Tomatoes have become increasingly expensive in supermarkets, setting shoppers back more than £1 per pack on average.
While buying them as fresh as possible is one way to make them last longer, storage is imperative for the best flavour and texture.
Though it’s common to keep the juicy red fruits in the fridge alongside other salad ingredients, it may not be the best place for them.
In fact, according to one self-proclaimed home hacks expert, it is the “wrong” place to store tomatoes.
Sharing her advice in a video on her TikTok account, Honeysuckle (@dzunglewis) revealed exactly how to make them last “as long as possible”.
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She said: “I often find that tomatoes spoil so quickly. Never put tomatoes in the fridge.”
The cold environment can easily degrade the texture of the fruits and dampen their flavour, particularly if they are of lower quality to begin with.
According to the home hacks expert, tomatoes purchased on the vine are best stored outside of the chilled appliance and should be positioned upside down.
The TikTok user explained that this matters because oxygen is able to go through the area where the green stem meets the red flesh.
She said: “To preserve your tomatoes and keep them as long as possible, keep them upside down. That will slow down the ripening process.”
This is easily done by separating each fruit from the excess vine and storing them on a flat surface, like a plate.
Positioning them with the vine side down effectively seals off the defect that encourages ripening, helping the tomato retain all of its juiciness.
When it comes to choosing exactly where to keep the tomatoes, temperature is an important factor to consider.
Research by experts at Cornell University found that tomatoes do best in temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, (around 15C) and they thrive especially well in temperatures between 18-29C.
For the best results, wash tomatoes, dry them off, and keep them in a bowl lined with paper towels on a cool, dry section of the kitchen counter until ripe.
These can be covered with another paper towel to ward off flies.
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