Storing tomatoes short term
 

I am "collecting" my tomatoes to make a big batch of salsa and juice. How does everyone store them "short term" until they process them?

Fridge? currently I just place them in grocery sacks in the fridge. It fills up the fridge very quickly!

I store tomatoes a single layer deep on a table.

I keep mine upside down in a single layer in flats or boxes in a cool room. Refrigeration really affects the flavour

KarenO

I read somewhere that storing them fridge ruins the flavor.I put mine in a bowl and leave them on the kitchen table.

I have a 3 x 8' bar that we keep our tomatoes on. I understand the reason behind saving them in a single layer depth. I agree with that reason, but I often pile then on top of each other. I put them in a semi-open sided container. Keep air flow going by adding a cheap fan. I think you'll find that keeping tomatoes and other garden fruit/vegetables will last a lot longer and not lose flavor. Air flow is very important.

There appears to be a reasonably wide window of ripeness which is acceptable, particularity for processing. I like them quite ripe for this use. This means leaving them on the vine until required.

For table slicing there seems to be an ideal time to pick which is subjective. I prefer mine not too ripe.

But all said and done my procedure is to leave on the vine until required for the table or processing. Obviously this means having your own garden to put fully into effect.

If it's for juice I think fridge is fine. There will be a lot of processes when boiling that will 'affect the flavour' in a similar way. Many of the volatiles expected from a fresh tomato will not be there after boiling. Better a fridged tomato than no tomato at all. Also, the tomatoes keep better on the vine (if there are no splitting conditions or things eating them of course) than even in a cool house (tested by me).

If I'm saving tomatoes to be cooked, I put them in the freezer, then I skin them and leave them out to thaw. This eliminates a lot of the liquid and means they take less time to boil down.

Linda

If you are concerned with preserving the quality of your tomato flavor, you should consider making multiple small batches of salsa when the tomatoes are "just right" instead of trying to string out fruit that is getting too ripe for the sake of one big batch.

You must keep in mind that the tomatoes and all other ingredients in salsa will continue to degrade regardless of whether they are in the salsa or sitting on a counter, so your salsa's useful life will be shorter if you use very ripe fruit.

thanks for all the input!

I'll set up some tables in the basement and lay them out