Where is the best place to store ripe tomatoes? How to store ripe tomatoes. Reasons for picking tomatoes early

Delicious fresh tomatoes are a rarity in winter. They are expensive, and the quality of vegetables sold in the cold season leaves much to be desired. If you know how to freeze tomatoes, you can provide yourself with tasty and healthy products throughout the winter. Frozen vegetables differ little from fresh ones and are much better than tomato paste...

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From the beginning of spring to the end of summer, many housewives work hard in their gardens to grow tasty, healthy and, most importantly, natural products. Several beds are certainly occupied by a common favorite - the tomato!

Its bright, ripe and incredibly aromatic fruits, tomatoes, are rich in the hormone serotonin, which gives us a feeling of happiness, vitamins C and A, as well as a whole list of organic acids.

Of course, you can find beautiful, even tomatoes in every store and supermarket. Fortunately, they are full of them all year round.

But is a store-bought copy comparable to a home-made one? Grown with care, incredibly healthy, aromatic and, well, very tasty!

It is no wonder that the goal and dream of many summer residents is to preserve tender multi-nest berries until late autumn. But is it possible? And if so, how to preserve tomatoes at home?

Surprising but true...

From a botanical point of view, tomatoes are nothing more than berries. But in the 19th century, the US Supreme Court ruled that tomato fruits should be treated as vegetables when collecting customs duties.

It is this difference in views that has become the reason for the question so often asked today, what type of crop the tomato belongs to.

Which varieties stay fresh the longest?

The most offensive thing for any housewife is to throw away a product grown with love because it has spoiled. And this, unfortunately, happens, and often. It’s better to play it safe in advance and choose a variety of tomatoes for planting that definitely won’t let you down. As one wise saying goes:

“It’s better to think for one day than to work in vain for a whole week.”

Moreover, nowadays there is plenty to choose from. The number of tomato varieties bred by breeders reaches 25 thousand. Among them there are both mid-late and late varieties. And even a wonderful new product - “bed-beds”, i.e. special long-lasting varieties.

Perhaps many have already had the opportunity to meet some of them:

• "De Barao"- round, slightly oblong fruits of various shades: red, green, yellow, black.
• "San Marzano"- fleshy burgundy fruits shaped like plums.
• "Long Keeper"- the fruits will remain juicy and fresh until February.
• "Giraffe"- round juicy fruits. You can decorate the table with them even on March 8th.

Of course, you can choose one of these varieties. But what to do when you really want to plant some special, too beautiful or too tasty and attractive varieties?

Try to create storage for them best conditions, so you will at least prolong their life as much as possible.

How to keep tomatoes healthy and fresh for a long time

Try to find a secluded, dark place in your apartment where the temperature always remains stable and is within 10 °C. The humidity is 80% and there is good air circulation.

This could be a basement, cellar or room, but in no case a refrigerator. In it, tomatoes will lose their herbaceous smell, for which they are so loved, and taste.

Here's the thing! All the flavor of tomatoes comes from acids, sugars and special volatile substances. This entire complex is extremely sensitive to temperature. environment. If it turns out to be lower than required, the aromatic berries will become less aromatic and less tasty.

Recent studies by scientists from France have shown that the optimal temperature at which the production of volatile fragrant substances is enhanced is 20°C. It is in these warm conditions that tomatoes are left to fully ripen 5 days before consumption.

However, you don’t have to completely forget about the refrigerator. This is a great and easy way to preserve beautiful berries if you intend to eat them within a few days. Or refrigerate before cutting into a salad.

What else is important to know about multi-celled berries in order to keep them fresh for as long as possible:

• Be sure to re-sort your harvest. Do not store whole and damaged, overripe and green fruits together.

Tomatoes of “milk ripeness” are best stored when they have reached their natural size, but are not ripe. As a rule, at this moment the berries acquire a pale pink tint.

