oven dried tomatoes

I have been having fun this summer making all kinds of things with produce such as pickles, pickle beets, pickled peppers, peach apricot butter etc. I have also been baking all my old recipes, shortbreads being one of VI's new favorites. I think I'll try bread since I haven't made any in over 20 years. Iwould like to try oven dry tomatoes which I have never done and wonder if I should freeze them after they are dried or just store them in the frig. If I store them in the frig how long can I keep them so they are good.
Thanks
Paulette

HI,

If your tomatoes are thoroughly dried, then you can keep them at room temperature. When I took a class on drying foods they advised a test: put them in a Mason Jar with plastic wrap sealing the jar. If beads of moisture begin to show up, then you need to dry them further.

This website has everything you ever wanted to ask about preserving food but didn't know where to ask!

Regards,

I made my first batch of the year of grape and cherry oven-dried tomatoes today (and habaneros...man, they smell tasty)in the new oven no less...

I typically dry the *halved* tomatoes until they're shriveled little globs...somewhere between gummy and a "li'l" juicy

I keep them in the fridge in ziplocs for up to a year if I make enough and they don't disappear...this small batch was a test to see if my usual purveyor is up to snuff...they are...and I'll be making much larger batches to store soon...

so, in answer, fridge is fine for less than crispy tomatoes(had that happen once)

I'd like to add that crazy as halving and drying pounds of tiny tomatoes may seem(it's a great TV watching procedure...the halving), the end product is so perkily, caramelly sweet that I years ago abandoned drying plum tomatoes.

The first time I oven dried tomatoes I made a wonderful accidental discovery-about halfway through the process, the semi-dry tomatoes make a fantastic side dish! They are warm and still moist, but with enough liquid cooked out of them so as to intensify the flavor to mouth watering brilliance.

If you do the oven drying, make sure you throw in enough for eating while the rest of the batch continues to dry.

Dig in,

Buddy

Thanks for the tips. I will remember the grape cherry tomatoes. My daughter is growing them and she usually doesn't eat all that grows so I think I'll go still some from her plants.
Paulette

Well I tried my hand at oven drying on Saturday. Next time I'll do them overnight as it took 7 hours and all were not real dry. This could be the fault of my 22 year old electric oven. I'm storing them in the frig because of this. The one I tasted was sweet and tasted like the best sun dried I have bought. Since my kitchen is being remodeled this week and next By the way they are not replacing the oven so I will have to learn how to work around this. I will try them soon and report back.
Paulette

Just a short story. I saw someone on TV, slow bake plum tomatoes, and they looked good. Slice them in half, salt and pepper, followed by olive oil. Into a 250 degree oven for four/five hours.

When they were done, I called my sister to ask her for her thoughts on storage. While discussing, I ate all 24 halves. Problem solved. Still not a problem, because when I make these, I make a quanity that will be eaten, as them come out of the oven.

Sabersix,

That sounds delicious- which reminds me of a new favorite of mine that actually started from Rachael Ray's Sherry Cherry tomato recipe(available at foodnetwork.com). Every now and then, her giggle is worth putting up with. I saute chopped shallots in XV olive oil in an oven proof nonstick skillet,then add a pint of grape tomatoes(I prefer these to cherry tomatoes as they are sweeter). Coat with oil, then add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and a healthy splash of sweet vermouth( instead of sherry). Into the oven it all goes for about 15-20 min. This results in a fantastic, sweet reduction whereby the tomatoes become very soft and create a "sauce", all of which can then be easily spread on crostini slices or mixed into pasta. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic or oil and fresh basil-Yumm-o.