I recently purchased a new toy- a food dehydrator. Too many tomatoes in my garden were ripening all at the same time, and I couldn't eat them fast enough. They were rotting. So, I thought I'd give this a try. I picked all of the ripe tomatoes, sliced them, arranged them on the trays and about 12 hours later I had awesome tasting dried tomatoes. It was so easy.
This is a great way to preserve veggies and herbs that you grow in your garden over the summer.
In general, you can dry any tomatoes. I like to pick more meaty varieties such as Roma or Japanese black trifele heirloom tomato.
Slice the tomatoes into about 1/2 inch slices. The end pieces take longer to because the skin prevents the evaporation, so I just peel off the skin on the end pieces only. It is not necessary to peel off the skin on the slices.
You can pack the slices closely, as they will shrink when they dry. Use as many trays as you like.
Check your tomatoes occasionally. Smaller or thinner slices will be done faster.
Store them in a jar and keep refrigerated until ready to use. You can also store them in olive oil.
You can use these dried tomatoes in sauces, meats, and pretty much any dishes. They rehydrate well, but keep the dry flavor.
Here is the food dehydrator I got. It really cool. You can also get trays for small seeds and sauces. I can't wait to try those out. You can dry fruits, other veggies, herbs, seeds, meet, etc.
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