• Pick tomatoes from the plant before the night air gets colder than 8°C. If ripe fruits freeze right in the garden, they certainly won’t last long.
• It is better to collect during the day, when the berries are already dry after the morning dew.
• There is no need to wash tomatoes before long-term storage; it is better to wipe each fruit with a cotton swab moistened with alcohol. This way you will get rid of all germs at once.

The stem of tomatoes must be cut off immediately before slicing!

How to store tomatoes in trays and boxes

If you have already decided on the place allocated for storing fruits, it’s time to prepare boxes for them. Cover their bottoms with clean paper or fill them with sawdust.

Then wrap the paper around the fruits, each individually, and arrange them in rows. No more than 3 in one box. Cover each layer with paper or sprinkle with sawdust.

Remember to leave small empty spaces between the fruits for free air circulation. You don't need to pack them too tightly.

Wherever your berries are stored, visit them at least occasionally. Check the condition of each fruit, keep spoiled ones away from healthy ones. There is no need to feel sorry for them, otherwise you may lose the entire harvest.

Make your decision to try delicious tomatoes in advance. A week before, place the selected fruits in a light and warm room for complete, final ripening.

How to store tomatoes in jars

You can increase the shelf life of berries to five months by placing them in simple glass jars. This method is suitable for both ripe and milk fruits.

1 option. Rinse and dry the tomatoes thoroughly. Place them in a sterilized jar, but do not press too tightly. Add a few spoons of alcohol and cover with a nylon lid.

Roll the jar in your hands. But there is no need to be cowardly and thereby damage the tomatoes. Perform the operation carefully, so that all the fruits get wet.

After this, insert the wick inside the jar and light it from the outside. As soon as the alcohol in the jar catches fire, quickly and carefully roll it up.

Option 2. You will need approximately 6 tbsp. l. dry mustard. Pour the first 2 into the bottom of a sterilized jar immediately. Then arrange the tomatoes, adding more to each layer. At the end add another 1 liter. mustard and roll up the jar.

Option 3. Place 9 mm in a sterilized jar. layer of chopped tomatoes and salt. Next we put the whole fruits to the end of the jar, sprinkling each layer with salt. Let's roll up.

How to Preserve Tomatoes That Are Fully Ripe and Ready to Eat

It also happens that the red berries are already overripe, you don’t want to eat them yet, but it’s a pity to throw them away. In this case, use the following method.

Mix water with salt and 9% vinegar in a ratio of 8x1x1. Place clean tomatoes in a jar or pan and fill with the resulting mixture.

Pour vegetable oil on top so that it covers 1 cm of food.

What's the best way to store tomatoes in the refrigerator?

You also need to know how to store fruits in the refrigerator. Each of them has a special shelf for vegetables, and that’s where they need to be placed. The cuttings should face upwards, and between each fruit it is necessary to leave very little space for air to enter.

We must cover each layer with paper, or even better, wrap it around each individual fruit.

Tomatoes should not be stored in the cold for more than 3-4 days, otherwise they will become useless and tasteless.

How to save tomatoes that have started to spoil

The first sign of a tomato “disease” is the appearance of brown or other spots.

But you can fight them too. True, more in a radical way- using pasteurization.

Heat the water to 60°C. It will become like this about 7 minutes after boiling. And immerse the tomatoes in it for literally 3 minutes. After this, dry the wet fruits in the fresh air.

Save your efforts and store food correctly. Enjoy natural, tasty and aromatic tomatoes all year round!

Growing tomatoes is under the constant control of every vegetable grower. Very often, ripe or unripe fruits have to be removed en masse from the bushes. Let's look at how to store tomatoes at home in an apartment so that they remain juicy and fresh for a long time.

Reasons for picking tomatoes early

There are many reasons that can force you to pick unripe tomatoes from the bush.

There are many reasons for harvesting tomatoes in quantities exceeding the current needs of the vegetable grower:

• Theft.
• The plant is overloaded with fruits.
• The fruits are too heavy and break branches.
• The tomatoes have ripened en masse.
• Threat of frost, signs of serious tomato diseases.

