subject: How to Dehydrate Tomatoes From your Garden [print this page] Seeking tips on how to dehydrate tomatoes from your backyard? You've come to the best place. I adore fresh backyard tomatoes and I dry a significant part of my crop each year. If you are anything like me you were over enthusiastic once you planted your crop last spring and are now facing mass production of tomatoes and need to have to do something with them. I've identified drying them to be an uncomplicated answer that preserves their flavor and is uncomplicated to do.
Preparation
Like most issues in life preparation would be the key. Only use firm fresh tomatoes. You may use green ones too, they may have a bit of a unique taste but are wonderful in olive oil. Wash and trim, cut out the poor spots. Slice as thin and evenly as you may. The more uniform your pieces, the more uniformly they'll dry. Tomatoes have a great deal of water in them so they take a long time to dry and the thinner the slices the greater.
Drying
I like to use a dehydrator to dry my tomatoes. You may dry them inside the sun or in an oven but it doesn't work as well and needs additional attention. Besides, do you seriously want to tie up your oven for days on end drying tomatoes? With a dehydrator all you need to have to do is to place the slices on the racks, put the racks on the dehydrator, cover with the lid and turn it on! No fuss, no muss.
Are They Completed?
As I stated, tomatoes take a long time to dry. Check them after 12 hours to see how they are doing. Its going to depend on the thickness. They wont be brittle when they're completed, they'll have some give if you bend them, but will break . Making sure they're dry is the most necessary element of the operation. Any moisture will develop mold and contaminate your whole batch.
Once you have discovered how to dry tomatoes, you are going to want to start with some of your other produce out of your garden! Drying is really a wonderful way to keep the harvest without having to can or freeze.
