How to Make Green Tomatoes Ripen Faster

Green tomatoes have their place in the culinary arena, but sometimes you just want them to ripen and turn red so they can be used in more traditional dishes. If you're getting impatient, there's one way to accelerate the ripening process.

Things You'll Need

• Green tomatoes
• Fresh apples
• A large paper bag

Instructions

1. Open a large brown paper bag and carefully fill it with both green tomatoes and fresh apples. Try to keep a one-to-one ratio of tomatoes to apples.

2. Close the bag, folding the top over a few times, when the bag is half full of tomatoes and apples.

3. Wait at least a full day and then begin checking on the tomatoes, twice a day. You'll know they're ripe when they're bright red and slightly less firm.

4. Remove the ripe tomatoes from the bag and store them separately. If some ripen faster than others, the stragglers can stay in the bag with the apples until they're ready.

Tips & Warnings

• This technique works because both tomatoes and apples release ethylene gas throughout the ripening process. Keeping them together in a closed space allows them to sit in an invisible cloud of ethylene, which dramatically speeds up ripening.

• The apples you use will ripen faster, as well.