How to Ripen Green Tomatoes | At Home With P. Allen Smith
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Transcript:
You know, you should never give up on green tomatoes. It pays to give them a chance. Let's
say you have a bumper crop of tomatoes, and it's getting cold, and you're wondering what
to do with those green ones. Well, there are a lot of recipes for green tomatoes. I love
salsa verde -- that's good one. And also, fried green tomatoes. If you don't love the
tomato itself, at least you could see the movie. These things are delicious, and they
should be preserved at all cost. Let me show you a time-honored method for turning a green
tomato like this into a beautiful red, ripe one. It's really quite simple. You see, success
in ripening a green tomato begins in the garden. What you wanna do is cut them with a knife,
a sharp knife or scissors, and you wanna make sure that you leave the little cap and stem
on -- that actually helps. When you bring them in, just rinse them off with some tepid
water and let them air dry. Once they're dry, go through and pick out the ones that are
white like this: You see that white-ish color? Don't go for the really dark green ones that
are small and hard. Those are better for salsa verde. When they're white like this, they're
more likely to ripen. Those little hard green ones, they often rot. With them sorted out,
what you wanna do is take the tomato and just take a piece of newspaper like this and just
wrap the tomato in a newspaper and store it in a dark place like a box. You see, I'm just
placing these tomatoes inside here one at a time. And what you'll want to do, eventually,
is place this box in a cool, dark place. When I say cool, I mean 55 to 70 degrees. If you
want them to ripen a little faster, warm the temperature up. Another way to accelerate
the temperature is to take an apple, or two in a box this size, and place the apple in
the box with them. You see, the ethylene gas that an apple gives off accelerates the ripening
of really any fruit. Certainly, the tomatoes are producing their own ethylene gas which
causes them to ripen, but these apples will really amplify the process. Next, all you
have to do is box them up, place them in a closet or in a basement, and check on them
about once a week and see how they're ripening. If any of them begin to develop a spot, or
it looks like they might rot, take them out. And if you only have a few tomatoes, don't
worry about putting them in a box: Just place them in a brown paper sack, and the same process
will cause them to ripen as well. Hey, if you're finding these tips helpful, make sure
you subscribe to eHow Home. Alright, lots of tomatoes.
say you have a bumper crop of tomatoes, and it's getting cold, and you're wondering what
to do with those green ones. Well, there are a lot of recipes for green tomatoes. I love
salsa verde -- that's good one. And also, fried green tomatoes. If you don't love the
tomato itself, at least you could see the movie. These things are delicious, and they
should be preserved at all cost. Let me show you a time-honored method for turning a green
tomato like this into a beautiful red, ripe one. It's really quite simple. You see, success
in ripening a green tomato begins in the garden. What you wanna do is cut them with a knife,
a sharp knife or scissors, and you wanna make sure that you leave the little cap and stem
on -- that actually helps. When you bring them in, just rinse them off with some tepid
water and let them air dry. Once they're dry, go through and pick out the ones that are
white like this: You see that white-ish color? Don't go for the really dark green ones that
are small and hard. Those are better for salsa verde. When they're white like this, they're
more likely to ripen. Those little hard green ones, they often rot. With them sorted out,
what you wanna do is take the tomato and just take a piece of newspaper like this and just
wrap the tomato in a newspaper and store it in a dark place like a box. You see, I'm just
placing these tomatoes inside here one at a time. And what you'll want to do, eventually,
is place this box in a cool, dark place. When I say cool, I mean 55 to 70 degrees. If you
want them to ripen a little faster, warm the temperature up. Another way to accelerate
the temperature is to take an apple, or two in a box this size, and place the apple in
the box with them. You see, the ethylene gas that an apple gives off accelerates the ripening
of really any fruit. Certainly, the tomatoes are producing their own ethylene gas which
causes them to ripen, but these apples will really amplify the process. Next, all you
have to do is box them up, place them in a closet or in a basement, and check on them
about once a week and see how they're ripening. If any of them begin to develop a spot, or
it looks like they might rot, take them out. And if you only have a few tomatoes, don't
worry about putting them in a box: Just place them in a brown paper sack, and the same process
will cause them to ripen as well. Hey, if you're finding these tips helpful, make sure
you subscribe to eHow Home. Alright, lots of tomatoes.