i've never used this dehydrator for something as watery as tomatoes, if anyone has done that and can tell me how you prepped them, how they turned out, etc.i'd be rapt. have so many tomatoes this year ready at the same time i'm trying to get more creative, i don't even know whether to take the skins off for freezing. can i just plonk them on trays to freeze individually then bag them! if i don't do it next couple of days they'll all be over-ripe. yikes i hate to waste them.
beth39,
Mar 23, 5:13am
I just put mine in a bag in the freezer as they are . The free flow naturally . When you take them out , if you dont want the skins on , just pour boiling water over them, the skins come off almost immediately . After being frozen they do have to be used in some form of cooking .
Glad , you asked , as I do have alot of cherry tomatoes and was going to try drying them in the oven. Don't know if they should be cut in half first !
mjhdeal,
Mar 23, 5:44am
I have dehydrated tomatoes. I don't take the skins off - just slice them, put them on the mesh trays, and away they go. They do take aggggggeeesss though (24 hours +). The thicker they are sliced, the longer they take. Take them out when they are to your liking - I do mine semi-dried, so still pliable. Then I just keep them in a jar in the fridge. They taste good.
lambrat,
Mar 23, 7:57am
thanks heaps, that'll save quite a bit of faffing around!
samanya,
Mar 23, 8:38am
I store my dehydrated tomato slices in olive oil with chopped fresh herbs basil plus whatever I fancy at the time. I don't find that slices take 24 hrs .more like 12hrs.
lambrat,
Mar 23, 10:59am
cheers, that was one of my thoughts too . how long have you stored a jar of those before opening it!
samanya,
Mar 23, 11:41am
This is the first year I've put fresh herbs in & haven't used any yet. Other years I have kept them in the fridge for many months after opening. I don't think it matters much, can use straight away or leave for ages. They don't need to be sealed tight, the oil keeps them supple. Not a definite answer, I know but I hope it helps.
fifie,
Mar 23, 11:56am
Have just done heaps of dried tomatoes but in the oven. i store some in the fridge in a ziplock bag for use, rest go in the freezer, take a few out of the fridge when needed pop into a jar with a good olive oil, basil, feta cheese, and this sits in the fridge till everything is used up usually a few weeks. Leftover oil is great rubbed on meat, chicken etc, or made into a salad dressing, used in anything savoury or toss your roasties in it before baking.The secret is in getting them dried to the right consistency before storing, watch them carefully last while as its easy to over do them, just remove as necessary till all done. This year i have heaps of frozen ones mr put in the freezer while i was ill and couldn't do them, the plan is to make athick sauce forpasta, spag bol, mince dishes etc and freeze in snaplock bags for winter.
unleashed46,
Mar 23, 12:19pm
a silly question I know but how do you use dried tomatoes
lambrat,
Mar 23, 1:12pm
thanks for those comments i think with the watery part gone the tomato flavour is stronger and either whole or chopped, they're a chewy texture in a salad or cooking. in the supermarket deli i've often bought them as previous poster described, tossed in olive oil with feta cheese, and herbs. which i also love, way more than ordinary salads.
davidt4,
Mar 23, 3:07pm
Do you know which varieties these are!I'm always trying to grow meaty tomatoesbut so far have had little success, even with so-called heritage paste varieties.They all turn out to be soft and watery.
lambrat,
Mar 23, 3:37pm
sorry, no idea what variety, i've just eaten a couple of them on toast, taste fine. i could be wrong butthought all tomatoes were fairly soft and watery when ripe & the 'meaty' just means more flesh because of fewer seeds and watery bit.
a friend from up north staying here briefly bought two young plants from some guy at the riccarton market and plonked them both in a new raised garden i'd just put together, where i'd just planted two other tomato seedlings. i wasn't impressed with that at the time, but although they've choked each other and required plenty of watering, they've all turned out ok.
gilligee,
Mar 23, 6:28pm
I slice them in half and cover with herbs and all sorts of seasoning then cook in a slow oven until partially dried out and freeze in meal lots. Use them as vegetable with meat or in a pasta sauce.
uli,
Mar 23, 6:51pm
I got lent a dehydrator (Harvest Maid - one of the best on the market I understand) many years ago and by co-incidence had lots of Roma tomatoes that year.
Roma are very dry, hardly any seeds (a nightmare for every seed grower) and did dry - cut in half - within 2 days to the leathery soft stage.
I froze them at that stage rather than clutter the fridge with it. They kept for years and I defrosted what I wanted to eat weekly and covered them in spiced olive oil with lots of garlic. A rare treat.
Do not try that with those seedy sloppy soft supermarket things. They will go mouldy in the drier before they are even leather dry.
medicina,
Mar 23, 7:41pm
I dried some thin ones overnight but the thicker slices took a second night. Nightrate power!
dried some in dehydrator last night,also some pulp;would these keep in a jar in pantry or are they better frozen; am going to whizz the dried pulp for soups
wizardoo,
Mar 28, 5:01am
The whole point of dring is so you dont have to frezze. I have had mine for 22 years. I made real fruit roll ups and dried stews,I dry as much as I can to take up less room in frezzer. peas,beans, mashed spud, spag boll makes a quick dinner for the 21 year old he adds water and heats. I have dried flowers, herbs, paper , even when I have done craftwork and painted something small I popped it in for a short while. I did the orange and whole clove thing one year and it work a treat.I did watermelon which turned out a fine powder and was yum sprinkled over ice cream in winter or on the top of cupcakes.also make drinks on the run I dry cooked carrot and celery etc then when it is dry I put it the coffee grinder and powder it then in the morning I just puta couple of teaspoons in a class of water stir go do my hair and drink you still get all the fiber etc needed
medicina,
Mar 28, 8:47am
Interesting.How's your power bill!Do you notice a difference!
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