I put a tomato in my junk drawer for 87 days to test a mold theory and it turned clear

Dylan Brown · 2026-09-21T06:15:04.561946+00:00

Back in March I read this old claim that a tomato in a dark dry drawer would mummify instead of rot, so I tossed a roma in my kitchen junk drawer in my apartment outside Boise and left it there with a sticky note for 87 days. When I finally pulled it out last week, the thing was shriveled and see through like a little red raisin lantern, no fuzzy mold at all. My girlfriend said it was gross, but I think the dry air plus the wood drawer pulled every drop of water out fast enough that the mold never had a shot. Now I'm wondering what else in my kitchen would do this, and whether our ancestors basically did this on purpose and just called it dried food. So is this common knowledge or did I just waste three months on something a farmer would laugh at?

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I put a tomato in my junk drawer for 87 days to test a mold theory and it turned clear | Big Ideas Uncut - Free To Speak