How to Store Tomatoes for Freshness and Flavor

At lunch today, Dan and I enjoyed slices of a ripe Marnero tomato. Perfection.

This heirloom tomato–pictured ripe above–will be sold at our farm this summer, and we want to make sure our CSA members and farm stand customers know how to store these beauties so they can get the same flavor experience we had at lunch today.

Tomatoes are best stored at 55 degrees F–yes, another type of produce who likes this hard-to-find-in-summer temp! At our farm, we have an entire walk-in cooler dedicated to 50-55 degrees, but we know this isn’t likely to happen in your home. So what to do?

Some people store their tomatoes in the fridge, but we feel this has a negative impact on both flavor and texture. Our recommendation is to store them on the counter top in the coolest, darkest part of your kitchen (or other part of your house). 

I recommend the same storage technique for cherry tomatoes.

The only tomatoes I recommend putting in the fridge are the overripe ones that you’ll be turning into sauce or smoothie or soup.