I Will Never Put Tomatoes in the Fridge
It’s not tomato season. Unless you live in the southern hemisphere, you have absolutely nothing to buy steak tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, or any but the smallest tomatoes. I know you can easily buy Vine Ripe and Roma tomatoes during the winter months, but let’s be realistic: they suck.
But the small ones – your cherries, grapes, etc. – they taste good . These are the tomatoes I grate on winter toast and add to January salads. (Everyone eats salads in January to keep their lives in check. Some are more successful than others.) The cherry tomato’s size gives it a more concentrated tomato flavor; at least that’s what I tell myself when I eat toast and salads.
If, like me, you can’t make it to summer without some kind of love apple, then buy small ones and don’t put them in the damn fridge.
Why You Shouldn’t Refrigerate Tomatoes
When you put a tomato in the fridge, you stress it and reduce the activity of its little tomato genes. According to newscientist.com , some of these genes “produce enzymes responsible for the synthesis of volatile chemicals that make tomatoes sweeter and more complex, appealing,” and many of these genes never recover, even after as the tomato is returned. up to room temperature. Tomatoes also contain an enzyme that reacts poorly to cold and causes their cell membranes to break down, causing the fruit to become mealy and mushy. Simply put, a chilled tomato doesn’t taste, smell, or feel like a tomato.
I know there’s been a lot of debate about whether it’s “ok” to put tomatoes in the fridge or not, and several food posts say it’s OK under certain circumstances. Serious Eats did a comparison and found that keeping really ripe tomatoes in the fridge is better than letting them rot on the counter. (Good.) Someone on this very site wrote about it. This is technically true, but I have two main mood issues.
First, this does not apply to cherry tomatoes (or similarly sized tomatoes). These little guys don’t overripe or rot like the big boys, even in a warm kitchen; instead, they shrink and shrivel, almost turning into little tomato raisins. Which are actually still pretty good – moisture loss concentrates their flavor, and as long as they don’t develop mold spots, you can use shriveled cherry tomatoes like you would any other small tomatoes.
With slicing tomatoes, I consider the refrigerator a desperate last resort. Putting the slicer in the fridge means I either didn’t eat the whole tomato (it couldn’t have been me) or overestimated how many tomatoes I could eat before they started to lose flavor and texture at room temperature. (This is not a problem in January, but has been known to occur in August.)
I put a sliced, diced, or sliced tomato in the fridge because there’s no other choice, but I’ll mourn it because I know it’s going to be more agonizing and tasteless than when it was put in, and I usually cook it. This.
What to do with overripe tomatoes
It would be pure folly to think that you are going to cram a tomato into your timeline. Like an avocado, a tomato will ripen when it’s ready, and you’d better be ready when the moment comes. If you missed this window and your tomato is teetering on the brink of rotting (too soft, with mushy spots), you have two options: you can stop further ripening by placing it in the refrigerator and then try eating it on a sandwich, as you would fully ripe, uncooled tomato. (This will end in dissatisfaction.) Or you can admit to yourself that you missed the tomato sandwich window and use it to make something else.
I will always choose the latter. A tomato that is too ripe is not worthy of being eaten right away, and when refrigerated, it will keep it from rotting and further detract from the taste and texture. When I come across a tomato that is too ripe, I either peel them and toss them into the sauce, or carcass them and cook them as a jam paste, or cut them up and strain their juice to make tomato water . Then I’ll pour this tomato water into a martini and drink my tomato sorrows. (Nothing makes me frown like a tomato martini.)