'Best’ storage method will keep tomatoes fresh for 10 days without affecting the taste

Tomatoes are a household staple and Brits eat 500,000 tonnes every year, but it is a notoriously difficult food to keep fresh. 

It can be annoying when tomatoes go begin to spoil only after a few days after being bought, but this is because most people do not know the correct way to store them. 

This sensitive fruit should be stored differently depending on how ripe it is, as green or newly bought tomatoes should never be placed in the fridge until they have ripened. 

Keeping tomatoes in the fridge before they have matured will halt their growing process completely due to the cold temperature, which can cause them to become flavourless, watery or mushy, 

For best results, keep tomatoes on a kitchen countertop at room temperature and away from sunlight until they have fully ripened, but there is a trick to keeping them fresh without a fridge. 

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Once tomatoes are red they can be placed in the fridge to stop them ripening any further, but doing so can affect their flavour and texture. 

Mary Hunt, a money-saving expert and founder of Everyday Cheapskate has shared that there is an easy storage method to keep tomatoes “perfectly fresh” without affecting their taste, and all you need is some sellotape. 

She said: “I have tested so many ways to keep tomatoes fresh long enough to use them—on the counter, upside down, in a closed container in the fridge, attached to the stem, to name a few.

“None were super satisfying. But this method? Now my absolute favourite and the only way I will ever store tomatoes.”

All you need to do is place a piece of sellotape on top of the tomato where the green leaves or vine would be as it will lock the moisture into the fruit and keep it fresher for longer.

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Mary explained: “The theory is that simple cellophane tape applied tightly creates a barrier to hold moisture in and potential bacteria and mould out.”

You can use any sellotape you wish but Mary used scotch shipping tape which is often used to wrap up packages. 

Then, place your tomatoes on the kitchen countertop and this “fast, cheap and overall better” food storage method should keep your tomatoes fresh without affecting the flavour for at least 10 days. 

Mary added: “Using this method, I can leave an unwashed, ‘taped’ tomato on the counter for 10 days, and it’s the same as it was on day one. 

“To use, simply remove the tape, wash it, and enjoy. That’s it! Best way ever to store fresh tomatoes long enough to actually use them, without any detectable change in texture or flavour. Amazing.”