Mushy/mealy tomatoes?

Cropper2 7/7/2011, 8:01 pm

What is happening here? I was tickled to death to harvest my very first plum tomato yesterday. I took a bite of it and BLECH, it was all mealy. It was a lot like the grocery store tomatoes that you buy in February. It was bright red inside and out and had that wonderful tomatoey smell, but daggone! No juice splattered. It was just all mushy and mealy inside.

Someone please help? What is going on?

Thanks!

**camprn** 7/7/2011, 10:36 pm

Is it a roma? paste tomato, best cooked. This is one reason I don't grow romas, I grow the Gilberties instead. They are paste tomatoes, very meaty, but they are also very juicy and make great table fruit.

westie42 7/8/2011, 2:12 am

I had the same experience with my first red ripe mater it was a Red Zebra something never grown here before.

Cropper2 7/8/2011, 7:35 am

Yes, the mealy one is from a roma plant. As you say they are perfect paste tomatoes (which is actually why I grew them this year), but the meat should still be juicy. I wonder if the problem is something I can fix before the rest of them start to ripen. On one plant alone I have about 30 beautiful green tomatoes. I'm hoping to can several batches of sauce and paste this year. But if the rest are mealy, I won't have anything other than compost content.

Let me know if you can think of anything.

Thanks!!

**camprn** 7/8/2011, 7:55 am

Cropper I believe you have the perfect roma, but see this thread. Try cooking some sauce and see how that comes out. If the tomatoes look and smell as good as you think they are, a sauce or stewed should be pretty darned good. Very Happy

Here is a listing of some different types of paste tomatoes. The olpaca and a few others that look like banana peppers are the ones that are going to be juicy, and the rest are all sturdy and mealy like, good for cooking and shipping.

Cropper2 7/8/2011, 8:39 am

I'll do it! Thanks.

One more question along the lines of cooking them. Do you know how best to store ripe tomatoes waiting to be cooked? What I mean is that I don't yet have enough ripe ones to cook, but I have a ripe ones that I don't want to go bad while I wait for a big enough batch. Any thoughts on how to keep the ripe ones for going bad while I wait for more?

Thanks again!

**camprn** 7/8/2011, 9:39 am

At the beginning of the harvest, when fruit is still limited, what I have done in the past is process what I have, as I didn't want the tomatoes to go past their prime before storing them. So, I will process and freeze the few that trickle in, until the bulk of tomatoes ripen, then I can. I usually end up with a few quarts in the freezer. What a Face

Cropper2 7/8/2011, 10:16 am

You freeze them? Do you blanch them first? If you are willing to post one more reply, I'd appreciate knowing what you do.

Thanks.

**camprn** 7/8/2011, 10:46 am

LOL, sure thing! yes, for freezing I blanch them for about 3 minutes then plunge them into cold water. This makes removing the skins very easy. If the skin is stuck on, put the tomato back in the bot water for a minute or 2 more, then try removing the skins again. Then over a colander I cut slits into the sides of the tomato and just run my finger in and remove the seeds. The reason I do this over a colander is I catch any juice that may flow, hmmm, yummy fresh tomato juice Mushy/mealy tomatoes? 959632

At this point you can chop them, slice them, stew them or freeze them as whole. I usually put them in zip type freezer quart bags and suck all the air out of the bag and seal it. I freeze the bag flat, then I can stack them, vertically or horizontally, in the freezer as needed.
Another thing you could try is dehydrating. You can find directions here.
Let us know how you make out!!!! Mushy/mealy tomatoes? 311672

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