Dehydrating

[Mischka]

What kind of tomatoes to use?

Traditionally plum or paste type tomatoes are used for drying. You may, however try any type that you like. You want them to be firm and ripe but not over ripe, which will lead to decay. For larger round or slicer type tomatoes slice them crosswise into no more than 1/4 inch thick pieces. For cherry tomatoes cut them in half.

Are they still nutritious when dried?

They are but some of the nutrients do get lost when we dry fruits and vegetables. The water-soluble vitamins, such as B and C are gone. Nutrients like the minerals, fiber content, vitamin A and the phytochemicals become concentrated when we take the water out with the drying process.


To Sun Dry

Carefully wash and dry your tomatoes first. Cut them in half lengthwise, you can remove seeds if you like but it is not necessary. If you do remove the seeds try to be careful not to remove the pulp. Use a spoon or your fingers to scoop out the seeds. Cutting a slit in the skin side of the tomato will help accelerate the drying process.


Place the halves skin side down and/or the slices on a framed plastic screen (we use our seed drying trays for this), being careful not to lose any liquid from them and spread them out so that none are touching. You can salt them at this time for a little more flavor and the salt will help to draw the liquid from them. The drying process will concentrate all the flavor in the juice. Use a cheesecloth cover over the screen to protect the tomatoes from bugs and crud. Raise the cheesecloth off the tomatoes slightly with wood skewers or something like that. Then place the screen outside in the sun with some boards or something to raise it a few inches and allow air to circulate underneath it. It will take at least a few days of sunshine, sometimes up to 12 days, to properly dry the tomatoes and you need to bring the whole set up indoors overnight, once the sun goes down.


The Results: When your tomatoes have dried properly they will have a dark red color or if using yellow, pink, white etc. type tomatoes they will have a darker, more intense color than they originally had. They should feel dry and pliable or leathery to the touch. They should not be hard and brittle or moist. You should be able to stick your finger in the center of them, pull it away and have no pulp on your finger.


Storage: Now that you have made it this far here is how you store them. Your dehydrated tomatoes take little space to store. They can be stored in plastic bags or airtight glass jars. For plastic bags: pack the tomatoes as tightly as you can, squeezing out the excess air. If you have a vacuum sealer it would be perfect for this. For glass jars pack them as compactly as you can and use a tight fitting lid to seal. We use our canning jars for this. Either way they can be stored at room temperature in a cool, dark place in the kitchen cabinets or wherever you have room. They will keep well for about 1 year, after that the flavor, nutrition and flavor will begin to decline. You may keep them for about 18 months if you wrap them securely in plastic and store in the freezer.


To Oven Dry

The weather must cooperate for sun drying. If this is not the case in your area oven drying is your solution! It does require a bit more of a set up. Most ovens have the lowest temperature setting of 200 degrees. Using uniform tomatoes sizes will simplify your results. Preheat oven to 200F or the lowest setting on a gas oven. Prepare your tomatoes as previously stated. Omit the cheesecloth and place them on cake racks or a perforated pizza pan as above. Put your pans directly on the oven racks. Alternately you could cover the oven racks with aluminum foil into which you will need to punch small holes for air circulation. Bake in a closed, preheated oven at 200º F for 6 to 12 hours until shriveled and dry. Do keep checking on them and remove ones that are done.

* For Cherry tomatoes cut in half, prepare as above always putting the cut side down on your racks. Cut the drying time to 3-4 hours.


Dehydrator Drying

Obviously you have to spend some money to get a dehydrator but many think it gives dried food a superior quality. There are many units available that won't set you back a lot. It all depends on what you want. They can have timers and thermostats or you can use a thermometer which you place on the lowest tray to monitor temperature. You want it to ideally stay around 135° to 140°F. You do all the prep as already stated and the trays should have a space of 1-2 inches between them. You still may need to rotate the racks and, in this case, turn the tomatoes.


Rehydrating Dried Tomatoes

You can rehydrate your dried tomatoes in different ways. For basic use you soak them in water for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature as needed- this should be long enough to fully rehydrate them. Boiling water will speed up the process. For longer soaking times be sure to stick them in the refrigerator.

* They can be added directly to soups and stews. Adding them during the last 20 to 30 minutes of cooking is usually sufficient.
* Try soaking them in bullion or vegetable stock.
* Be inventive and try rehydrating them with wine!
* Use the liquid from soaking in your recipes like a vegetable stock.
* Pour a mixture of one half vinegar and one half boiling water over them and let them soak for five to ten minutes. Drain thoroughly then mix with a good olive oil seasoned with a few pieces of garlic sliced clove and marjoram leaves. Let them marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator before using. Very good in salads and pasta dishes!


Tomato Flakes and Powders

If your tomatoes come out too dry try or you want to make them into flakes and powders dry them beyond the leathery or pliable stage.

* To give them a crumbly texture put them into your freezer for about 5 minutes and then crush them with a rolling pin or kitchen mallet or give them a quick whirl in the blender.
* To get flakes dry them until quite brittle and crush with a rolling pin.
* For powders process them until very fine in a food processor or blender.


