# Keeping fresh tomatoes in vinegar?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-fresh-tomatoes-in-vinegar/989854>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** food-cooking\
**Created:** [September 9, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-fresh-tomatoes-in-vinegar/989854 "2023-09-09T22:18:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-fresh-tomatoes-in-vinegar/989854/1 "2023-09-09T22:18:49Z")

</div>

I like sliced tomatoes on my sandwiches, but being alone, I only use about a 1/3 of a tomato on a sandwich.

I’ve been slicing them and putting them in vinegar in the fridge, which seem to be working well… but I’ve been eating a lot of sandwiches recently, so they still get eaten within a week.

Does anyone know how long they will last like this? Can I reduce the vinegar? I’ve used both apple cider and tarragon vinegar. I’m not a fan of vinegar, so the reducing the vinegar hit would be nice.

Anyone have any recipes for pickled tomatoes that aren’t for cherry tomatoes?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-fresh-tomatoes-in-vinegar/989854/2 "2023-09-10T00:12:44Z")

</div>

You’re making refrigerator pickles. They should be good for a month if kept cold. For added safety you can boil the vinegar before pouring it over tomato slices in a clean jar with a tightly sealed lid. To keep them longer you’d have to go through the full canning process.

You can ferment tomatoes. I tried out a few fermented vegetables earlier in the year. Didn’t try tomatoes but when I get back to this I’ll give it a shot. Fermented vegetables last a little longer than refrigerator pickles but it takes time to get the fermentation going also.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-fresh-tomatoes-in-vinegar/989854/3 "2023-09-11T15:51:58Z")

</div>

I’ve been doing this with onion lately. I lay the slices on a plate, lightly salt and splash on enough vinegar to wet but not immerse. A couple hours or overnight and they’re ready. The quick pickle mellows the oniony harshness while retaining the sweetness and most of the raw texture so I can use bigger/more slices in a sandwich or (yesterday) a beet salad.

The tomatoes in vinegar and refrigerated will probably ‘last’ beyond palatablity in that they’ll slowly get gross but probably not rot or mold.

A well-known car hop fast food place here puts a chunk of pickled green tomato on a dog with everything. I’m not aware of anywhere besides Superdawg that does this.

[https://images.app.goo.gl/bzzzXihj2VvoF5mi9](https://images.app.goo.gl/bzzzXihj2VvoF5mi9)