoes is a technique in which icing sugar or coconut blossom sugar can be used to preserve the tomatoes. Here, too, the tomato is skinned first. With confit, the skin becomes tough and no longer tasty. The tomatoes are cut into pieces and deseeded.
The tomatoes are dried and placed on the baking tray with the cut side open. (Use baking paper) Put spices on it. That can be thyme or garlic or herbs to your liking. The tomatoes must be well covered with oil and then the blossom sugar is sprinkled over them. Place the oven tray in the oven that indicates about 80 to 90 degrees. Set an alarm for 2 hours and then let the tomatoes cool in the oven.
If you want to store the tomatoes for a long time, they can be put in the oven for 3 hours, according to the recipe. Stay near the oven. Sometimes it may be a little higher or lower when the tomatoes are getting dark. You can turn the tomatoes halfway through.
When the tomatoes have cooled down well, you can fill the clean, boiled weck bottle with them. Store the tomatoes in olive oil in a cool place. Make sure that the lid is closed properly. If not, you’ve done everything for nothing. The shelf life is then considerably shortened. The following also applies here: Look, smell and taste before using the tomatoes.
When you put the candied tomatoes in the fridge, they can be kept for 6 days in a sealed container. They can even be stored for 3 months in the freezer.
Store Slices of Tomatoes
Slices of tomatoes are best stored in a refrigerator container on a paper towel, in the refrigerator. The slices go with the cut side on the kitchen paper. The tomato slices can be used for another 2 days.
Cubes of tomatoes also go in a container in the refrigerator and should be consumed as soon as possible.
Remove the tomato from the refrigerator 30 minutes before eating. Tomato tastes best at room temperature.
What Not To Do When Storing Tomatoes?
- Do not store in the vegetable drawer, it is even colder than the refrigerator and the tomato really can’t stand that. They lose taste.
- Not in the fridge, it is too cold.
- Do not place with other fruit. Tomatoes give off a substance that makes other vegetables ripen/rot.
- Do not store in open containers. This shortens the retention time.
- Keep tomatoes in case of not clean, boiled (preserving) bottles. This is not sterile and will not keep your tomatoes good for long. Waste of all the work you’ve done.
Do you know!
- Tomato is a member of the nightshade family. The tomato plant is therefore poisonous. Only the tomato is edible.
When the seeds in the tomato have germinated, it is not so poisonous that you experience problems. It is better to remove it.
