sun dried tomatos

[tracie]

I am getting ready for the usuall glut of toms, I usually make some tomato and Chilli jam which is great.

Today I went out to lunch and had some fantastic sun dried tomatos in olive oil on my salad. Is there anybody out there in allotment land who has recipe that I could try.

Thanks

Tracie

[Gilly C]

I dried some in my fan oven last year at 50C this year I have treated myself to a dehydrator but being a bit scared of botulism I froze them after drying in small amounts they tasted wonderful and didn't take up much room in the freezer ! took about 8 hours I just had cherry ones last year

[tracie]

Thanks for your reply, just been on ebay nd put an offer in on a dehydrator. It seems that this seems to be the best method.

[Beryl]

Tracie,

Could you please repeat the recipe for tom. & chilli jam. I'm sure it has been on before but I can't find it.
Thanks.
Beryl.

[Tigger]

If you look on www.about.com there'll be recipes for sun dried tomatoes in the Italian section.

[Primrose]

I also did some in my electric fan oven a couple of years ago, on the lowest setting with the door slightly ajar. They were normal size fruits cut into halves, and if I remember correctly, they took 4 - 5 hours. I then bottled them in olive oil. I was a little worried about fungus setting in and stored one jar in my fridge which was a mistake as all the contents virtually solidified. The other jar lasted about 6 months in my larder before it was emptied, so I can't comment on longer storage capacity than that. The flavour was good and very concentrated.
But I did read recently a recommendation (was it in Kitchen Garden?) to dry them on a rack on the back parcel shelf of your car !! Am not sure how serious a suggestion it was meant to be, and whether it would work. Certainly it doesn't look as if we'll get the chance for any natural outdoor sun dried toms this summer unless the weather drastically changes ! If anybody has tried drying them in a dehydrator, would be interested to hear how successfully it works.