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Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

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Old December 28, 2015   #16
Fred Hempel
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I certainly agree with this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Salsacharley View Post
OK, here's the truth because I say so. Ripe, and ripe means at peak condition for eating or processing, tomatoes should not be held on a counter or in a refrigerator. They should be consumed or processed. Any ripe tomato will degrade once peak ripeness is achieved. This means any test should be done on tomatoes that are in a "not yet ripe" state. This means that unripe fruit on the counter will continue to ripen, and unripe fruit in a refrigerator will probably continue to ripen, but much slower, and by the time ripeness is attained on a refrigerated tomato it will be crappy. Giant tomato growers refrigerate their competition tomatoes prior to full ripeness to preserve them until the weigh date, but they sure don't want to eat them. Anybody who has kept truly ripe tomatoes in a refrigerator can attest that the longer the tomato stays in the refrigerator the soupier and blander it becomes. Two days isn't enough time for the refrigerator to do its damage. Most ripe tomatoes on a counter are still pretty good two days past peak. A week past peak is not good for any tomato. The bottom line....USE YOUR RIPE TOMATOES. Don't waste electricity on them.
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Old December 28, 2015   #17
Fred Hempel
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I used to never refrigerate.

Now I judiciously use refrigeration, largely to hold tomatoes that would otherwise be unsuitable for sale, and I find that the negative effects on flavor or texture are minimal when:

1. The refrigerated tomatoes are fully colored, but still firm.
Like Charley said above, tomatoes quickly go downhill (refrigerated or not) when fully ripe, and also tomatoes that are only half-ripe can lose some of their ability to fully ripen if refrigerated. However, we have found that refrigerating fully colored, but firm, heirloom-type tomatoes retain their flavor well with refrigeration.

2. The refrigeration temperatures are kept around 55 degrees Farenheit. We can easily hold firm, fully colored tomatoes for a week to 10 days at 55 degrees, with very little flavor loss. Lower temperatures, for extended periods, do seem to lead to more flavor loss. Particularly when storage time approaches a week.

3. Tomatoes are medium or small sized. The negative effects of refrigeration seem to be greatest with beefsteak tomatoes. In our experience part of the reason is that the texture is compromised. We have found that cherry tomatoes, small tomatoes and medium sized tomatoes show little or no refrigeration effects when fruits are firm and colored, and when modest refrigeration (above 50 degrees) is used.

One last comment about "commercial" red tomatoes that are bred for extended shelf-life. As Travis has mentioned, these tomatoes can become much more flavorful if they are left at room temperatures for a number of days until they start to soften. In other words, they are firm and fully colored when on shelves, but they often have an unappreciated capacity to slowly flavor up at room temperature. Of course, if they are refrigerated, this ripening will be suspended. So, refrigeration is pretty much the last thing one wants to do with firm commercial tomatoes. Besides, they keep well at room temperature anyway (in addition to gaining flavor).
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Old December 28, 2015   #18
bower
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Salsa Charley, you really said it best.
But as you say Fred, that can be tricky to manage when you're getting a lot of toms to market.
Thanks for sharing your test results.
If I had to generalize I would say overall small to medium sized tomatoes were better tasting in a nasty cold summer and had fewer defects. But there were exceptions on both sides - beefsteak with no defects and great texture in the earliest and worst conditions; small to medium fruit that were tasteless or mealy in the "cold challenge". So there is an important caveat that variety can make all the difference. IMO

At the peak of season when many tomatoes are ripening I found they ripened more slowly but attained the best quality overall when stored in a downstairs room where the temp was maybe 60 F or a little more.
55 F is not a difficult temperature to obtain - with a cellar, for example - so there may be storage options that are 'electricity free' too. We could sure do it.. but it's not California here. Underground tomato bunker, anyone?
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Old December 30, 2015   #19
travis
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I have not yet read the article.

There are tomatoes that tolerate refrigeration, to an extent relative to temps and times and the pectin content of the particular variety, and there are tomatoes that do not tolerate refrigeration of any kind overnight.

Some tomatoes have longkeeping genetics that require long term, 60*F to common room temps to ripen fully after normal picking and shipping conditions.

Some tomatoes have no genetic ability to keep longer than a day or two under any holding conditions before becoming mush.

If currently available tomato cultivars are so compatible with refrigeration, how come breeders continue to work toward increasing the pectin content in potential shipping and storage tomato varieties?

Last edited by travis; December 30, 2015 at 06:08 PM.
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Old January 2, 2016   #20
SueCT
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Well, this just seems like common sense. You know refrigeration retards ripening. Use it to your advantage. If a tomato is at peak ripeness and you want to stop the ripening until you can use it, refrigerate it. Better than having it turn to mush on the counter. If you have a tomato that is not yet fully ripe and you want it to develop to peak ripeness and flavor, leave it on the counter until it is ripe and you are ready to use it. If it sits on the counter until it is ripe and you still aren't ready to use it, stick it in the refrigerator until you are.
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Old January 2, 2016   #21
Labradors2
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I never refrigerate, but I had to put all the tomatoes in the basement where it is cool. I only did that because there were complaints that they were taking over the kitchen - geesh! Imagine that???? The cooler temps seem to retard ripening, and I get my exercise zipping up and down the stairs to grab tomatoes for our meals and to freeze any really ripe ones for future sauce making.

Linda
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Old January 2, 2016   #22
Ed of Somis
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Lots of touchy feelings about this subject. Here is the bottom line: If you have to refrigerate ripe tomatoes...you are not eating fast enough!
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