Accumulating Tomatoes for 10 days . . .

[TheWaterbug]

I have six tomato plants with fruit ripening every day:



(that was back in June)

In exactly 9 days I will have 100+ people in my back yard for my annual Corn-U-Copia harvest party, so I want to have as many edible tomatoes for the burgers and for Insalate Caprese.

What's the best plan for accumulating as many tomatoes that will be ready-to-eat on next Sunday?

1. Do tomatoes ripen faster on the vine than on my counter? Or does the vine not matter once they break color?
2. If I want to store today's tomatoes in my fridge, do I want to pick them perfectly ripe? Or a few days short of ripe? Does refrigeration stop ripening completely? Or just slow it down?
3. I have AC in my house, so it's usually in the low 70s. Is there an easy way to create some sort of space indoors that's cooler than 70s, but warmer than a fridge?
4. Any truth to the "store them stem-side down" theory? I just read that!
5. Any other suggestions?

I just did a bunch of reading on how to store tomatoes, but they're all about optimizing a small number of tomatoes that you want to eat over a period of several days. No one has written about accumulating tomatoes for a crowd of 100!

Thanks!

[dveg]

I believe that's right that, after color break, they don't need the vine.

The word "ripening" is an awkward one. Many people think of it as tomatoes turning red. Technically, tomatoes are ripe when they blush. The red is mostly about appearance. Some difference of opinion about whether vine-reddened tomatoes taste better. But I think that once they blush, they're as flavorful as they're going to get. So don't overthink storage. Store-bought tomatoes are actually picked green (before blush), which is why they don't have as much flavor.

I think stem side down just protects the bottom, which is the most fragile part of the tomato. Also, the shoulders are the last part to get red.

[SQWIB]

But I think that once they blush, they're as flavorful as they're going to get.
What?
You mean that once they blush you can pick them and let them ripen off the Vine?

You can put your ripe ones in the fridge and take them out the day of your shindig. They will keep a not longer.

Leaving on the Vine to ripen can be a bit riskier it is safe to remove and ripen inside.

[dveg]

Exactly. Once they blush, most gardeners will pick them off the vine. A bright red fruit attracts pests. Again, the word "ripen" is being used a little cavalierly here. The color marker for ripeness is blush, not red.

[applestar]

I think there is difference among varieties as to how long they keep/can be stored. So some of this will depend on which ones you are growing.

- generally speaking, fruits that are picked after full blush but before fully ripe can withstand more handling than fully ripe soft fruits.
- fruits should be stored after removing possible pathogens — at least thoroughly rinsed with water and then dried,
- I believe they last longer if stored with plenty of airflow — I place single layer on paper towel-lined cooling rack and/or in paper towel-lined baskets and colanders (put the basket on cooling rack) better if fruits are not in direct contact with each other — use paper towel as separator
- even better to use a fan to move air around the stored fruits — blow away/dilute ethylene gas?
- I individually wrap fruits with flaws but this can be detrimental if you don’t unwrap and check every day

- DON’T touch stored fruits with dirty or wet hands. More often than not, casually touching fruits with hand that handled cut fruits (wet with juices) while choosing which one to use next has resulted in sunken anthracnose spots.

- you could make preserved whole tomatoes — boiling water peel whole tomatoes* then put in pot of boiled syrup — original recipe ratio was sugar 3-4Tbs, Lemon or Lime juice 1-2tsp, 400 ml water ... I added 1/2 tsp sea salt per pint — and bring back to boil but don’t cook/stew the tomatoes — they should remain firm. Make enough syrup to completely submerge the tomatoes in glass jars or tightly sealing containers for refrigerator storage.

This keeps for about a week in the refrigerator. (Original recipe said “easily” 2 weeks). To serve, remove and drain, reserving syrup, then cut up tomatoes as desired. Use reserved syrup to make aspic or a drink.

*I used the pot of boiled water for quick rinsing/“sterilizing” the clean jars and lids before using to peel the tomatoes.

- you could try making a sample with the perfectly ripe tomatoes you have today — not likely to last full 10 days fresh — and see if they can be used the way you want

[applestar]

Refrigerator question — I never put tomatoes in refrigerator unless cut up and intended to use for cooking, so I have no idea how flavor for fresh eating quality is affected

[dveg]

Again. Ripe = blush. Not red. Yes, fully red means ripe, but they were ripe before that. "Vine-ripened" actually means on the vine until blush stage. Technically, flavor-wise, "ripe" doesn't mean on the vine until fully red. But lots of people pretend that it does.

[applestar]

There IS a flavor “development” / change between when the (1) fruits are blushed but still shiny and hard —> (2) nearly fully colored with surface satiny and slight give to pressure (this is when I harvest most varieties) —> (3) 3-5 days later just before fruits start to spoil in some way (sunken spots/anthracnose, bloated from advanced interior fermentation, etc.)

My family prefer the developed flavor just before spoiling to the fresh “green” flavor of freshly picked at the #2 stage with the larger slicer and beefsteaks, and some cocktail size fruits.

Some varieties — especially cherries that have extra sweet front end flavor and “mild” varieties — do not keep well and start to spoil by 5 days after harvested at #2 stage. (actually I pick cherries that come off the vine with a suggestion of a push or pull — I think ones that won’t come off are not ripe enough) Some of these also tend to ferment and lose the sugars and turn “flavorless” or “sour” losing their flavor advantage and need to be eaten within 2-3 days.

My so far unconfirmed suspicion is that the ones that have sufficient acid — strong lingering tang/burn — tend to develop their umami better without spoiling. Some varieties in good condition will last 5-7 days — only just starting to develop shallow sunken spot or two that can be cut away without affecting fruit flavor — but 10 days is a stretch.

[SQWIB]

A few things I forgot to mention.
Try to cut the tomatoes from the plant with a piece of the stem intact.
Ones without stems store upside down on their shoulders.
If you refrigerate any ripe ones make sure to take out of the refrigerator 2 days before you need them.
I never do this but you can place tomatoes in a paper bag that are somewhat ripe and a few days away from your shindig.
Keep tomatoes out of sunlight and if possible store in a cool dark place.

[dveg]

I think it is well understood that flavor doesn't improve by letting a tomato stay on the vine after first blush. That's been my experience. There was a KSU horticulture article on this, but it seems to be offline now. It was, however, transcribed here.

https://www.gardenforums.com/forum/index ... toes.1459/

“By the time the tomato has its first blush of red color, the layer of cells – called an abcision zone – is complete, and you can pick the tomato with no loss of flavor or quality,” Marr said. “If left on the vine after that, all the tomato will do is hang there, disconnected, going through the rest of the ripening process.” (Where ripening is defined as getting red.)

[TheWaterbug]

I never do this but you can place tomatoes in a paper bag that are somewhat ripe and a few days away from your shindig.

I have about a million fruit that are large, hard, and green right now.

As soon as any of them break color I'm going to get them into paper bags with a banana.

[TheWaterbug]

I think it is well understood that flavor doesn't improve by letting a tomato stay on the vine after first blush. That's been my experience. There was a KSU horticulture article on this, but it seems to be offline now. It was, however, transcribed here.

https://www.gardenforums.com/forum/index ... toes.1459/

“By the time the tomato has its first blush of red color, the layer of cells – called an abcision zone – is complete, and you can pick the tomato with no loss of flavor or quality,” Marr said. “If left on the vine after that, all the tomato will do is hang there, disconnected, going through the rest of the ripening process.” (Where ripening is defined as getting red.)

Great article. Thanks!