Sun Dried Tomatoes

[Konini]

I posted in the food forum, but no bites so far.

I'm going to have a crack at doing some semi dried tomatoes over the weekend - any tips or tricks? Air/sun dry or slow cooker/oven?

Also would like to hear any tried and tested recipes for the herbs/seasoning.

[cooked]

In my opinion, sun dried fruits are superior to oven dried, don't ask me why. However I dry fruit for my muesli, I can't imagine why one would dry tomatoes in a land where they are cheap all year round. In Switzerland I dried them under a net (flies) on a tray covered with aluminium cooking foil. Rubbing salt in keeps the flies off also apparently but I never tried that. I used to love taking my tomatoes in winter to make spaghetti sauce...

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[rhythmworx]

I have no experience of this but I would assume putting them in an oven would make them split and if they didn't they would lose flavour.

Sun dry them and make sure they have air to breath.

I wouldn't bother seasoning them once dry store them in a jar of decent olive oil.

Fresh oregano/majoram would probably make a decent seasoning though.

[daoyai]

In my opinion, sun dried fruits are superior to oven dried, don't ask me why. However I dry fruit for my muesli, I can't imagine why one would dry tomatoes in a land where they are cheap all year round. In Switzerland I dried them under a net (flies) on a tray covered with aluminium cooking foil. Rubbing salt in keeps the flies off also apparently but I never tried that. I used to love taking my tomatoes in winter to make spaghetti sauce...

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Sundried tomatos have concentrated flavor and a chewy texture , this time of year (today was 41) they will dry fast. You can dry with bits of garlic or marinate in olive oil after drying.... yum.

Edited April 17, 2014 by daoyai

[jaideeguy]

unfortunately the locally dried cherry tomatoes have too much sugar added and the fancy imported ones are too expensive for my budget. I bought a dehumidifier and dried a bunch and learned that the thinner they are, the faster they dry. Still lots of work and they loose 80% of their weight and took 20+ hrs to dry.

In this blasting sun, I'm sure they would dry quite fast.

[anon11]

AH,,,,have dried my own many times

PICK tomatoes than are just coming ripe

SLICE about 1/4 inch thick ( but not green )

EVEN mix of pepper and salt ( or whatever you want ) mixed on a flat plate

AFTER tomatoes are slices lay on paper towels for awhile till the juices have drain off

THEN lay on flat board ( slated is best ) lets the air circulate

Cover ALL around with mozzy net

Then let then sun do its job

When all finished use a good quality Olive Oil seal in a jar .....

job done

[Konini]

Thank you! Some good tips there. I know I can get fresh, and often quite tasty ones any time, but the semi-dried ones are really nice on antipasta or just to munch on and chew to death, as long as the herb mix is right. I had read about using cherry tomatoes, but I wondered about the sugar content too, I suppose I'll avoid them for this. Everywhere suggests roma tomatoes of course, but I won't pay supermarket prices either. And I didn't know to salt them to get rid of the juice - obvious if you're drying them, but I would have thought some of the flavour would go. I'll give it a try though. I also thought that getting really ripe ones would have been best, but I'll choose some that are not quite there. I've got some really nice extra virgin oil to pack them in so that won't be spoiling the flavour. I might even try to do a few small batches prepared different ways and with different ingredients.

I'll report back with pictures if I can figure out how to do it.