Do You Store Your Tomatoes In the Refrigerator?

15 years ago

I don't if I can help it. I think they have a better flavor and if kept too long in the refrigerator they may become mealy. I guess there are two schools of thought on that. So I prefer not to put mine in the refrigerator. Do you?

Sue

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Comments (24)

country_bumpkin_al
15 years ago
I never store mine in the refrigerator! I agree, they have a better flavor at room temp!!
maire_cate
15 years ago
Nope - I only put them in the frig if I've cut them up.
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sushipup1
15 years ago
It's not that they turn mealy, but that they lose flavor, and won't recover even when brought to room temp after being in the fridge. So what "two schools of thought" are there? Google the subject and I see only one school of thought!
LuAnn_in_PA
15 years ago
"I guess there are two schools of thought on that."

I thought there was only one.... NO fridge!
azzalea
15 years ago
I'm from New Jersey--we're known for our wonderful tomatoes.

Fridge? NEVER!!! and also NEVER IN A PLASTIC BAG. Always in a pretty bowl at room temperature.
patti43
15 years ago
If we aren't going to eat them before they get way too ripe, I put them in the crisper. Have 2 I just found this afternoon. I'll try one tomorrow to see if it's mealy, but I really never noticed it before.

Now potatoes and onions are never in the frig at my house.
jannie
15 years ago
I store them in a hanging wire basket in my kitchen. After they are cut,I'll refrigerate them.
lynn_d
15 years ago
Same here, if they are cut they go in the fidge, otherwise nope! My onions are put in a paper bag and in the crisper drawer of the extra fridge.
lindyluwho
15 years ago
Cold tomatoes taste awful. The tomato growers will tell you to never refrigerate them.

Linda
Jasdip
15 years ago
Nope, don't refrigerate my tomatoes, until they are cut.

Lynn and I do the same with the onions though....paper bag in the crisper.
They don't sprout as quickly that way. Plus, it may be me, but the ones that I keep in my potato bin, when I have excess onions, make me cry more, than the ones from the frig.
donna_loomis
15 years ago
NEVER in the refrigerator. And I try to only cut up as much as I think will get used, because once the leftover is put into the refrigerator, they may just as well have been thrown out, because I won't eat them. Yucky.
sjerin
15 years ago
I don't refrigerate fruit either for the same reason. It seems so tasteless to me when it's cold!
User
15 years ago
Never in the refrig.
kacram
15 years ago
yes I do, when I buy them too expensive right now. I can't stand mushy fruit and veggies. YUCK! and if left on the counter for more than 2 days they are MUSHY YUCKY! lol
sorry, peeps! Now, when I grow them, I leave them on the plant until I want to use them until they are getting too ripe.
sushipup1
15 years ago
Don't buy more than you can use in a day or two.
gazania_gw
15 years ago
Only if they have been cut and even then I try use them within 24 hours. Sometimes I eat them as a bedtime snack, with a little salt of course, just to keep them from being in there loosing their flavor.
cynic
15 years ago
I don't use a lot of tomatoes but they go on the counter when they arrive. Although I'll refrigerate cut ones for a bit, most of the time I'll toss them since they're not going to last anyway. Or if I have something like spaghetti sauce, chili, hotdish or something to put them into to use them, is another possibility.

Jasdip, I've heard recommendations to put onions in the freezer for a few minutes before chopping if they bother you. The cooling is supposed to help for the acids that affect the eyes. I've never tried. But onions and taters are never refrigerated here and never stored together, and they're removed from plastic bags when I think of it.

If I'm eating tomatoes in a salad I like them chilled. And I usually only buy Roma tomatoes these days. And they'll last several days unless tremendous heat. Those awful watery, stringy things full of seeds that they pass off as tomatoes are tasteless.
SunnyDJ
15 years ago
I won't eat a tomato is it's been in the frig and that goes the same for getting a salad when eating out....Has to be room temp...........
joyfulguy
15 years ago
Does freezing have the same effect?

They are mushy when thawed and mainly to be used in soup, I think ... but I do agree that it seems as though quite a bit of the flavour has packed up and hitchhiked out.

ole joyful
terilyn
15 years ago
The only time they go in the fridge are cut with cucumbers, onions and red wine vinegar! Yum.
vala55
15 years ago
Only if I slice one and have some to save or if I know they won't keep. I read an article that said not to, spoils the flavor.
pekemom
15 years ago
Personally I like the tomatoes on the vine, don't refrigerate them unless they're cut up. Since I leave them out when they're whole, I try to make sure I only buy a few, there's just me and DH.
Marilyn Sue
Original Author
15 years ago
I picked all of my tomatoes, red and green and have them in my dark garage to keep as long as possible. I have them in baskets. Things seem to keep a long time in my garage because it does not freeze and there are no windows. It is almost like a cellar.

Sue
lydia1959
15 years ago
I usually leave them on the counter but I will put them in the fridge if I have a lot (my parents will give me a box full at a time)... otherwise they will go bad before we have a chance to eat them.

Do You Store Your Tomatoes In the Refrigerator?

Comments (24)

country_bumpkin_al

maire_cate

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Marilyn Sue
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Do You Store Your Tomatoes In the Refrigerator?

Comments (24)

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