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Food & Recipes

We’ve Been Slicing Our Tomatoes Wrong — This Chef’s Hack Is Less Messy and Wasteful

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve never given all that much thought to how I slice I slice a tomato before I throw it on a sandwich. I just set them so their stems face up when I’m prepping them and chop away. But it turns out that not only is this common method for cutting tomatoes messier — it’s also much more wasteful.

Chef Aaron Alterman filmed a viral TikTok showcasing a whole new way of slicing this popular fruit. First, he lays out the biggest problem with cutting tomatoes vertically from top to bottom: Not only do you usually end up with giant holes in some of your slices, but you also often find seeds and flesh sprawled out all over your cutting board once you’re done. You may end up only using a fraction of the full tomato in the process, which is a shame!

What’s his trick? It doesn’t require any fancy gadgets, machinery, or expert-level kitchen know-how. Instead, turn your tomato sideways and slice from the the “top” where the stem usually is to the bottom. You’ll not only use the entire tomato when you do this, but you’ll also prevent that goopy mess that usually comes chopping it the other way. Plus, you’ll get a much prettier cross-section of it. Just look at the difference!

This is not the only tomato hack that could be a giant help in the kitchen. You’ll never go back after you try this extra easy trick for peeling tomatoes, and you can make them last way longer than usual with this method. Plus, your tomatoes may not be the only produce you’re not slicing as efficiently as you could be. When was the last time you changed up your onion-cutting or avocado-pitting techniques? Now’s definitely the time to try something new if you haven’t!

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