Stores refrigerate to allow for transportation times, etc., but they sit unchilled in the produce section.

I think they'd be OK in the produce drawer of the fridge but I think they'll taste better left out.

That's been my experience with homegrowns. Chilling changes the flavor and the texture.

are indeed different, and much more delicious.

Maybe better.

Tomatoes get an icky texture in the fridge. Store tomatoes aren't typically refrigerated either.

But they are sitting in the produce section, and most of them are ripened by artificial means (CO2).

but they aren't in the refrigerated area of the produce section. Look next time you're there.

Garden tomatoes are a blessing. You'll probably eat them in short order. I wish I had one. I just paid 4.59 lb for an heirloom tomato.

...which is the ripening enzyme for tomatoes. Ethylene is given off by ripening fruit - if you pick tomatoes green and put them in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple, it helps the tomatoes to ripen (to an adequate but not perfect, stage - tomatoes picked green and ripened on the shelf will never develop the complex flavors of near vine ripened ones).

I'll defer to your expertise

look luscious?

Yummy.

LOL. Still, that first one... MMM.

Just finished the first draft of the text and sent it in to Storey!

Be sure to keep us posted!

My collection of varieties is well over 3000...been collecting them since the mid 1980s

I wish I lived nearby to get the cast offs.

90 varieties of tomatoes (heirloom and hybrid) and 40 of peppers. In August, they have a tomato tasting party that brings foodies from all over the state, and the related magazines and restaurants, in for a huge event. Right down the road in the middle of nowhere....I am trying 3 new heirloom varieties this year in addition to my normal favs.

I can't wait for your book...I simply love tomatoes, and have read your information through DU here. You have a real love and expertise for them, and that will translate into good, must have reading, and a keeper for my personal library.

I look forward to it!

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

...from the plant as it dies / goes dormant.

If find store bought tastes so bloody bland/crap that apart from the occasional banana, the only fruit I eat these days is scrumped, which is sometimes a bit problematical for a hairy bastard in his late 40's.

that my Southern US self is unfamiliar with.

Please excuse me if I ask you what "scrumped" means. I'm familiar with all of the other words, and likely any terms you throw at me that are colloquial.

Ethylene Glycol is a liquid, used to be the main component of antifreeze, but it is sweet and toxic, so it was removed, mostly.

Ethylene is a gas. Like Ethane, but less Hydrogen, so the carbons double bond.

I'd say let them remain at room temperature prior to slicing.

Refrigerating tomatoes gives them a mushy consistency that would probably be a delight to a mixologist. However, I think that most people prefer fresh tomatoes at room temperature.

I know this now. LOL. I didn't know before, but it is good to be told differently. I'm just shocked that my Aunt is right. She right about so little, and everything in politics.

They change in many ways when refrigerated.

Actually, no tomatoes in any store or market should ever be refrigerated - if they are, that is a pretty big no-no.

Refrigeration of tomatoes changes the cellular structure (makes them mushy/mealy). Tomatoes have so many aromatic compounds responsible for their distinct and unique flavors - and most of them are quite volatile; when chilled, the substances can't reach your nasal passage - hence can't be "tasted".

Why some of us "love" the flavor of refrigerated tomatoes, I feel, is that it is a flavor of nostalgia - that is how many of us remember the flavor of tomatoes because that's what our parents did.

That's my two cents on the topic!

and I can see that. It really is fascinating how food can change characteristics in the refrigerator, though I don't know why I am surprised since it can in the presence of acid, base or heat.

Store at room temp to keep the flavor.

I think that's why I never liked tomatoes, the scent and texture is off after being in the refrigerator.

See, my mother always put them in the fridge, and I hated tomatoes. Then I tried some tomatoes that were never in the fridge, and I liked them. I guess that answers my question of why I hated tomatoes

vine ripened, unrefrigerated ones!

And of course, tomatoes vary widely - and I mean, like night and day - depending upon which variety, how they are grown, where they are grown, what the weather was like that year, and even vary between first, middle and late in the season.

It is endlessly fascinating!

To make it even more complex, we all taste things differently - one person's tart tomato is another's sweet! tomato tastings are really fun - just like wine tastings, in a way (except you get canker sores instead of drunk!)

was a pepper tasting festival. I *LOVE* hot peppers, and the complexity of each was fascinating. I had the best time that day just savoring the flavor of each type!

be patient...probably within a few weeks!

