Helpful Hints from joeeze: How to store a tomato

Enough already with the Chinese earthquake and pacemaker hacking — how about something useful for a change?

Huh?

Mr. joe?

OK, I hear you.

In the latest issue (July/August 2008) of Cook's Illustrated magazine is a nugget worth savoring; it follows.

Lengthening the Life of Tomatoes

We've heard that storing a tomato with its stem end facing down can prolong shelf life. To test this theory, we placed one batch of tomatoes stem-end up and another stem-end down and stored them at room temperature. A week later, nearly all the stem-down tomatoes remained in perfect condition, while the stem-up tomatoes had shriveled and started to mold. Why the difference? We surmised that the scar left on the tomato skin where the stem once grew provides both an escape for moisture and an entry point for mold and bacteria. Placing a tomato stem-end down blocks air from entering and moisture from exiting the scar. To confirm this theory, we ran another test, this time comparing tomatoes stored stem-end down with another batch stored stem-end up, but with a piece of tape sealing off their scars. The taped, stem-end up tomatoes survived just as well as the stem-end down batch.

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FunFact: Tomatoes should always be stored at room temperature, never in the fridge.

Now there's news you can use.