I hope I don’t discredit myself in any connoisseur’s eyes by suggesting that you store your tomatoes in the fridge to extend their shelf life.

I know it’s not a subject typically open to debate – the fridge destroys the flavour of the tomato, turning it into a pointless ball of water, right?

Well… From my days as a grocery cashier I’ve learned that grocers store their excess tomatoes in a produce cooler. My fridge would be a few degrees colder than that, so I wondered what effect storing at a lower temperature would have.

Daniel Gritzer at Serious Eats has done an amazing deep dive into the subject, running blind taste tests on an impressive range of tomatoes, stored in different ways. He analyzes studies that consider how storage temperatures affect a tomato’s texture and its volatile aromatics.

Turns out, the flavour isn’t permanently neutralized by the cold environment! You simply want your tomatoes to fully ripen at room temperature on the counter first, allowing their flavour and aroma to develop. Then drastically extend your perfectly ripe tomatoes shelf life by storing them in the fridge!

Most of the flavour and aroma will return when the tomatoes once again reach room temperature. You’ll need to take them out about 30 minutes before you’re ready to eat, in order to enjoy a great deal more flavour than if you had eaten the tomatoes straight out of the fridge.

That’s a win-win: save money on a bulk buy, knowing you can extend the shelf life of your tomatoes AND enjoy the taste!

Zuming out,

Jacqueline