As soon as picked from the plant, a tomato quickly loses moisture by means of the stem scar, turning a as soon as juicy tomato into an more and more dry, wrinkled shell of its former self. To gradual moisture loss and assist tomatoes keep plump and juicy longer, retailer them the other way up to cowl the fruit’s scar.
The tomato dilemma is actual: You purchase a haul of superbly ripe summer season tomatoes, rigorously transport them dwelling with out a single one getting bumped and bruised, then set them out on a counter to eat over the following few days. However earlier than you’ve got managed to get pleasure from all of them, there are indicators of wrinkling and collapse. It is the unending rigidity between two very true issues: Ripe, summer season tomatoes are the very best tomatoes (some would say solely tomatoes), and ripe summer season tomatoes teeter on the precipice of a surprisingly fast decline.
What to do? Properly, as controversial as it’s, you possibly can put tomatoes on the brink within the fridge: We have executed 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 get pleasure from 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 conserving juices locked contained in the fruit. However the round scar the place the stem was as soon as connected is sort of a wound: As soon as picked from the plant, a tomato quickly loses moisture by means 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 other way up, the scar is blocked, which slows moisture loss and helps them keep plump and juicy longer. You may even go one step additional by masking the scar with a chunk of tape to lock in much more of the tomato’s water. It is a methodology 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 could possibly be the distinction between a tomato bursting with juice and one which’s shriveled up.
So the following time you come dwelling 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 get rid of the good tomato dilemma, however you’ll cut back it.
Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez