Oven Dried tomatoes

Appetizer

DON'T MICROWAVE. They are too hard to control, and there's a good chance you'll cook your tomatoes instead of drying them.

Ingredients

  • Tomatoes Italian Plumb(sauce tomatoes)
  • Equiptment:
  • Regular baking sheets can be used, but because they are solid, they will not expose the tomatoes to drying heat on all sides.
  • Special drying trays,either purchased or made of mesh or wooden slats for drying food in the sun, may also be used in the oven.

Directions

It's very difficult to give more than general guidelines for time and temperature. Set your oven no higher than 145*f. This will be tricky with many ovens since the lowest setting is often 200*F. If this is the case with yours, set it to "warm" and use an oven thermometer to check the real temperature inside. If you can't get the temperature to stay below 145*F., you ought to consider other ways to dry your tomatoes. Food drying in the oven should be checked often, especially during the end of the drying time, and the trays should be rotated periodically for more even drying. If your oven isn't vented(and many electric ones aren't), leave the oven door slightly ajar to get good air circulation. Propping the door open just a bit with a folded towl works well. Move the trays or oven racks from time to time. Don't place any food closer than about 6 inches from either the top or bottom of the oven.Turn your oven on bake;do not broil. Some ovens use their broiling element even on bake, and if this is so with yours, then deflect the broilers heat away from your tomatoes by placing a baking sheet or a sheet of foil on the uppermost shelf and keeping all your tomatoes on the shelves underneath this one.
Don't overload your oven in an attempt to save energy. Extra food justs means extra drying time. Sliced fruits and vegetables and small whole berries can take from 4 to 12 hours to dry in a warm oven.
As when drying outdoors, put skin side down. By the time you're ready to turn your tomatoes, the moister, exposed side should have dried out a bit and lost some of its tackiness, and there's less chance that it will stick to the tray.
An oven is a handy place to dry food, and if you can keep the temperature below 145*F., a perfectly acceptable place. However, it's not usually an economical means of drying big batches of food, since keeping the oven on with the door ajar for several hours at a time can use up a lot of energy. But for an occasional batch of food, ovens are more reliable than drying outdoors and certainly cheaper than buying a food drier.


Well-dried tomatoes should be leathery but pliable. Store in glass jars with tight lids. To use the tomatoes, pour a mixture of equal parts vinegar and boiling water over them and let them sit a few minutes until they soften to a chewy consistency. Drain and cover with olive oil seasoned with a sliver of garlic. Let them marinate in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before sampling. They'll keep fine in this oil for about a month.

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Submitted 6/13/05.
Source: Stocking up
Submitted By: Eileen Werth
crzylegs@erols.com
Oven Dried tomatoes