"Gypsy gold does not chink and glitter. It gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark."

~ Saying of the Gladdagh Gypsies of Galway


Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Method: Sun-Dried Tomatoes


My co-worker came through with more tomato's! And of course, pressed for time as usual, I decided to try and make 'sun-dried tomatoes' this time since the majority of the process all happens while I sleep!


I can't take credit for this idea - I spied it over on Food in Jars! And Marisa's defintely look nicer than mine, that is for sure :)


One thing I learned, that I believe Marisa touches on in her post, is to try and keep the slices uniform in size so they 'cook down' at the same rate.


I had some slices that took longer than others, which turned out to be a tad of a pain in the morning, when I was expected to just take them all out and store them! I had to keep waiting on a few to schrivel!


As Marisa suggests, I put these in a 200 degree oven for 12 hours (like I said, a tad longer on some if the thicker slices). I didn't see any issue in running my oven overnight but some people gawked when I told them I had my oven going all night long?? Who knows, maybe I will gawk too when the next electric bill comes!

 

Once they cooled, I threw them into a Mason jar and into the freezer. I suppose I could have zipped them into baggies with the FoodSaver, however, this is my first time doing this and who knows what portion sizes I will need when. So, though my freezer space is at a premium (read: we have no freezer space!), one quart sized mason jar seems to be fitting just fine!

Do you dry out any tomatoe's? What is your method?

6 comments:

Jill said...

I've never tried this but it looks easy and they look great!

Sue from Ky. said...

I haven't tried tomatoes, but I do dry things, but mostly, so as not to need to use the freezer. I have been pulling things out of my freezer and canning them. Folks all around the globe are trying to use less electricity with the bills getting so bad. I am giving away one of my freezers today.I is a hard pill for me to swallow. Freezing everything has been so handy for me,for so many years.

Susan said...

It's a wonderful way to preserve the abundance of tomatoes! I wish I had the fields of tomatoes my grandparents used to plant to do this. I'm putting tomatoes on my list when I go to the Farmer's Market this weekend. Happy Preserving!
P.S. How about some tomato jam too! XOXO

Debi said...

I never considered doing this, but it looks pretty simple. Of course, I have no more tomatoes, but will put this on my back burner for next year.

Mary said...

Those look like they turned out beautifully. I use my dehydrator normally for most any fruits and vegetables, but this seems to work great as well. Nice job!

Vanessa said...

I keep wanting to try to make my own sun dried tomatoes but I used canned tomatoes more often so it seems a better to can what I have and then just buy the sun dried ones when I need them.