There is nothing more frustrating than having a bunch of green tomatoes in your possession. Not only do these tomatoes look unappealing, they taste horrible too. Thankfully, there are simple ways for you to ripen these tomatoes up.
Ways to ripen green tomatoes:
1. Jar Method
- Start by grabbing a bunch of jars and removing the lids from them. Remember, these lids can be made from all types of materials such as plastic or glass. Once the lids are removed, put one ripening banana in each jar. Then, place two to four medium-sized green tomatoes per jar. You don’t want to put in too many tomatoes in each jar because this could cause them to bruise. Next, put the lid back on tightly. Leave the jar in an area that’s warm yet far away from direct sunlight. Make sure to check on your tomatoes often. If you notice that the banana is rotting before the tomatoes ripen, remove it and put in a new banana. With this method, you should have ripened tomatoes within a week or two.
2. Plastic Bag Method
- Grab a couple of plastic bags and begin poking a bunch of “air circulation” holes into them. Then, similar to method 1, put three to four tomatoes and one banana in each bag. You may be able to add a few more tomatoes per bag depending on the how large or small the bag itself is. However, don’t over-stuff your bags in the process. When you’re done with that, leave your bags in an area that is out of direct sunlight until you notice that the tomatoes have ripened.
3. Paper Bag Method
- Here, you will need a paper bag as well as your green tomatoes and a banana that is ripening. Place the fruit into your paper bag. Unlike the other methods, there is no set amount of green tomatoes that should be put into each bag. Instead, just fill your paper bag with the tomatoes until there is no more room. From there, lay the paper bag out in a place that is semi-humid and far from any sunlight. In time, you will notice the green tomatoes ripening.
References:
http://gardening.about.com/od/growingtips/qt/Green_Tomato.htm
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/VegFruit/ripening.htm
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