Delicious Dried Tomatoes - How to Make Your Own

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Dry Your Tomato Harvest to Enjoy Gourmet Dried Tomatoes All Winter Long

If you have a bumper crop of tomatoes in your garden, you can preserve them by drying and enjoy delicious gourmet eating all winter long. Dried tomatoes are tasty additions to fresh pasta, sauces, sandwiches, salads, stir fry dishes and you can also enjoy them just the way they are, as a chewy tangy-sweet snack.

Fresh tomatoes from the garden are almost everyone's favorite summer produce. Dried tomatoes are, for me, even better - their concentrated tomato goodness makes waiting for next season's fresh crop easier during the long winter months.

You can make dried tomatoes in a commercial dehydrator or you can dry them in your oven or in the sun. This lens explains how I make and store oven dried tomatoes at home with ordinary kitchen equipment.

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Easy Oven-Dried Tomatoes 

Step by step recipe for making your own gourmet dried tomatoes at home

The basic recipe for making your own dried tomatoes is easy. The most difficult part of the entire process is having patience. It can take up to 12 hours to dry each batch of tomatoes in a regular oven, but the wait is worth every minute of oven-watching.

The Best Tomatoes for Drying are Firm Ripe Plum Tomatoes 

Plum tomatoes have very little watery juice, so they are the best choice for making dried tomatoes.Plum tomatoes (sometimes called paste tomatoes) have thick fleshy skins and and plenty of sweet pulp with small seeds. I don't remove the seeds from my tomatoes before drying although some recipes recommend this. I like to preserve every delicious bit of nutrition from my home grown tomatoes when I make dried tomatoes.

A whole oven's worth of dried tomatoes takes about 4 dozen medium to large ripe plum tomatoes. You can dry fewer tomatoes of course, but I like to maximize my oven energy for every batch.

What You Need to Dry Tomatoes 

A Whole Oven Batch of Dried Tomatoes

  • 48 Firm, Ripe Plum Tomatoes, washed
  • Cooling racks (I use cake/cookie racks) with narrow tines that won't let tomatoes slip through
  • Sea salt, or Kosher salt
  • 12 hours of your time - good food takes time

Note: Larger, juicier tomatoes may require more than 12 hours to dry. If so, simply extend the cooking time until your tomatoes are dried to leathery consistency.

Rodale's Guide to Food Preservation 

How to can, dry, preserve and freeze foods at home

Features all your grandmother's techniques for putting food by, plus updated methodis using the microwave, the freezer and more.
Preserving Summer's Bounty: A Quick and Easy Guide to Freezing, Canning, and Preserving, and Drying What You Grow

Preserving Summer's Bounty: A Quick and Easy Guide to Freezing, Canning, and Preserving, and Drying What You Grow

by: Rodale Food Center

Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 12/11/2009)Buy Now
List Price: $18.99
Used Price: $7.95

Average 5-star rating by customers who purchased this book. Reviewers praise it's simplicity and comprehensive coverage "from soup to nuts".

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How to Dry Tomatoes in Your Home Oven 

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Arrange oven racks to allow air flow top and bottom. I use 4 cooling racks, 2 on each oven rack.
  3. Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise and arrange skin side down on the cooling racks side by side, not touching. I arrange mine crosswise to the wires on the cooling racks so they won't slip through between the wires as they dry and shrink.
  4. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt or Kosher salt.
  5. Arrange tomato-filled racks on oven racks, and start timing.
  6. After 2 hours, start checking tomatoes for dryness. Remove tomatoes as they dry.
  7. Cool on paper plates or towels, then transfer to storage containers.

Tomato Drying Tips

Don't dry tomatoes until they turn crisp, and don't expect them to turn brown.

Tomatoes should be flexible, leathery-dry and not wet when they're done drying.

How Long to Dry the Tomatoes 

How to tell when the tomatoes are "done"

Drying tomatoes takes time, but you don't need to stand over the stove or keep close watch for hours. They'll dry slowly and won't even need to be checked for dryness for a couple hours after you begin a batch.

I like to dry tomatoes on a not too hot late summer or early fall day when I am home all day long. It can take up to 12 hours to dry a larger, juicier tomato. Smaller, meatier tomatoes may dry in as few as 9 hours.

Tomatoes should be flexible, leathery-dry and not wet when they're done drying. They'll be supple but won't feel "squishy" to the touch.

Tomatoes shrink in size and get slightly darker as they dry, much like the way grapes do when they become raisins; the pulp will feel firm but flexible when they're done.

Food Saver Storage System 

FoodSaver V2840 Advanced Design Vacuum Food Sealer

FoodSaver V2840 Advanced Design Vacuum Food Sealer

Amazon Price: $449.99 (as of 12/11/2009)Buy Now
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Vacuums, seals, and shuts off automatically - 2 vacuum speeds
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Space-saving design
Stainless-steel lid; dishwasher-safe antibacterial drip tray

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Storing Oven Dried Tomatoes 

Dried Tomatoes Will Keep Fresh for Months

Store dried, cooled tomatoes in plastic bags, clean jars or other air-tight containers.

I like to store dry tomatoes in the refrigerator in plastic bags to ensure longer shelf life and to preserve color, but you should be able to keep well-dried tomatoes in any dust-proof container at room temperature for several months.

Food Dehydrator - Jerky Maker 

Excalibur 9 Tray Dehydrator - ED 2900 Dehydrater - Jerky Maker Food Dehydrator Excaliber

Excalibur 9 Tray Dehydrator - ED 2900 Dehydrater - Jerky Maker Food Dehydrator Excaliber

Amazon Price: $179.95 (as of 12/11/2009)Buy Now
List Price: $345.95
Used Price:

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Small Batch Home Food Dryer 

Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator

Nesco American Harvest FD-1010 Gardenmaster Food Dehydrator

Amazon Price: $118.29 (as of 12/11/2009)Buy Now
List Price: $149.99

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Tomato Cooking Features on the Blog Circuit 

Jo's Journal » Blog Archive » Barley, Basil & Sun Dried Tomato ...
Sun-dried tomatoes, four medium sized, sliced into thin strips. Two diced into small pieces. If yours are dried instead of packed in oil you will need to hydrate them then pat them dry. (You can use more or less depending on how strong ...
Sun-Dried Tomato Crostini | Love My Philly
This simple and flavorful Sun-Dried Tomato Crostini is a great dish to have at parties and gatherings!
In My Humble Opinion: Penne with Broccoli and Sun-dried Tomatoes ...
I altered this recipe to fit what we had on hand and it turned out fantastic! Enjoy! Photobucket. Penne With Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. (Altered from Feeding Baby Green). 3/4c sun-dried tomatoes, julienned ...
Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Dip | food photography-recipes-food articles
Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Dip.
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Tomato Foodies Fan Club - Guestbook 

Have you ever dried tomatoes or other vegetables?

What's your favorite way to use dried tomatoes in recipes?

Do you like to eat leathery dried tomatoes as a snack, use them in pasta dishes, or salads, or do you add them to oils to make interesting condiments?

Do you season your tomatoes with herbs before drying?

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Video Recipe Guide: How to Dry Tomatoes 

Video Recipe: Oven-Dried Tomatoes

Chef Keith Snow from http://www.harvesteating.com demonstrates how to oven-dry tomatoes and save them in olive oil.

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