Did some sun dried maters

[Meat Hunter]

Last month I think it was Gratefull Dave posted some questions on these. Last week, one of the small variety of Romas that I bought on a whim at Wal-mart started to turn. Always wanted to make em. Nothing special, just sliced in half, sprinkled them with just a bit of kosher, some Oregano and Thyme and into the dehydrator. Out of this world. Flavor is very intense. Gonna make for some kick ass pizzas. Have several plants of Amish paste maters that I am going to dry as well. Those things are the size of those old plastic eggs that pantyhose used to come in. Anyone remember them
I highly recommend trying to make your own if you can. Even if you need to buy some maters at the store. Well worth it.

[Mark R]

Yea buddy, they are excellent! Those looks good!
Been puttin them on my pizza, very nice.

[IrishChef]

Store mine in canning jars. Look nice, and you can even mix other dried veg in for a conversation piece.

[Hoser]

Great job MH...may iI ask about how long they were in the dehydrator?

[DanMcG]

Kool, I got a load of romas coming real soon and was thinking of doing the same. thanks for the post

[Texas-Hunter]

Looks good.. Never tried to do any myself, I guess thats due to not growing any..

When I was a kid I had a ton of them Leggs eggs..

[Pandemonium]

Nice!

[DanMcG]

When I was a kid I had a ton of them Leggs eggs..

Did you have a lot of sisters?

[Texas-Hunter]

Did you have a lot of sisters?

Nope just one and my Mom.. Hell I think they had a run in them almost every week..

[Meat Hunter]

Great job MH...may iI ask about how long they were in the dehydrator?

Hey Hoser. Well, my dehydrator is a oldie but does the job. Just takes a bit longer. These were in approx 18 hours. Everything I have read points towards them being in around 8-12 hours. I guess the main thing is the outcome of them. Should be able to bend them but they should not break or crack when doing so. I guess like a good piece of properly dried jerky. I think it would better to have them over dried than under as you can always reconstitute them with water or olive oil. But not dried enough invites mold.

[Bassman]

Looks good, Todd. That's exactly my plan in a couple of weeks. I have to buy Romas, but they're not too expensive if we pick them ourselves. I like mine just dry enough to snap.

[WALLE]

Look'en good from here, Todd.

Question for all ya'll - will other tomatoes work just a well? Didn't grow any romas..but have Early Girls and what ever I planted for Keith...

Next question: What's the process for canning them in oil... like the kind in the jar in the store? I love those!

Any help would be appreciated!

[Bassman]

Look'en good from here, Todd.

Question for all ya'll - will other tomatoes work just a well? Didn't grow any romas..but have Early Girls and what ever I planted for Keith...

Next question: What's the process for canning them in oil... like the kind in the jar in the store? I love those!

Any help would be appreciated!

Tracey, those Early Girls will work just fine. I was going to do Romas because they don't have as much juice, hence less dry time. I plan on making quite a few of those. As far as canning under oil, perhaps someone here has done that.

[Meat Hunter]

Look'en good from here, Todd.

Question for all ya'll - will other tomatoes work just a well? Didn't grow any romas..but have Early Girls and what ever I planted for Keith...

Next question: What's the process for canning them in oil... like the kind in the jar in the store? I love those!

Any help would be appreciated!

Like Keith said, any mater will work, some better than others due to water. Even them little cherry maters would work fine.

As far as processing them in oil, that was the debate on Gratefull Daves post.
http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/sho...dried+tomatoes
The info I found while searching is that there is no safe method for the home canner to do this and that "Commercially prepared sun-dried tomatoes in oil have been treated to prevent bacteria growth."
Now I take that as being geared towards someone who is making a boatload and wants to store several quarts over the course of a year or so. I have seen a few sites since then where people simply store in olive oil and some herbs and set on the counter as they will be used up rather quickly. Also read that it is better to to do this and store them in the fridge. The olive oil will congeal but let it set out on the counter for a while and it will clear up rather quickly.

Look at these tasty lookin maters.
http://foyupdate.blogspot.com/2010/0...-tomatoes.html

I plan on making a bunch like I did, store them in food saver bags, and make small batches in oil and keep in the fridge. I will have a steady supply of sun dried maters ready for the next batch.

[chefrob]

thems good stuff right there...........