Did you know that you can peel tomatoes in a variety of ways? You are probably aware of the fact that using a potato peeler on ripe and soft vegetables is useless – it completely ruins the food.

Here is what you can do when a potato peeler is of absolutely no help.

Gas Flame Method
You will definitely like this method because it does not require any special skills or specific utensils. All it takes is a fork and a gas stovetop.

Take tomatoes, remove attached stems, rinse and dry the veggies. Spear the tomato with a fork where the stem core is visible. Turn the flame to medium high. While holding the tomato an inch above the flame, slowly rotate it. Once you notice that the skin starts to break, you will know that the vegetable is ready to be peeled. As a rule, the procedure takes approximately 15-25 seconds. Avoid holding the tomato over the flame too long since it will cook the veggie. Before starting to peel, put the tomato in a plate and let it cool off so that you could touch it. Start peeling the skin where you see it split. That’s it! Now throw away the skin and follow your recipe.

Hot Water Method
This method is great and helpful when you have to peel a large amount of tomatoes. You can peel 3-4 tomatoes at a time applying this technique.

Pour some hot water in a pot or bowl. Thoroughly clean and rinse the veggies. Slice a shallow X into the bottom part (opposite the stem) of each tomato with a sharp knife. Now put the tomatoes into the hot water and leave them there for about a minute. Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and begin peeling the skin starting from the bottom, exactly at the X cut. Throw out the skin and follow your recipe.