I am in a quandary, poppets. Okay, so it's not much of a quandary. Nothing earth-shattering by any means. Not even anything that's keeping me up at night. Anymore than I already AM, that is. (Thanks, Cubby!) No, my minor, quite-benign quandary simply concerns the Baby Cakes tomatoes.
Here's the thing with Baby Cakes, a variety of cherry tomato of which I have two plants in the garden: They produce a WHOLE HELL OF A LOT of tomatoes per plant. Like, clusters and clusters and clusters of small red fruits ripening in the dozens by the day. I grew them for the first time last year, but because of the Goddamn Blight, I had no idea how many tomatoes they could produce in a good year. And that is: A lot. ALOTALOTALOTALOT.
They're too small to bother canning, I have no space in the freezer because I'm anticipating filling it with lamb in the fall, and there are only so many cherry tomatoes we can eat. Especially because of all the other tomatoes I'm harvesting. (Hello, Black Krims! I LOVE YOU.) And so we come to drying.
Now. I do not have a food dehydrator, which means the oven is my only option. So I've been reading up on oven drying tomatoes. So far I have learned the following things:
Tomatoes should be placed directly on the oven racks for drying.
Oh wait! No! They should be placed on cooling racks on top of cookie sheets for drying.
And they should be dried at 145 degrees.
But wait! Should that be 200 degrees?
The oven door should be propped open with a wooden spoon.
Nononono! Leave that oven door closed, you fool!
And they should be dried for anywhere from 3 to 8 hours until they're pliable but not too brittle. They might feel sticky, but shouldn't have any moisture left.
I just love clear instructions.
So now I'm tempted to just abandon the whole idea, because I can just see this all going horribly wrong and ending up with a jar full of moldy tomatoes due to my inability to discern the proper state of pliable-but-not-brittle. Or, alternatively, burning everything in the oven to cinders because my attention wandered between hours four and six.
Someone please tell me you have done this before and you have some good (CLEAR) advice to give me based on your own experience. Because otherwise I'm just going to have to wing it. I'd rather not.
you could probably get one of those dehydrator things at the thrift store - I don't think anyone uses them anymore *grin* but sounds like that would be perfect for you :)
ReplyDeleteAnd probably cheaper than running the oven with the door propped open for 8 hours, not to mention the heat!
ReplyDeleteHow about using them for salsa? My Italian friend taught me a neat trick of how to easily peel those cherry tomatoes. (I hate tomato peels) Just drop them in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute (exactly) and then in a bowl of ice water and the skins almost fall off. Hope that helps. I have no experience with drying anything.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I've got to completely disagree with Anon the second. I know what you mean when you say "ALOTALOTALOTALOT". No way I'd peel them.
ReplyDeleteBut that's not why I'm here today. Just wanted to suggest that no matter how you dry them, top up the jars with a little olive oil and you shouldn't have mold problems.
Word verification: geange -- the sound the spring on your screen door makes when you open it too far
Dry then freeze them to prevent any mold from forming. A gallon of the fresh ones will dry down to about a cup and take up very little room.
ReplyDeleteSheila
Drew beat me to it - pack them in olive oil when you're done drying them and you shouldn't have any problems with mold.
ReplyDeleteNo info. But if you have good luck, please pass on your tips! I've considered getting a dehydrator because I don't want to run the oven for 8 hours in the middle of summer.
ReplyDeleteYou won't be needing the freezer room till cold weather , so I 'd freeze them and use them before you butcher. :) Rinse , put in bag , put in freezer. Cook them into ketchup or sauce in the winter when you use the wood stove. I think drying would take too long ,use too much energy(drying),you wouldn't get many in a dryer at a time with the length of time it takes to dry them you will have oodles and gobs more by then. I have always wondered why folks ever thought it was cost effective or time efficient to use a dryer. In the olden days they layed them up on the metal roof of a building on a clean sheet covered with cheese cloth. Unless you have umpteen dryers . You don't want to waste the gas/electricity or heat up the house to do it in the regular oven. But, hey that's just me.
ReplyDeleteOur chickens always loved tomatoes..so what you don't use give to them, seeds, peels,cores. Helps make richer yolks. Beth
word verification 'roricer'
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