Dehydrating Small Tomatoes-Cherry Tomatoes, Grape Tomatoes, Plum Tomatoes

This is a companion hub to a hub I published earlier about dehydrating larger tomatoes. The focus of this hub is preserving small tomatoes for use later in the year by dehydrating them and then freezing them.

Most of us love sun-dried tomatoes. The very words bring up images of Italy, the smell of baking bread and the warm Tuscany sun. Sun-dried tomatoes go well in many dishes, and their use is extraordinary as a culinary ingredient. I, myself, happen to love them right out of the bag. Not only do sun-dried tomatoes taste good, they are the perfect way of adding color to cooking.

Step 1: Wash and remove all of the tomato stems.

Step 2: Slice each small tomato in half

Step 3: Place all of the tomato halves onto the dehydrator trays. Leave room between them so that the warm air will circulate evenly.

Step 4: Salt and pepper lightly if desired. I find that these small tomatoes are so sweet and tangy that they do not need any salt or pepper. This step is entirely up to you.

Step 5: Dehydrate on 135 degrees Fahrenheit until the tomato halves are leathery but dry. Today this process took about 7 hours. To help them dry faster, larger plum tomatoes can be cut in thirds.

Step 6: Place dehydrated tomatoes into a quart size freezer bag. Pour about ¼ cup of olive oil over them. Remove the excess air from the bag and place them in the freezer. I find that the olive oil helps preserve the tomatoes in the freezer a little better than when they are frozen without using oil.

These beautiful little gems will last about 8 months in the freezer, but I will use most of them during the holidays.

Drying tomatoes in the sun can take about 3-4 days, and I do not find the method very clean. I use a dehydrator because I think it cleaner than leaving food out in the sun. Sun-dried food tend to pick up extra ingredients out of the air such as pollutants and pollen, both of which I would prefer not to eat. The dehydrator is much cleaner and faster, and the result is pretty much the same, minus the extra ingredients.

There are many different kinds of small tomatoes. Today, I have used cherry tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, sun-gold tomatoes, and sweet 100's in my mixture of dehydrated tomatoes. The process is really easy and besides the 7 hours to dehydrate the tomatoes, not a lot of labor on my part.

TOOLS:

• Colander

• Large Clean bowl

• Cutting Board

• Sharp knife

• Dehydrator.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4lbs of small tomatoes

• Salt and pepper (optional)

• Olive Oil (optional)