Collection rules

It is important not only to harvest tomatoes on time, but also to do it correctly so that the fruits are well stored.

Unripe tomatoes can be stored much longer than ripe ones.

The collection rules apply to all tomatoes, regardless of the degree and timing of their ripeness.

Important to remember: Not all varieties of tomatoes are intended for storage.. Early ripening thin-skinned or so-called “salad” tomatoes should be used for food or processed into sauces and lecho first of all.

Preparation

Transportation of ripe tomatoes must be very careful, as there is a high probability of crushing the fruits. Ripe tomatoes can be stored at home without loss of taste for about 3–8 days.

For long-term storage, tomatoes that are harvested at the stage of milky ripeness, have reached the size characteristic of their variety, but are green, are preferred.

The fruits of milky ripeness are practically green tomatoes, just beginning to turn red.

Tomatoes at the stage of partial ripening - blanzhe ripeness , will ripen in 1.5-2 weeks. Therefore, you should not put them in the “distant drawer”.

These tomatoes are already ripe and won’t last long!

Conditions

Optimal storage conditions:

• Compliance with temperature and humidity conditions. The room temperature should not fall below +10 °C and rise higher +22 °C. Intermediate values ​​are optimal 15–18 °C. Required humidity approx. 70–80% .
• Lighting. Good lighting stimulates fruit ripening. If a vegetable grower is faced with the task of long-term storage rather than quick ripening of tomatoes, they should be put in a dark place.

  If the apartment does not have a storage room, supplies can be stored under the bed.

• Storage container. Wooden boxes and wicker baskets are ideal for storing tomatoes as they have many holes. Air should circulate freely between the fruits. The skin of a tomato is always dry. When storing tomatoes in boxes, it is necessary to cut vent holes in the cardboard so that the fruits inside do not rot.

  The more free space there is between the fruits, the longer the harvest will last.

• Auxiliary materials. It is recommended to place paper between the tomatoes or sprinkle them with loose materials (sawdust, peat, straw). If the tomatoes do not touch each other, then if one fruit rots, the neighboring ones will remain intact.

  Straw perfectly protects fruits from rotting.

• Protective film. To protect the tomato from the effects of negative external factors, a thin layer of wax is applied to its surface, forming a protective film. These tomatoes must be blanched before use.

After harvesting, all fruits are carefully inspected and sorted by size, varietal early ripening (mid-ripening, late-ripening), and by visual signs of ripening (green, white, brown, pink).

You should not harvest from the bushes.

Diseased plants

The harvest from diseased plants is collected separately, in the absence of signs of disease on the fruits themselves (rot, pigmentation).

Cracked tomatoes will not last long and are eaten first.

Tomatoes are lowered onto 1.5-2 minutes hot (about 60°C) water and wipe dry. You can try to prevent it by wiping the fruits with vodka or a pinkish solution of potassium permanganate.

Unfortunately, if a tomato is infected, then no type of treatment will be effective. You need to get rid of the tomato immediately.

Accelerate the ripening of tomatoes

Tomatoes will ripen as quickly as possible if you place them on a radiator.

It’s nice to pamper yourself and your loved ones with fresh ripe tomatoes until late autumn or even winter, but not everyone has such an opportunity to create optimal conditions for long-term storage of a rich harvest of tomatoes. Unripe tomatoes contain poison - solanine, which can cause serious poisoning in humans and lead to death. Therefore, gardeners have a need to quickly produce tomatoes for processing.

Secrets of accelerated ripening of tomatoes:

• Uninterrupted source of light and heat . The higher the room temperature, the more intensely the tomatoes ripen. The best range is 25–30 °C. The apartment has a lot of light and heat on the window sills, next to which there are heating radiators. In the absence of sun, tomatoes are illuminated with a lamp.
• Ripe provocateur . It has long been noted that placing a pair of ripe red fruits among its green counterparts provokes the others to ripen. This is explained by the fact that ripe tomato berries emit ethylene gas, which triggers chemical processes aging (ripening) in other fruits. Ripe bananas or apples can be used as a provoking factor. You can speed up the process if you cover ripening tomatoes with a ripe “lining” thick fabric or close in a paper bag.

