How to store tomatoes
Tomatoes are stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, at room temperature for a week. In this blog, we will discuss how to store tomatoes for a long time.
How to store tomatoes
Fresh – 1 week
Ripe tomatoes will lie in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks before they start to deteriorate, after which they will last for another week with some losses. Red tomatoes will start to spoil about a week after being stored at room temperature. The variety directly affects the shelf life – soft juicy tomatoes spoil faster than hard thick-skinned ones.
Green tomatoes will last from 4 to 7 weeks if ripened in a dark place. For example, on the newspaper under the table or on the balcony, but on the balcony, they will need to be hidden from the sun’s rays or rain – you are lucky if your balcony is glazed or does not face the sunny side.
Tomato slices
Sliced tomatoes are practically not amenable to storage – even when stored in the refrigerator, the very next day they will begin to lose moisture, wind up and lose their pleasant tomato consistency. If you cut tomatoes with a surplus – just boil the sauce or juice from them in addition to the dish being prepared, or put them in the freezer – then you can add to the stew or, again, cook the sauce.
How to increase the shelf life of tomatoes
If you want to stock up on tomato snacks for a long time and you managed to get a lot of tomatoes for an inexpensive price, you can use one of the simplest harvesting methods.
Freeze – up to 14 months
There is no way to get rid of tomatoes faster than making frozen tomato paste out of them.
If you don’t feel like fiddling with blanching, and small pieces of skin in a dish are not a problem, then you can punch whole tomatoes in a blender and either freeze them or evaporate a little moisture from them and only then freeze them. Tomatoes can even be frozen whole and thrown into the meat that is languishing under the lid without defrosting. In order to get rid of the peel, cut the peel on the spouts of the tomatoes with a cross and pour boiling water over them, then transfer them to cold water and remove the peel, and then either freeze it whole or breakthrough in a blender.
Tomato juice – up to 8 months
To get tomato juice, you need to pass the tomatoes through a juicer or a special attachment in a meat grinder. The resulting juice must be boiled for 5-10 minutes, adding salt, sugar to taste, a few black peppercorns, and 1 bay leaf, then rolled into sterilized jars and used until the next season (and with proper sterilization – up to several years).
Sun-dried tomatoes – up to 1 year
Tomatoes can be wilted. To do this, they need to be cut into small slices, mixed with dry herbs and put on a baking sheet covered with parchment, then put in the oven with convection on for 4-6 hours at 50-60 ° C (it is advisable to open the door a little). After the tomatoes have lost their moisture, they need to be put in a container with a resealable lid, filling it with ¾ of tomatoes and vegetable oil. It is necessary to gently stir to expel air bubbles from the oil and remove them to a dark and cool place. Excess cans can be frozen and removed as needed. Sun-dried tomato oil can be used for stews, marinades, or stir-fry in soup.
