Drying toms

Has anyone done this with any success?

 

Hi , Done that in Italy many time but I really don`t think you`ve got any chance over here , usually is done at the end of August when the sun is stronge still , you can use any toms , open in half , scoop the seed out let the water get out , a pinch of salt in the middle , and let then dry under the full sun for 3 days ......any drop of water or high humidity will mould them . good luck and if you manage to do that I think you deserve a place in the national news .
It works also with zucchini , mushroom , pepper and water melon skin

 

Wondered if you could do it artificially like a low oven. A remember someone saying you could actually buy a machine to do it.

 

You can dry them in the oven, but it takes 'aaaages' - however, if you want to give it a go ....

Wash and slice the toms in half put them, cut side down, on a plate and squeeze out the pips, then turn them cut-side up and sprinkle them very lightly with a pinch of salt.

Set the oven to gas mark ½, 175°F (80°C), put the tomato halves (cut side down), onto cooling trays and put them in the oven but leave the door open a tiny crack - about 5mm - so that the air can circulate.

NB - you put them cut side down so that any liquid which the salt draws out can drip away, so it's best to put something in the bottom of the oven!

It's hard to say how long they'll take since it depends on the size, but 'average sized' toms will take anything between 6 - 8 hours (I said it takes a long time ). The best way to test them is to eat one, they shouldn't be completely dried out, but slighty 'chewy' (a bit like the consistency of things like dried cherries or apricots if you've ever bought those).

Once they're dried and cooled, pack them - fairly loosely - into sterilised jars, pour in enough extra virgin olive oil to cover them and they should keep for about 6 months.

I've only done it once and they were fine, but having the oven on (even that low) for 8 hours, plus the fact I wanted to use the oven for other things, kind of put me off bothering again - if you've got a double oven though ........

 

They are called sundried tomato because they are dried by the sun :WINK1:
If you put tomato in the oven you will get , slow roasted tomato .....then if you want to use a fruit dryer , spend lot of electricity , get some fresh £3 pound per kilo and reduce them to 100 gr, £1 pound worth of tomato you should rethink about...........If your problem is lots of end of season tomatoes , transform them into home made ketchup or chilli souce , you can even use green tomatoes to pikcle and preserve them in olive oil , garlick and oregano .

 

On my second batch of Car Dried Tomatoes now, they are really sweet.

Quartered them, didn't scoup out the seeds or anything. Started them off on a teflon frying pan in the back of the car (That held the heat) and then transfered them to a tupperware type box on the dashboard.

Takes a few days.

 

I think Dave W does this kind of thing.

 

I've heard that too, but what about the Tomato drying ?

 

I recon that dry tomotoes naturally in uk , it`s impossible , the idea of it is to get all the water out of them , now even if we manage to be lucky to have 3 days of full sunshine , it got to be dry ...usually in UK we have high humidity and chilli night , even in hot country they have to cover them out at night because of the humidity. best think to do .....do like i do... got to Costco.... they sell some lovely one for as cheper as £3.60 :WINK1:......it will cost more money to try to do in you oven and still you will have sone lovely roasted tomatoes and not sundried .

 

No its not. Which bit of my Car Dried Tomatoes did you not understand ?

They taste great to me and I tried them out on my Sister today, now she would have moaned like a badger if there had been anything wrong with them.

 

...Do you need a particular car or can you use any car? btw that`s a good idea , I was looking for a warm place where to overwinter some plants ; ) ......the dashboard.

 

ahahah