  Green tomatoes will ripen faster if you place red fruits among them.

• On the bushes . Interesting way– ripening of tomatoes on bushes suspended with their roots up. The entire plants are pulled out (dug up) from the ridges and hung under the ceiling of the utility room (veranda, garage, bathhouse) along with the fruits. The remainder of the nutrients goes into the fruits, and they actually ripen faster.

  Storing tomatoes on branches.

Tomatoes find a second life in preparations for the winter. There are a lot of methods for pickling, pickling, drying, drying and other processing, but only shock freezing in the freezer keeps ripe tomatoes “fresh”.

Can tomatoes be stored in the refrigerator?

In the refrigerator, tomatoes are stored in a special vegetable compartment.

Scientists have proven that storing ripe tomatoes in the refrigerator worsens their taste.. Green tomatoes will never ripen on the refrigerator shelf, and ripe ones will become tasteless.

If there is an urgent need, you can store tomatoes in a refrigerator, but no more than a week (up to 8–12 days). To do this, you must follow a number of rules:

• Store in the designated compartment (area). At a temperature not lower than +5–8 °C Heat-loving crops get frostbite and quickly spoil.
• Do not seal or tie airtight plastic bags.
• Store separately from other vegetables and fruits.

Tomatoes need to be removed from the refrigerator in 12–24 hours before use and let them warm up at room temperature, then the lost aroma will be partially restored and the taste will improve.

Tomatoes in cans without preservation

IN Lately Some methods of preserving ripe tomatoes without heat treatment in various containers (mainly 3-liter jars) have become very popular.

The vacuum method does not always work and has many negative reviews.

Conclusion

Successful storage of tomatoes largely depends on the right choice varieties.

At proper storage late (especially hybrid) tomatoes can gradually mature until February, maintaining its freshness. Cultivated tomatoes require constant monitoring: selection of actively ripening and spoiling fruits.

If a vegetable grower has managed to independently grow a rich harvest of tomatoes, then he will have the patience to preserve it until the right moment or ripen it for processing, following simple, time-tested rules for storing tomatoes at home.

Video on how to prepare tomatoes for the winter without canning

Tomatoes are one of the most famous vegetables that are canned for the winter. You can easily keep them fresh for 10-15 days if you place them in a paper bag and put them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. How to properly store tomatoes at home so that they remain fresh until the New Year or even longer? The answers can be found in this article.

Shelf life of tomatoes

Having no idea how long tomatoes can be stored, it is better not to purchase them large quantities. They just won't stay fresh for long. You should definitely know how to properly store tomatoes. And then you can keep the vegetables fresh for several months or all winter.

If you need to buy a large batch of tomatoes, it is better to choose those varieties that:

• have a fleshy consistency,
• thick peel,
• not divided into a large number of cameras

The storage conditions for tomatoes are chosen based on the stage of ripening they are at. Brown fruits require one storage temperature, and red fruits require another. And they are not at all capable of ripening at low temperatures.

There are some types of tomatoes that tolerate storage better. These are mid-late and late ripening varieties.

So, the shelf life of tomatoes in a city apartment before they are processed:

• green fruits – from 25 to 70 days;
• ripe red ones - from 7 to 10 days.

If the tomatoes are overripe and have already become soft, they will not be able to be stored.

Storage conditions for tomatoes

Fruits at different stages of ripening require individual storage temperatures:

• milk-ripe tomatoes are stored at a temperature of +8°C -+10°C;
• red - +4°С - +6°С;
• brown – 0°С -+2°С.

Tomatoes should be kept in cool, dark places. It is best to store tomatoes in an apartment in the freshness zone of the refrigerator. The best place in your home is the basement or cellar.

