what to do with partially ripe tomatoes?

[Slg Garden]

I picked 10+ lbs of tomatoes that are in the pink to light red stage this morning because I'm leaving town for a week. Will they last that long on the counter? Can I make sauce from them? I hate for them to go to waste and the family members who are staying home don't like fresh tomatoes.

If this makes any difference, the weather here should be highs in the high 70's to low 80's and lows in the high 50's for the next 10 days.

[Fred Hempel]

Some may last that long on the counter. If you want them to hold a bit longer (and still be able to ripen) you can put them in a cellar or cool-box at around 60 degrees.

[b54red]

If you keep your house really cool then they should be fine. I would however make sure to put something under them to absorb any juice that might leak out in case one of them starts to go bad.

Bill

[Slg Garden]

The basement stays at 70 degrees, but we can't keep the other floors below 75 if it's hot out.

[TexasTycoon]

Yeah I'd stick em in the basement and most should be just fine. Make sure to put them shoulders-down to help avoid bruising. I've had a tomato "ripening" (it's been ripe I just haven't had anything to use one measly tomato in) on my counter for about a week and a half now and it's just deep red but not mushy at all, and we don't run our AC above 76F during week days when we're not home (we have pets inside otherwise we wouldn't run it at all when not home). Don't put them in a paper bag or cover with anything because that will speed the ripening process. Just leave them out and don't let them touch if possible (also speeds ripening and encourages bruising if they're all touching each other).

[Slg Garden]

Thanks for the ideas. Shockingly, one of my kids agreed to watch the tomatoes and core and freeze them if they get too ripe.