We are accustomed to laying potatoes , beets, carrots in the cellar for winter storage, hanging garlic and onions in the kitchen. But how to store tomatoes for the winter, not everyone knows. And even on the contrary - most people are confident that tomatoes are not subject to long-term storage and try to simply conserve them.
Having learned the tricks of how to properly store fresh tomatoes, you can extend the summer for yourself and eat tomatoes for winter holidays or even save them until the first spring days. Arrange them for wintering can be as in the apartment, and in the vegetable store. Let's find out more about this.
At what temperature should fresh tomatoes be stored?
It is optimal that freshly harvested tomatoes should be stored in the range from + 5 ° C to +11 ° C. If the temperature is higher or lower, the tomatoes will quickly deteriorate and they will not be able to be stored for more than a couple of weeks.
If there is no possibility to maintain a stable temperature, then it is possible to store tomatoes for the winter in the freezer. Of course, when defrosting, they lose their marketable appearance and taste, but they are perfect for making sauces and as a filling for pizza.
Where to store fresh tomatoes in the apartment?
It is most convenient to keep tomatoes in the refrigerator, or rather, in the vegetable compartment, where the temperature and humidity are optimal. Before you put them into storage you need to make sure that the crop has no damage on the peel, there are no cracks and stains.
You can store tomatoes and glazed loggias, but in such conditions they will last no more than 2-3 months, because with the onset of persistent cold weather, the air temperature will drop very much.
How to store tomatoes in the cellar?
Sometimes it is simply impossible to keep a large amount of a tomato in the refrigerator and then a cellar comes to the rescue. There you can perfectly save unripe fruits, provided that the temperature and humidity are about 80%. If it is larger, the tomatoes will simply rot, and if less, they will dry up.
Before laying for the winter, the fruits are cleaned, processed with alcohol, then wrapped in paper and stacked with stems upwards in wooden or plastic boxes or on racks. Regularly, once every two weeks you will need to visit the cellar with a sanitary check and discard the fruits that began to spoil.
Whichever method of storage of tomatoes is chosen, one should be careful when harvesting. It is advisable to choose late ripening varieties, collect tomatoes in the middle of the day, so that they do not have dew. In addition, they should be greenish or milky, but not ripe.