As soon as picked from the plant, a tomato quickly loses moisture by way of the stem scar, turning a as soon as juicy tomato into an more and more dry, wrinkled shell of its former self. To sluggish moisture loss and assist tomatoes keep plump and juicy longer, retailer them the wrong way up to cowl the fruit’s scar.
The tomato dilemma is actual: You purchase a haul of superbly ripe summer season tomatoes, fastidiously transport them residence with out a single one getting bumped and bruised, then set them out on a counter to eat over the subsequent few days. However earlier than you have managed to take pleasure in all of them, there are indicators of wrinkling and collapse. It is the endless pressure between two very true issues: Ripe, summer season tomatoes are the perfect tomatoes (some would say solely tomatoes), and ripe summer season tomatoes teeter on the precipice of a surprisingly fast decline.
What to do? Nicely, as controversial as it’s, you possibly can put tomatoes on the brink within the fridge: We have achieved the exams, and it’s by far the preferable choice to interrupt down and decay. However there’s one other factor you are able to do first, and it helps stave off untimely tomato loss of life, shopping for you time to truly take pleasure in these beautiful summer season fruit: Retailer them stem-side down.
That is as a result of the stem finish is a weak level in an in any other case well-contained little bundle. Tomato skins, whereas skinny, are good at holding juices locked contained in the fruit. However the round scar the place the stem was as soon as hooked up is sort of a wound: As soon as picked from the plant, a tomato quickly loses moisture by way of the stem scar, turning a as soon as juicy tomato into an more and more dry, wrinkled shell of its former self.
By storing tomatoes the wrong way up, the scar is blocked, which slows moisture loss and helps them keep plump and juicy longer. You possibly can even go one step additional by masking the scar with a bit of tape to lock in much more of the tomato’s water. It is a technique many cooks use, and one which former editor Kenji has proven to work: In his testing, Kenji discovered that tomatoes saved stem facet down for 3 days misplaced simply 1 to 2% of their weight, whereas fruit saved proper facet up misplaced as much as 7%. That might be the distinction between a tomato bursting with juice and one which’s shriveled up.
So the subsequent time you come residence with a basket of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes from the market, do your self a favor and take a second to place them correctly, stem facet down. You will not eradicate the nice tomato dilemma, however you’ll cut back it.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez