Now I know why sundried tomatoes are so expensive!

[Snadger]

Because the weather outside was crap I decided to busy myself with storing of veg.
I had a load of tomatoes of differnt types, beafsteak,Gardeners Delight, Orange Banana and Roma which were just going to be wasted unless I did something with em!
Because of the amount of toms I am growing I had decided beforehand that to make sundried tomatoes was the best option for storage, cos i luv em!
I cut them up and managed to fill two large oven trays, drizzle of olive oil and sea salt added and popped into oven.
Had been in oven six hours when OH decided she needed the oven to cook supper! Took em out and a handful were ready. After supper back in again for a couple of hours. Knocked oven off before I went to bed and picked out a few more that were ready. Put oven back on again this morning until OH needed it for Sunday Dinner........ Salavaged a few more.

At present I have moved all the ones that aren't dry onto one tray and covered until I can get them back in the oven. I have half a jar of dried tomatoes dipped in vinegar first and then covered with olive oil. Phew!!!

NOW I KNOW WHY DRIED TOMATOES IN OLIVE OIL ARE SO EXPENSIVE!

PS Also managed to freeze my broad beans, pickle my beetroot and also red cabbage which I salted overnight first!

[Seahorse]

Time to invest in a dehydrator? Sounds like you've had a fabulous harvest!

Claire

[raine]

I'm interested in drying my toms too (if blight gives me the opportunity) , do you have to dip them in vinegar first before you put them in oil and if so what kind?
Raine

[Shortie]

Wow... that was a bit of an epic job Snadger, and still not finished either!

Hmmm.... maybe I won't try sundried tomatoes (mind you, this year my tom crop all but failed on the lottie and I'm not sure if the ones at home are too late for a crop this year)

[Snadger]

I'm interested in drying my toms too (if blight gives me the opportunity) , do you have to dip them in vinegar first before you put them in oil and if so what kind?
Raine

I dipped the first ones in malt vinegar which is supposed to kill any micro-organisms. After tasting them I felt it tainted the taste a bit so I may need to get some wine vinegar for the rest!

[Cutecumber]

Sounds great, if a little heavy on time and energy! I must try it this season.

I made my first batch of tomato passata yesterday - a saucepan full of chopped mixed tomatoes, gently softened down to a pulp over the heat. Put through a mouli-legumes (loads of fun!) and voila! I am really pleasantly surprised by how much they made. Can't wait to make it into something... yummy!

[ratglass]

Hi

I too oven dried loads of toms this weekend. I tend to just do the cherry tomato types as I haven't got the patience to do large toms this way. They usually take about 3 hours in a fan oven at 120 degrees. I just put herbs de provence, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil over them and then an hour before the end of cooking add a piece of basil to the top then store them in olive oil in sterilised jars in the fridge. They are really nice.

[Snadger]

Hi

I too oven dried loads of toms this weekend. I tend to just do the cherry tomato types as I haven't got the patience to do large toms this way. They usually take about 3 hours in a fan oven at 120 degrees. I just put herbs de provence, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil over them and then an hour before the end of cooking add a piece of basil to the top then store them in olive oil in sterilised jars in the fridge. They are really nice.

Thats probably where I went wrong! I used a very low temperature on the fan oven (able to handle the trays which were luke warm) but had to do them for about 15 hours in total!
Still you live and learn!
I used a pastry brush and coated them with olive oil and sea salt. They are now dried like leather and are steeping in olive oil!

[JazzDuke]

This is slow food, you will get a better product from 15 hours under a 100C.

[Sebbster]

Now I'm liking the sound of this !

My toms have just started to ripen and I'm going to have a glut now like the rest of you. Problem is, now it's darker and colder when I leave/get home from work, I dont really feel like salads. Definitely going to give this a try.

ratglass, do you cut your cherries in half ?

Thanks !

[ratglass]

Hi Sebbster

Sorry about the late reply been on hols.
Yes, just chop them in half and add the herbs if you want. I have to say I don't agree with Jazz Duke, I invested in a dehydrator and they took 12 hours and the flavour was no better than my oven ones. Best thing is to try and get toms of the same size or remember to take the smaller ones out as you can overdo them.