• Tomatoes should be stored at a humidity of 80%, in a room equipped with ventilation.
• The fruits are placed with the stalk up, trying to prevent damage, in containers made of wood or plastic.
• Tomatoes are very sensitive to temperature changes thanks to volatile substances that provide their taste. Therefore, any change in climate where tomatoes are stored will cause them to become soft, wrinkled and lose their flavor.

Preparation for storage

First, the tomatoes are sorted: whole, dent-free fruits that have reached milky ripeness are selected. These are vegetables that have grown to normal size who have already started to turn red.

Before sending tomatoes for storage, they should not be washed. It is better to lightly wipe with alcohol, applying it to a piece of cotton wool. This “disinfection” will get rid of various bacteria and microorganisms that may be on the surface of the fruit.

When preparing tomatoes for storage, the stems are not removed. You can cut them only immediately before use.

Storage in cellars and basements

Tomatoes are placed in layers in wooden or plastic containers, sprinkled with chopped wood or covered with paper. If there are not many tomatoes, it is better to wrap each tomato in paper. Afterwards the boxes are sent to cellars or basements. The temperature in the basement must correspond to the storage standards for fruits of a certain degree of maturity.

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In containers made of cardboard or wood, tomatoes are placed in no more than 3 layers. Otherwise, the fruits located at the very bottom will be deformed under the weight of the upper layers.

You need to check the condition of the crop at least once a week. Then it will be possible to notice in time if some fruit begins to deteriorate. In this case, you should immediately isolate it from the rest of the crop.

Cold storage

Tomatoes, stem side up, are placed in layers in a plastic refrigerator container intended for vegetables. The layers are separated using paper, and for greater safety they wrap each fruit with it so that they do not touch. This will significantly increase the shelf life of tomatoes. You need to place the fruits in the container in a maximum of 2 layers, and if they are already ripe, in one.

Tomatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

These vegetables cannot be kept in a plastic bag. It is not capable of allowing air to pass through, and condensation forms very quickly inside the bag. In such conditions, the fruits will soon deteriorate.

If tomatoes have been at too low a temperature for some time, their taste may change. But if you let them sit at room temperature for a day after the cold, some of their taste will return.

Freezer storage

You can store tomatoes for the winter in the freezer. Tomatoes are frozen by first cutting them into rings, pieces or slices. Small fruits can be frozen even whole. But large tomatoes are not recommended to be frozen entirely. You can peel them and freeze them in the desired form:

• The peel is removed with a knife from a well-washed tomato using crosswise cuts in its upper part.
• The tomato is immersed in boiling water until the cut skin begins to curl (20 seconds).
• After which it is quickly removed and cooled with cold water.
• Then they are carefully removed from the skin and frozen in food containers or special ziplock bags.

To freeze tomatoes whole, you don't need anything other than ripe, firm fruits with firm skin. Small tomatoes are placed several pieces in one bag. Remove as much air from the bags as possible, tie them up and put them in the freezer.

Freezing in pieces

• In order to freeze tomatoes cut into circles, you will need fleshy fruits with a dense peel.
• Washed and dried tomatoes should be cut into slices up to 1 cm thick. If the slices are very thin, they will lose their shape during defrosting.
• Then the slices are laid out in layers in a food container, not forgetting to separate the layers with foil or cling film.
• Then put it in the freezer for 6 hours.
• After 6-12 hours, the frozen tomatoes are transferred to bags and sent into the cold for long-term storage.

When freezing tomatoes into pieces or cubes, you can first remove the skin, then cut them and place them in small batches into portioned bags. It is not necessary to ensure that the pieces are crumbly. They are added without defrosting to already prepared dishes.

You can make a homogeneous mass from tomatoes and freeze it in special molds. To do this, the fruits are crushed using a blender or meat grinder to a puree consistency. Then put into molds for freezing. As a last resort, you can use silicone baking molds or plastic ones for ice. It is important not to put tomato puree in each mold all the way to the top: when freezing, the mass will expand and go beyond its limits.

