Tomatoes wrinkling on counter before ripening.

[Lmbauer2017]

Howdy,

I panic-pulled a number of tomatoes because I wasn’t sure how much longer of the heat they could take. I placed them in a couple brown bags to let them ripen, but they’ve been getting wrinkled very quickly. Am I doing something wrong? Some of them will also take well over a week to get fairrrly ripe, but still not completely ripe before getting mushy/wrinkled as seen in the picture below.

P.S. I have another large batch of San Marzanos that I’m leaving on the plant until fully red as an experiment. It’s been well over 2 weeks since they began turning and most are still only half red half yellow.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[pepper]

I would put them in the fridge, in a paper bag. You can also freeze them if using them for sauce or whatever. Freeze them first on a bakers tray in slices then once frozen put them in a ziplock and suck the air out with a straw. For me, those would be way too ripe to eat other then using for cooking but that's just me. I like them firm and orange-ish color.

 

[Chuck]

Howdy,

I panic-pulled a number of tomatoes because I wasn’t sure how much longer of the heat they could take. I placed them in a couple brown bags to let them ripen, but they’ve been getting wrinkled very quickly. Am I doing something wrong? Some of them will also take well over a week to get fairrrly ripe, but still not completely ripe before getting mushy/wrinkled as seen in the picture below.

P.S. I have another large batch of San Marzanos that I’m leaving on the plant until fully red as an experiment. It’s been well over 2 weeks since they began turning and most are still only half red half yellow.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!
View attachment 97771View attachment 97772

A tomato is at maturity as soon as it STARTS to change into its reddish color. The longer a tomato is on the vine the quicker it will start to show what yours are showing. If you pick a tomato at first blush it will still ripen with no difference in flavor. A tomato has 3 stages. The first is the green stage where the entire tomato is a light green color. The second stage is the white stage. The tomato begins to lighten to almost a white color from the blossom end up with the shoulders whitening last. In most cases the white begins to turn to a very light pinkish color. A tomato picked during the white stage will still ripen very well but usually there is a diminished taste. The third stage is the ripe stage. As soon as the white begins to change to its reddish color (first blush) the tomato is ready to be picked. There is no reason to let the tomato stay on the vine and be subject to everything from the temperatures to insects and caterpillars to birds and animals and thieving neighbors. When a tomato is at first blush its seeds are viable but not at the white stage. The reason your tomatoes are wrinkling is because of the super high temperatures we have had and because you left them on the plant for too long. If you had picked at first blush they would have still totally ripened but not wrinkled. Once a tomato is refrigerated it will stop the ripening process so do not refrigerate first blush tomatoes. Put them on a counter out of direct sunlight.

 

[pepper]

I thought we were talking about those over ripe ones in the pic and on the vine. I agree with Chuck but for those ones that are already beyond ripe make some sauce out of them, they are perfect for that. Or cut them in half and salt them then leave them in the sun to dry on a screen. Nothing better then sun dried tomatoes.

 

[Lmbauer2017]

Iiiiinteresting… ok I have a ton that are deep into the blushing stage. I’ll pick them asap. I think these wrinkled ones were a little too close to the oven now that I’m thinking about it…. We usually never use it, but we used it twice this week, so extra heat causing wrinkles seems to check-out.

They just seem to take so long to ripen completely! I wasn’t sure if I was doing something wrong. These have been in a paper bag for almost two weeks and some are still firm with a yellow tint, while the San marzanos are almost mush with stillll some yellow patches. I think the radiant heat from the oven messed things up though. Ugh so foolish. I’ll treat these new ones a little better.

Y’all think tomatoes with this much yellow/orange left are still ok to make a sauce with?

 

[Chuck]

Why not just slice one and see what it tastes like. I bet you will be pleasantly surprised. Many many years ago I contracted with Kraft Foods to grow San Marzano tomatoes for them. As you know not all of the tomatoes ripen at the same time. By the time the contract date was up there were many yellow red tomatoes, many perfectly ripe tomatoes and many overripe mushy tomatoes, all mixed up together. They were all picked and placed in the truck and I presume all went together into the boiler together and all ended up in the same spaghetti sauce bottle together. So I guess the answer to your question is a yes.

 

[Lmbauer2017]

Why not just slice one and see what it tastes like. I bet you will be pleasantly surprised. Many many years ago I contracted with Kraft Foods to grow San Marzano tomatoes for them. As you know not all of the tomatoes ripen at the same time. By the time the contract date was up there were many yellow red tomatoes, many perfectly ripe tomatoes and many overripe mushy tomatoes, all mixed up together. They were all picked and placed in the truck and I presume all went together into the boiler together and all ended up in the same spaghetti sauce bottle together. So I guess the answer to your question is a yes.

Hahaha thank you Mr. Chuck. Cool story! Alright I’ll test them out, what a simple solution lol.

 

[Eeilee]

I agree on making sauce out of the squishy ones. They’ll make delicious marinara

 

[MiTmite9]

Iiiiinteresting… ok I have a ton that are deep into the blushing stage. I’ll pick them asap. I think these wrinkled ones were a little too close to the oven now that I’m thinking about it…. We usually never use it, but we used it twice this week, so extra heat causing wrinkles seems to check-out.

They just seem to take so long to ripen completely! I wasn’t sure if I was doing something wrong. These have been in a paper bag for almost two weeks and some are still firm with a yellow tint, while the San marzanos are almost mush with stillll some yellow patches. I think the radiant heat from the oven messed things up though. Ugh so foolish. I’ll treat these new ones a little better.

Y’all think tomatoes with this much yellow/orange left are still ok to make a sauce with?View attachment 97776

Never heard tell of putting tomatoes into a paper bag (to help with ripening). Why not do as we do here at my house and set the tomatoes on a sunlit window sill? We've had to pick some of our tomatoes at early stages of ripening, thanks to having to compete with squirrels and chipmunks. A day or so in sunlight gets those toms "done" to perfection.

 

[Chuck]

Never heard tell of putting tomatoes into a paper bag (to help with ripening). Why not do as we do here at my house and set the tomatoes on a sunlit window sill? We've had to pick some of our tomatoes at early stages of ripening, thanks to having to compete with squirrels and chipmunks. A day or so in sunlight gets those toms "done" to perfection.

All the bag does is trap the ethylene gas. A tomato produces its own ethylene gas but putting it into a bag quickens the process holding most of the gas.

 

[MiTmite9]

All the bag does is trap the ethylene gas. A tomato produces its own ethylene gas but putting it into a bag quickens the process holding most of the gas.

As I already knew, with bananas and avocados. Never heard anyone do it with tomatoes. Sunlit window works great.

 

[Chuck]

As I already knew, with bananas and avocados. Never heard anyone do it with tomatoes. Sunlit window works great.

Very true, especially if you have a lot of tomatoes. Having them on the windowsill or a table enables you to pick and choose and when in a bag this is difficult to do. If one only has a few tomatoes then a bag might be a little better.

 

[DirtMechanic]

These san marzanos were mainly blushed when I picked them this weekend.

 

[Lmbauer2017]

View attachment 97945

These san marzanos were mainly blushed when I picked them this weekend.

Wowww these are so ripe!! Mine rarely look like that, or they just take forever to ripen, even when in the bag. I'll try the sunny-window technique this weekend.

@Chuck BTW... they tasted 'OK'... definitely bland though. Didn't taste like the normal acidic tangy delicious flavor of a San Marzano :/
I'll keep them away from the oven and see if the windowsill works a little better.