Ripe Tomatoes

I was reading last week that tomatoes are fully ripe when their bottoms give a little when squeezed.  This was from a commercial tomato grower in Gloucestershire who grows about 22 varieties of tomatoes and supplies lots of farm shops and restaurants.

Has anyone ever heard this before? It was certainly news to me.   

I must say I did a taste test comparing one with a soft bottom and another with a hard bottom and I didn't notice the difference so will probably stick to the picking them when they are soft around the waist and fully coloured: red, yellow and orange in my case this year 

When they fall off, they're ripe. However, that doesn't mean they're at their tastiest 

I don't like squishy tomatoes. I usually pick them before they're fully colored. If I need to pick tomatoes while they are green, I will wait until there is a little bit of give on the blossom end. This gives them a better chance of ripening off of the plant.

I'm not allowed to squeeze bottoms. 

I'm really enjoying the toms this year. 22 plants including Bl@@dy butcher, tigerella, pomodora, alicante, and pink brandywine. Can't complain about any of them and at the mo' they are yielding about 4-5lbs per week.
Bacon and toms for breccy, ham and tom sarnie for luch and still managing to freeze the equivalent of 4 or 5 cans of toms per week.