Making sundried tomatoes
Morning,
I had a pretty large tomato harvest the other day and I needed a way to use them up so I've decided to dry them. Full disclosure, they're not really sun dried as I'm using a food dehydrator.
To start, we need tomatoes of course. I had a good harvest of mostly cherry tomatoes of several varieties.
Gave them a quick wash, quartered or halved the larger ones as needed and loaded up on the dehydrator.
I left a lot of them whole, they will turn into something similar to raisins.
I managed to fill up the 6 levels my dehydrator has, sprinkled some salt and herbs on the tomatoes; some people sprinkle some olive oil on them as well but I haven't this time. I set it on 50 degrees to start with and let it do its job.
I left it on during the night, dropped the temperature to 40 C for this and by the morning I had the first ones ready.
Picked some herbs, a couple of chillies and got some garlic peeled for some extra flavour.
Added some peppercorns and filled the jars with olive oil.
Aaah, and these are some of those raisin like tomatoes, they're delicious.
Put the lids on and these bad boys are ready to be stored in the fridge.
That's about it, I'm waiting for the rest of the toms to be dried and I'll jar those up as well. I love sundried tomatoes so I'm definitely going to enjoy these.
Cheers for having a look!
These look yum! Would this also be a good way of preserving/storing them for long term?
Thank you!
Yes, once most of the moisture is gone you can store them for a long time if you can stop them being in contact with oxygen. I've covered them completely with olive oil to achieve that, the oil will also get flavoured making it great for dressings. Another way would be to vacuum pack the dried tomatoes.
Commercial sundried tomatoes are fine to store for years in the pantry and up to 6 months in the fridge after opening the jar. My homemade ones probably won't have such a long shelf life, but they will still last a few months.
your post is needed here in steemit...quite innovative... i learnt something new today thanks to you!
will try it out!
thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
I'm happy you found it helpful, please try it and let us know how it went!
Cheers
ok dear will surely revert..
find time also to check out my new blog posts... your comment and support will be appreciated
thanks
Will do, you've got some interesting stuff there and I'll keep an eye out for new posts. Cheers
welcome and thanks...soon will post on my 1k followers...achievement...this week...keep an eye on it...thanks
Looks fresh and delicious! That would make an amazing bruschetta
Thanks mate!
I actually had some as a bruschetta topping with some basil and garlic. Classic combo I guess :)
Oh wow, the colours!
What a fabulous crop of tomatoes. How lovely.
Thank you! They do look good, hehe!
And I am sure they taste even better than they look, don't they?
Of course I am biased but yes, of course they do, heh :D
:-)
That is really great Cos, my wife was thinking about getting a dehydrator for tomatoes and other things like strawberries and peaches. I will show her your post this evening, she will love it. I see a dehydrator in our future!
When you put them in the olive oil, do they need to "cure" for a certain amount of time? or is that just to preserve them?
Thanks! The dehydrator is really handy, you can also use it for jerky, hehe!
The oil is there just to preserve them, but of course it will change the texture of the dried tomatoes and help carry the flavours of the herbs/garlic I added. So while its purpose isn't to cure them, it kinda will anyway.
Mmmm food porn. XD
Your username and this comment clash, haha. ' Don't view food porn ' :)
Cheers!
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I love sun dried tomatoes, thank you for posting this even tough made with a dehydrator 👏🏻👏🏻😀 I read a lot about their properties some time ago and I know they are amazing for health!! I recommended them for prostate deficiency and for their anti inflammatory properties as well!! I am at the moment focused on a anti inflammatory diet https://steemit.com/health/@ruxonsteemit/cure-the-inflammation-in-your-body-cure-your-life Check it out if you have the time! Great stuff! Following you now 👌🏻😇 Best, Ruxandra
Buna Ruxandra!
Yeah, I had to cheat with the dehydrator, don't really get the sun for long enough to do it outside. They're still pretty tasty though, heh.
Thanks for the link, that was an interesting read, I haven't really thought about anti inflammatory food stuff, but reading about it I see I include it in my diet... well, next to the red meat and the other stuff I shouldn't eat, heh.
Cheers!
Yes, red meat should be avoided especially in the evening they say so that you give the liver a break. I try to eat red meat with a break of at least 2 days in between and I can say that I am feeling overall much better. Greetings from Switzerland now, it is a fab place in late August :)!