How To Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes

You may have seen glass jars filled with sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil in fancy gourmet shops and fainted away when you saw the price. If you can grow tomatoes in your garden, you can learn how to create sun-dried tomatoes that will rival the products marketed in even the fanciest of food stores.

Producing sun-dried tomatoes is an easy process to learn and doesn't even take any special equipment, so your investment is minimal and your enjoyment is at a maximum. Imagine how delicious summer tomatoes will taste this winter because you preserved part of your crop as sun-dried tomatoes.

Select tomatoes that are ripe but still firm, without any soft spots.  Roma variety tomatoes seems to work the best, the variety manufacturers use to produce tomato paste. But you can also use Beefsteak, Lemon Boy or Better Boy tomato varieties and get a good final product.  Get a large pot and a large slotted spoon from your kitchen cabinet, along with zippered plastic bags for storage.

Some people prefer to leave the tomato skins on, but if you want to quickly remove your tomato skins, place whole tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for no more than one minute, then immediately immerse them in a bath of ice water.  The skins will easily slip right off. Then cut the tomatoes in half, removing the tough core and any soft or bruised spots. Cut the halves in half again, winding up with four quarter pieces from each whole tomato.  The tomatoes will shrink to about one-fourth of their original size. It's best to remove the seeds, and you can do this with a small teaspoon or even your fingernail to dig them out.

Now you are ready for the actual drying process, and although they are called "sun-dried", you don't actually need sunlight to dry them.  Using a food dehydrator is actually preferable for more consistent results. If you don't have a food dehydrator, you can also use your oven. If using a dehydrator, spread out the tomato quarters on the drying rack so that they are not touching. Sprinkle each with sea salt or kosher salt and some minced fresh herbs like rosemary, basil or thyme. Turn the dehydrator on and check after 3 hours.

For the oven drying method, arrange your tomatoes on wire racks set atop cookie sheets, set the oven temperature for 150 degrees, season the tomatoes with sea salt or kosher salt and your choice of minced herbs, place in the oven and close the door.  Check after 10 hours. The oven process can take as long as 20 hours.

Your sun-dried tomatoes are done when they look like deep red leather and have the feeling of a raisin. Cool and then store in plastic bags and refrigerate for a few days or freeze if you won't eat them within a week. Prior to enjoying, you can seal them in glass jars covered with olive oil and more fresh herbs for a few days.