After freezing (8 - 10 hours), the puree should be removed from the molds and placed in freezer bags, packaged in small portions.

How to store tomatoes at home? Everyone, without exception, knows that conservation is our everything! And few people realize that tomatoes can be stored without special effort until February. You just need to know a few secrets.

Which tomatoes to choose

Ultra-early and early varieties tomatoes are not suitable for long-term storage. You need to choose late-ripening ones or those on the packaging of which it is written in black and white that they are shelf-stable. In turn, you need to set aside whole tomatoes without signs of disease or wilting, with intact skin. Soft ones are not suitable, they are already overripe or beaten off.

Tomatoes should be brown or milky ripe. Fully ripened “golden apples” cannot be stored for a long time without special treatment.

It is better not to wash vegetables before storing them. You can wipe each fruit with a cloth soaked in alcohol or good vodka. This will remove pathogens from the surface. There was advice to inject each tomato with alcohol at the point where the stalk attaches. But there was no answer on how to clean the needle puncture wound so that bacteria would not penetrate there.

Advice. If you don’t have alcohol on hand, you can wipe the tomatoes with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

What are the different methods for storing tomatoes?

Depending on the degree of ripeness, you can preserve tomatoes in several ways:

• wilting
• drying
• basement method
• preservation without heat treatment
• in a refrigerator

All options are good, you can choose the most suitable one for yourself.

Advice. It may happen that each method is needed. For example, the barrels of many tomatoes in the basement began to deteriorate. It’s impossible to eat all the fruits; it’s a shame to throw them away. After cutting off the sore spots, the tasty “remains” can be dried or preserved.

Sun-dried tomatoes

Wither whole fruits in the oven at a temperature of 40-60°C. Select ripe tomatoes, wash them thoroughly, and place them in one layer on a baking sheet greased with oil. Turn on the heat and leave the vegetables for 4-6 hours. Check occasionally to ensure the fruits do not dry out.

Then, after cooling, the dried tomatoes are placed in a glass jar in layers with vegetable oil. You can add your favorite spices to the bottom. These tomatoes can be stored for up to 8 months.

Advice. For a good result, cut the tomatoes in half and add a little salt.

The preparation of tomatoes is the same as for wilting. Drying alone takes about 10-15 hours, depending on the thickness of the fruit. You can dry tomatoes in the sun, but this will take at least 6-8 days. Or in an electric dryer, 8 hours.

Such fruits are stored in glass jars with a tight lid. Shelf life up to a year. They say that dried vegetables taste like fresh ones.

Advice. Tomatoes are not salted before drying. It's better to add a pinch of sugar.

Basement storage method

Basically, it's just a name. In this way, you can store tomatoes in the basement, on the balcony, in the pantry, shed, under the bed. Main conditions: good ventilation, darkness, temperature 9-12°C, humidity not higher than 65-70%.

High-quality ventilation is needed to remove excess carbon dioxide and ethylene. Because of them, tomatoes ripen quickly and then begin to deteriorate.

Darkness is required to slow down metabolic processes in tomatoes. This way they will last longer, and will begin to ripen when they are brought into the light. For the same purposes, a lower temperature is needed.

Air humidity must be observed as accurately as possible. If it goes down, the tomatoes will wither and begin to dry out. If it increases, harmful and putrefactive bacteria are activated, and you can lose the entire harvest.

Select brown tomatoes or the first stage of ripeness - milky. Do not wash, wipe with alcohol or potassium permanganate solution. Dry and wrap each tomato separately in parchment paper. If it's black, that's great. Next, place the vegetables in cardboard or wooden boxes in two layers, no more. Instead of boxes, you can use wicker baskets. The “golden apples” are sprinkled with dry straw, sawdust, peat, and onion peels. Put away for storage.