Thanks so much, Craig.

them in the fridge.

My mother is great at a number of things, but cooking just isn't one of them. I've had to search out information to become decent at it. Mind you, some wonderful people have passed on recipes to me and taught me things so that I'm not a complete novice, but there is always more to learn.

Thanks all

Trick I learnt by accident when we ended up with waaaaay too many sauce tomatoes.

Let the tomatoes fully ripen (on vine by preference) then put them in the freezer. Don't worry about bagging them against freezer burn.

Then when you need a few for cooking, run them under hot tap, peel off the skin and drop straight in the pot whole.

I love homemade sauce!

I missed this the first time, you DON'T bag them?

What happened is, a friend of the family had promised to bring some from the local grower, but kept forgetting, so we went and got them ourselves. Spent 2 days turning 50 lb into sauce/ketchup, then came home from shopping to find 50 lb waiting on the back step.

All sauced out, we upended crate into the chest freezer and used them in spaghetti sauce for the next couple of years.

I didn't think of it that way! You are truly smart for doing it that way, and I will do it too!

but grocery tomatoes just DON'T taste like tomatoes should. Dad grew them, but I don't have a garden.

Store bought or homegrown tomatoes should never see the inside of a fridge.

We grow our own in the summer and OD on them as long as the plants are producing. I roast all the excess ones on a baking sheet in the oven and ziplock bag them for freezer storage for the winter. After I slice the tomatoes I sprinkle minced garlic and Italian seasoning on them and drizzle them with EVOO and pop them in a 350 degree oven for about 1/2 hour. They make delicious spaghetti or general cooking sauce.

They get an odd texture and lose much of their flavor.

Commercially grown tomatoes are picked green and ripened with ethylene gas. They can tolerate some refrigeration while green, but not so much as they ripen.

I could eat all seven of those tomatoes in one batch. One of my favorite ways to eat fresh tomatoes is to cut them into slices, sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with light olive olive oil and balsamic. I also love tomato sandwiches with just tomatoes, mayo and a little salt.

Is there a mouth watering smilie?

shouldn't there ?

leave them out of refrigerator.

However, best to not pile up in a bowl, should be one layer only.

However, (and this is after last year's huge abundant harvest of my son's plantings) if you have too many to eat or give away, and get tired of freezing, if they start to look soft, and ready to ferment, you can put them in to frig. to make them last another day so you can have more time to freeze or cook into sauce.

another thing my Aunt told me to do, but thanks for the reassurance that I was handling them the right way!

One summer I was working with an engineering department. Two of the guys lived in the mountains, one by a stream & the other by a lake. They started bringing in tomatoes & it quickly became a competition of the river tomatoes vs lake tomatoes. Eventually the entire department got into it & we'd have "sandwich Friday's." We each contributed something to the makings for sandwiches & salads & of course, tons of tomatoes! Those were some of the best lunches I've ever had!

Store tomatoes are a pathetic joke.

It sounds like a lot of fun!

I've been suckered in so many times by gimmicks, like still on stems and hothouse grown.
All of them taste like damp cardboard.

I'm with everyone else. Keep the 'maters out of the fridge. I'd probably sit down and eat all seven of them. When I get a really good tomato, I eat it out of hand, like an apple, maybe with a little salt. And tomato sandwiches.

A good tomato is the most delicious food on Earth, as far as I'm concerned.

a delicacy, that's for certain

I'm a network engineer, and we occasionally have potlucks of things we bring. Mine is either red beans and rice or black beans and yellow rice. Both get devoured . My favorite is still the 7-layer dip the hardware supervisor brings . It all chills nicely in the cold rooms (or in my case, the crock pot stays warm on a power strip).

It's funny how, even if you don't plan it, you end up with a variety of stuff to eat.

We had 7 layer dip yesterday!

Whenever I have a plethora of tomatoes (especially the little ones) I pop them on a cookie sheet with some olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them. They can then be put in the fridge or just thrown in with some pasta or rice. I frequently roast them with zucchini, onions and garlic. Very yummy on their own or as an ingredient in another dish.

Thank you Empress

That's what I hear.

They'll last longer and will have a better flavor.