Methods for storing fresh tomatoes before the New Year

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

After harvesting tomatoes, many are interested in how to preserve tomatoes before the New Year at home. This is not strange, because you want to feast on vegetables grown with your own hands for the holiday. We will learn about the most popular ways to extend the life of a tomato in an apartment and a house.

Storage methods and rules

There are many known methods for preserving this vegetable. Each housewife chooses the most suitable method for herself.

Let's consider the most common options:

• drying and drying;
• freezing (it is important that it is only dry);
• canning;
• fresh bookmark in the refrigerator.

The latter method is of particular interest. However, it requires compliance with the rules, because tomatoes are demanding for optimal storage conditions. The slightest violations can lead to the fact that the product quickly deteriorates and simply has to be thrown away.

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So, keeping it fresh requires:

1. Compliance with the temperature regime. Temperature readings should vary between 8-11 degrees (for ripe tomatoes) and 13-20 degrees (for milky tomatoes).
2. It is important that the air humidity is within 90-95%.
3. Regular access to fresh air (that is, the refrigerator must or the room where the fruits are stored must be ventilated).
4. Lack of light (in this case, storage in the refrigerator may cause problems).

If you live in a private house and do not know how to preserve tomatoes before the New Year at home, the first step is to choose the perfect place.

In this case, subject to the above conditions, the following will work:

• garage;
• basement;
• cellar;
• veranda.

But residents of apartments should pay attention to places such as:

• balcony;
• loggia;
• pantry;
• vestibule.

You don't need to wash the fruit before storing it. After they ripen, a protective layer forms on the surface, which will keep them fresh for a long time, even before the New Year. If you wash it off, the vegetables will rot in a short time.

Shelf life of fruits

It is important to consider that green tomatoes at home can be stored longer than ripe fruits. However, the taste will be poor, which cannot be said about tomatoes that have been prepared for storage after full ripening. For most people, taste is an important point.

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Therefore, you need to focus on the following indicators:

1. Red tomatoes can be stored for up to three months. It all depends on the variety and how carefully the crop was harvested.
2. Frozen tomatoes in a dry freezer, stored for up to six months.
3. The shelf life of dried and dried tomatoes varies from 4 to 8 months.
4. Tomatoes in jars, under an iron lid, can stand for 3 years.

If you have harvested a large crop of tomatoes, then you can try several storage options at once. Even if something goes wrong and the experience is not successful, in any case, some option will give good results.

The best ways to store tomatoes

It is easiest to keep vegetables in a small box. It can be a plastic or wooden container. It is important that the boxes are clean and dry.

Let's analyze this option step by step:

1. Harvest your crops. The fruits must be strong and healthy. The optimal time for picking tomatoes is when the average air temperature will be 10 degrees Celsius.
2. Tomatoes should be dry, so picking them from the bush is best during the day, when the dew has melted.
3. Sort vegetables by size, ripeness level.
4. Fold the fruits in boxes, in several layers.
5. Each layer can be sprinkled with straw, sawdust, peat, onion peel or perlite. In general, any material that will pick up excess moisture.
6. If you find rotten tomatoes, they should be thrown away immediately. Otherwise, they can become the main cause of spoilage of all fruits.

It is not recommended to wrap tomatoes in paper. Since the fruit will be difficult to inspect, and you will not be able to notice the first signs of spoilage.

Storage in jars of mustard

This method will keep the fruit fresh for a long time. For this method, you need to do the following:

1. Select dense tomatoes, rinse them thoroughly, then dry.
2. Take a three-liter jar, wash it and dry it as well. It is important that it is sterile clean.
3. Put dry mustard on the bottom of the jar, then place the tomatoes there (not very tightly).
4. Then fill the fruits with mustard, as the entire jar is filled. You need about 5-6 tablespoons of preservative
5. Next, the cans need to be rolled up under a metal lid and taken out to a cold place.

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Thanks to this harvesting option, tomatoes can be stored both in an apartment and in a private house.

Storing fruit in the refrigerator

In this case, you will need to put vegetables in a special box, after putting them in a paper bag. However, the opinion of the housewives agrees that the shelf life of tomatoes in the refrigerator will not last, so it makes no sense to take up space.

In summary, we note that homemade tomatoes are always tastier. We hope our tips will help you figure out how to preserve tomatoes before the New Year at home.

Bonus

From the text, we learned:

• You need to store tomatoes in a cool room until the New Year.
• It is important to ensure that no damaged tomatoes fall into the box.
• Refrigerated storage is no different from room storage.