How to Pick Ripe Tomatoes

The ability to select ripe produce isn't something we're born with: it's an acquired skill. Fortunately, learning how to pick a ripe tomato is something anyone can do with a little know-how and practice. Naturally ripened tomatoes are such a far cry from their under-ripe and artificially ripened counterparts that you may discover that what you thought was a mealy, flavorless salad filler is actually a succulent, tangy-sweet fruit that will soon become your favorite.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• No special tools required.

1. The first step to picking a ripe tomato is knowing when to shop. Though many grocery stores sell tomatoes year round, if you buy tomatoes when they're out of season, you're bound to be disappointed. Out-of-season produce is often imported, which means that it's picked before it's ready and then ripened artificially using a gas called ethylene. Chemical ripening just doesn't achieve the same results as mother nature. Different varieties of tomatoes mature at different times: there are early season, mid-season, and late season tomatoes. Where you live will determine the length of your tomato season: subtropical and tropical areas have longer growing seasons than their colder counterparts. In general, it's safe to assume that you're in tomato season during the summer months.

2. Knowing where to find ripe tomatoes is just as important as knowing when to look for them. Even during tomato season, your local big box grocer may have disappointing tomatoes because of the way these stores' food purchasing and distribution systems work. The best source of a truly ripe tomato is your local farmers market or co-op, where you can often get tomatoes that were picked within 24 hours of your purchase. Of course, if you have a green thumb, the best place to find a ripe tomato is in your own backyard.

3. When you shop for tomatoes during the summer months at a farmers market or co-op, you won't just be getting the most flavorful and nutritionally valuable tomatoes available--you'll also likely stumble upon types of tomatoes you never knew existed. Large grocery stores most commonly sell hothouse and Roma tomato varieties. However, there are actually hundreds of varieties of tomatoes with fascinatingly descriptive names like tigerella, brandywine, garden peach, mortgage lifter, oxheart and zebra, just to name a few. Also, did you know that tomatoes don't just come in red? There are yellow tomatoes, orange tomatoes, yellow and green striped tomatoes, purple tomatoes and more. Furthermore, tomatoes aren't just round: there are ruffled tomatoes, heart-shaped tomatoes and oblong tomatoes, too!

4. Regardless of the color, size, shape or variety of the tomato, the guidelines for finding a ripe tomato are the same. As with all ripe fruits, a ripe tomato will seem heavy for its size. If you're not sure what this feels like, you can get and idea by picking up several different tomatoes of a similar size and comparing their heft.

5. Once you've found a nice, weighty tomato, hold it up to your nose. Ripe tomatoes have a distinctive garden-fresh aroma.

6. Finally, how does the tomato feel? A ripe tomato will be soft when pressed (but not mushy). Again, as with other fruits, you'll want to avoid tomatoes that are bruised or that have broken skin.

Tips & Warnings

• If the tomatoes you're considering purchasing are located in a chilled area of the produce section, don't buy them. When tomatoes get too cold, they become mealy and flavorless.
• At home, store your tomatoes on the counter. Even the ripest tomato will lose its panache if it's refrigerated. If the idea of eating a room temperature tomato isn't appetizing to you, it's okay to pop a tomato in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. That's just long enough to cool it off, but not long enough to ruin it.
• Ripe tomatoes often spoil quickly, attracting mold and fruit flies, so make sure to eat them within a couple of days.

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