A week or so ago, on a cool, rainy day, I wanted an excuse to turn on the oven. I had lots of Mexico Midget tomatoes on hand, so I decided to dry them. Technically, a sun-dried tomato should be dried in the sun, I suppose, but the store bought ones aren’t, so I thought I’d cheat.
I turned my oven to its lowest setting, 150 degrees. I then cut each grape tomato in half and placed them on a cookie sheet, almost touching. I lightly salted them with sea salt and placed them in the oven. About 3 hours later, I had the best, the sweetest, the most delectable sun-dried tomatoes I had ever eaten.
Last Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, so I decided to dry more of these outside. I prepared the tomatoes the same way, but covered them with cheese cloth to keep away any insects and placed them in the sun.
This time it took about 8 hours, but the result was just as good, and it felt good that I used no energy to dry them. I placed the dried tomatoes in a zip lock bag and stored them in the frig. (Well, most of them). I’m saving them for a rainy day.
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Christina Comfort says
Susan! These look so wonderful! Silly question…but do they really dry out that quickly? In only 8 hours of sunshine? (So exciting I want to try it myself!)
learningandyearning says
I think because they are so small, they dried relatively quickly. Larger pieces would take longer, I’m sure. Put them somewhere that holds the heat. I had mine on my car part of the time and also on a stone wall. Next time I plan to try my garage roof which is easily accessible from our bedroom.
learningandyearning says
Also, it was a dry day; no humidity in the air.
Kenn Anderson Sr. says
Thanks, Suze! I’m going to dry some of our bigger tomatoes, in slices, of course. Maybe on a rainy Irene day, if we don’t get a hot, sunny one.
learningandyearning says
Ahhh. I love being called Suze! Let me know how they turn out.
peggy says
how many times in the summer do you hear that a closed up car can get as hot as an oven? when i heard that a few years ago, i decided to actually use it as an oven. i have used the space under the back and front windows of my car as a dehydrator for a few years now and it works really well. i put parchment paper on metal trays and put the food in a single layer. i have made kale chips and raisins and other foods. it works best on a day when you will not be going anywhere for the time it takes to dry things out . just leave the windows open a crack and check the food often.
Susan Vinskofski says
What a great idea!