The tomato dilemma is actual: You purchase a haul of superbly ripe summer season tomatoes, fastidiously transport them residence and not using a single one getting bumped and bruised, then set them out on a counter to eat over the subsequent few days. However earlier than you’ve got managed to get pleasure from all of them, there are indicators of wrinkling and collapse. It is the unending pressure between two very true issues: Ripe, summer season tomatoes are one of the best tomatoes (some would say solely tomatoes), and ripe summer season tomatoes teeter on the precipice of a surprisingly speedy decline.

What to do? Effectively, as controversial as it’s, you possibly can put tomatoes on the brink within the fridge: We have carried out the exams, and it’s by far the preferable choice to interrupt down and decay. However there’s one other factor you are able to do first, and it helps stave off untimely tomato demise, shopping for you time to truly get pleasure from these beautiful summer season fruit: Retailer them stem-side down.

That is as a result of the stem finish is a weak level in an in any other case well-contained little package deal. Tomato skins, whereas skinny, are good at holding juices locked contained in the fruit. However the round scar the place the stem was as soon as connected is sort of a wound: As soon as picked from the plant, a tomato quickly loses moisture by way of the stem scar, turning a as soon as juicy tomato into an more and more dry, wrinkled shell of its former self. 

By storing tomatoes the wrong way up, the scar is blocked, which slows moisture loss and helps them keep plump and juicy longer. You’ll be able to even go one step additional by masking the scar with a bit of tape to lock in much more of the tomato’s water. It is a methodology many cooks use, and one which former editor Kenji has proven to work: In his testing, Kenji discovered that tomatoes saved stem aspect down for 3 days misplaced simply 1 to 2% of their weight, whereas fruit saved proper aspect up misplaced as much as 7%. That may very well be the distinction between a tomato bursting with juice and one which’s shriveled up. 

So the subsequent time you come residence with a basket of lovely heirloom tomatoes from the market, do your self a favor and take a second to place them correctly, stem aspect down. You will not eradicate the nice tomato dilemma, however you’ll scale back it.