Ventilate regularly and inspect once a week for damage. At the first signs of disease, the tomato is removed so as not to infect other vegetables.

IN Soviet time on industrial enterprises For greater safety, the “golden apples” were covered with a thin layer of diluted gelatin. Nowadays food wax is used for these purposes. It is not always possible to get it, but gelatin is sold almost everywhere. Why not experiment with several fruits?

If all conditions are met, tomatoes can be safely stored until February, remaining fresh.

Before direct use, the fruits are taken out into the light and the temperature is raised to 18-20°C. In 5-7 days, the tomatoes will fully ripen.

Advice. Recently, special sheets for long-term storage of vegetables have appeared. They consist of two layers of fabric, with a special powder between them. It absorbs ethylene, carbon dioxide and pathogenic bacteria. Two such sheets are enough, top and bottom. No other shelters are required.

Conservation

You can store tomatoes in glass jars, without water, vinegar or spices. You will need ripe tomatoes, mustard powder or alcohol. The fruits are sorted, but not washed. Alcohol is poured into the bottom of the jar, 2-3 tablespoons. Place the tomatoes carefully without crushing them. Press the lid and twist the jar so that the alcohol is evenly distributed. Then they carefully set it on fire and immediately roll it up.

If dry mustard is chosen, then it is simply sprinkled with a thin layer on the tomatoes in the jar. Next, roll up the lids.

Tomatoes can be stored for up to 5 months at a temperature of 2-4°C.

Advice. There is no need to turn such jars upside down. Otherwise, all the mustard will fall into one place. And it should be evenly distributed among the fruits.

Tomatoes in the refrigerator

Storing tomatoes in the refrigerator is not a good idea. The temperature there is too low and the humidity is too high. The fruits may lie on the shelf for about 3 weeks, but the taste will change irreversibly, and the aroma will disappear completely. In order not to lose all the value of tomatoes, it is recommended to keep them in the refrigerator for no longer than a week.

Advice. It is not advisable to store tomatoes in plastic bags. Condensation and unpleasant odor are guaranteed.

Useful subtleties

1. It is necessary to collect tomatoes for storage before the onset of frost. There may be no external signs of frost damage to the fruit. And at the cellular level, irreversible processes will already begin. Such vegetables will spoil almost immediately.
2. It is advisable to store tomatoes with their stems. This way they will last longer.
3. Large tomatoes ripen much faster than small ones. To speed up this process, add a simple fresh apple to the fruit. It releases ethylene, which promotes proper rapid ripening.
4. Before storing, boxes and crates must be thoroughly sprayed. Alcohol, a solution of potassium permanganate or chlorine disinfects containers well. Then you need to dry it thoroughly. And only then use it for long-term storage of tomatoes.
5. It is not advisable to take boxes with lattice bottoms. Vegetables may be crushed against the rods or the skins may break.
6. The fruits are placed strictly with the stalk facing up. This is their natural position.
7. Green tomatoes are only suitable for timely ripening. They are not stored for long-term storage. The taste is very special, few people like it.
8. It is not recommended to store tomatoes beyond the beginning of March. Seeds begin to sprout in them, the taste changes, the pulp becomes loose, and an unpleasant amber reminiscent of soap appears. Everything has its time. Even on New Year's holidays, taste fresh tomatoes own production- already a remarkable achievement.
9. Tomatoes in boxes or crates are not covered with lids so that they do not “suffocate” in their own carbon dioxide. Can't wait to cover your containers? Take a loose fabric, thin paper or non-woven material.
10. Before harvesting for storage, vegetables are sorted by degree of ripeness, size and variety. They are placed in boxes following the same principle.
11. Tomatoes collected from open ground, are preserved much better than greenhouse fruits and those grown under cover.

Of course, over time, the taste of tomatoes changes a little, the aroma becomes weaker. But still, it is much better than those tomatoes that are sold in supermarkets and stores in winter.

Video: how to keep tomatoes fresh for the winter