Dried Tomato Paste for the adventurous soul...

For this you need to wash, core and seed the tomatoes, peeling them if you want.. Crush them with a mallet or your hands and cook the tomatoes for 60 minute. Let it cool a bit then put it in the blender or food processor to puree them. Now return the tomato mixture to the pot to simmering it over low heat, stirring occasionally until it's reduced by half. This may take as long as 3 or more hours. When it is reduced let it cool a bit and spread your puree ½ inch thick onto cookie sheets. Place in slow oven to dry (approx. 140F) or the sun or dehydrator until it is no longer sticky but pliable like a fruit leather. Roll your dried tomato paste into 1 inch balls and let them dry at room temperature for another one or two days. Store in airtight jars. You can add the tomato paste balls directly to soups, sauces, casseroles etc.

[Glenn 50]

Bought Sunbeam dehydrator the other day. Was told on a food forum to buy one with a thermostat and a fan so did that.
So far 9 jars of dried tomatoes have been put away.
All sizes all shapes have been dried. Can see why folks go for paste as far as processing goes. If I get carried away with this I will plant a higher percentage of them next season.
Disappointed that the Lime Green Salad toms lose their "Greenness" when dried.
I hate wasting tomatoes so this will be great.

[Glenn 50]

OK I see that I put the above in the canning forum. Sheer brilliance!

[Glenn 50]

Degenerated to a grey/brown. Taste was there but not the colour.

[Mischka]

Hmmm....do you have access to Fruit Fresh in NZ? It's an ascorbic acid based product that's used to stop oxidation on cut fruits and vegetables; not sure if it will work. The color might just change because of the concentration of tissue when it is dehydrated.

Perhaps a few drops of red food coloring mixed into some light extra-virgin olive oil might disguise them a tad, if the color is unappetizing?

I eat dried plums a lot more now, since the industry has stopped packaging them as prunes :wink:

- M

[Earl]

Glenn,
Cherry types are good dried too. Don't cut them all the way through and lay them on their backs. I like to sprinkle some sort of seasoned salt on mine. As a snack they release your favorite spices as you chew. I didn't do any last year, but need to do some this year.

[TZ-OH6]

The higher the wattage the more heat they can put out and more they can dry. I think the 1000 watt Nesco (American Harvest models 10xx) says that you can stack up to 30 trays, but it only comes with 4-8 (you get screwed by having to buy more shelves to reach the theoretical limit of the heater). Their smaller model (Snackmaster?) is only a 4 or 6 shelf at 600? watts, expandable to ??? The 9 shelf Excaliber, which many people think of very highly (i.e. "burned out my 3rd Nesco shoulda got Excaliber") has a 600-700 watt heater but is not expandable..but the overall capacity is large).

[tjg911]

i was looking for threads on dehydrators and this was the best. any updates after using yours over time?

many people mentioned nesco from walmart but i doubt they'd have it in the store at this time of the year.

i want one for drying garlic and sun gold tomatoes possibly cayenne peppers but they air dry ok inside with a/c during summer. what features do i look for? how many shelves? fan i assume is important? thermostat sounds like a good feature based upon comments. watts? ruth says 500 works fine.

appreciate comments.

tom

[bluelacedredhead]

Originally Posted by tjg911

many people mentioned nesco from walmart but i doubt they'd have it in the store at this time of the year.

tom

Nesco has an online store as well.
I've had one for two years now and like Shelly, I use it to dry fruit, veggies and make small batches of jerky from ground beef.

It didn't cost much and it does the job.
http://www.nesco.com/category_449f7f01f1ea/

[peppero]

i bought a 5 tray unit in 2008 from heartland america for about 25 dollars and it has done well. harbor freight tools has one like it for about the same price. it is very basic with no controls; just load, plug in and wait. peppero

[RinTinTin]

Some good ABC's about dehydrating here:

csu_dry_vegetables.pdf (application/pdf Object)

[kath]

Originally Posted by RinTinTin

Some good ABC's about dehydrating here:

csu_dry_vegetables.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Wow, this is a keeper- I especially like the "dryness test" column- very helpful. Think I'm going to start hunting around for a used one.

Thanks!

[TZ-OH6]

I have a big 9 tray Excaliber (bought refurbished, less $$). What I notice that would transfer to any dehydrator is that if you are a gardener you need more trays than you have. We buy cheap apples in season, by the half peck(?) bag and I can almost fit the whole bag in, but I bring 4-5 bags home from the grocery store at a time. Peppers are the same way. If you are trying to stock up on chile powder for storage you want to process alot at one time to get it over with, and the peppers tend to ripen in a short period of time. My garlic is getting old so I will have to fill up the machine with that, and onions would needed alot of room too for a whole year's worth of dehydrated onions. I don't do tomatoes because I don't like the taste, but if I did, those would take a lot of room too.

[puttgirl]

Our local Walmart only carries Oster. Wish I could find a used one, too.

[shelleybean]

I'm still really happy with the Nesco Snackmaster. I use it for all kinds of veggies and herbs from the garden and my husband makes beef jerky with it. It's not the easiest thing to store but that would be my only complaint.