How to keep your tomatoes fresh: Expert storage tips

Tomatoes are incredibly delicate and can spoil quickly, so proper care when you bring them home is essential. Mistakes happen often, and it’s not just about not storing them in the refrigerator.

One of our most common mistakes is storing tomatoes in the refrigerator. Although it may intuitively seem that cold temperatures will help preserve their freshness, they lose flavor and change their structure. They become mealy and lose their aroma. Another mistake is sealing tomatoes in plastic bags. Lack of airflow causes moisture to accumulate, which accelerates molding.

Tomatoes need to have access to air and not be crowded in one container. Storing them on the kitchen counter or in an open bowl allows for even ripening and keeps them fresh for a few days. That’s why containers that provide proper air circulation are beneficial. Ideal solutions are mesh baskets or ceramic bowls with holes. These containers prevent the accumulation of moisture, which causes rotting. Another way to prolong the freshness of tomatoes is to store them with their stems. The stem helps maintain the tomatoes’ condition and delays their wilting process.

However, you don't always have the option to buy tomatoes with stems. But even when vegetables are without them, how you arrange them makes a big difference. A culinary magazine, "Cook's Illustrated," experimented. They left two batches of tomatoes with removed stems at room temperature in the kitchen for a few days: one batch was placed with the stem end up, and the other was the opposite. It turned out that tomatoes lying stem-down molded much slower than the others. Why was this important? Storing the tomato at room temperature with the stem end down prevents air from entering the exposed area near the stem.