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Many of you, will I'm sure have tried this already, but for the novices like me out there, this is really worth a try

After reading an article on drying tomatoes using........ (I apologise to all the purists ) a microwave oven,........I thought I would give it a try, as I have an absolute glut of tomatoes that all seem to be ripening at once, coupled with a need to process them quickly.

I have previously used a small fan oven to produce sun dried tomatoes (U.K.version) and it took hours to obtain the desired result, the batch that I did today took approx 31 mins actual drying time, 10 mins preperation and 30 mins cooling.

Please note the power of the microwave you are using really does make a difference to the timings given, so it is worth keeping a very watchfull eye on them.

I sliced my tomatoes into 4 lengthwise, i:e calyx to base, (the plants were ordinary common garden tomatoes, Moneymaker if my memory serves me correct).

After removing the pips and core I placed them on the glass microwave tray and blotted them dry with kitchen roll.

My microwave is 850 Watts and I zapped them at full power for 15 minutes initially, skin side down.

After 15 mins I removed them from the oven and drained the liquid that had collected in the plate, turned them over with a smallish pallette knife and re-zapped them for a further 8 mins skin side up.

I then turned them over again and zapped them for a further 8 mins checking every 2 - 3 minutes, and removing any that were sufficiently dried, the result was in my opinion quite impressive.

I left them to stand for 30 minutes until cool and put them into olive oil, some of which were used the same evening the rest were frozen.

(Please bear in mind Wheels and Oddleys comments on bottling tomatoes and the risk of botulism earlier in this thread).

This is well worth a try, so please let us know of any variations that you try.

Thanks

T.B.

Here are a couple of photos

Interesting but not a method for mass production to dry a couple of bushels of tomatoes.

Big Guy wrote:Interesting but not a method for mass production to dry a couple of bushels of tomatoes.

But for a few pounds it works just fine.

Bye the way how many pounds to a bushel, I am of the generation of pounds and ounces but I left school 56 years ago and those years have not been kind.


Regards T.B

Sorry, she who must be obeyed has just pointed out that I actually left school 49 years ago, see what I mean about the years not being kind.

Grr.... You swine you! I tried this a couple of weeks ago - all I got was a mushy mess - Maybe I didn't zap them for long enough 'cos yours look great.

Phil

Big Guy wrote:Bye the way how many pounds to a bushel, I am of the generation of pounds and ounces but I left school 56 years ago and those years have not been kind.

There are no pounds to a bushel. A bushel is a measure of volume and a pound is a measure of weight.

However, one US bushel = 28.38 litres and one Imperial bushel = 27.50 litres = 32/105 ( ) US barrel = 2/9 Imp. barrel = 4 pecks = 8 gallons = 32 quarts = 64 pints = 1280 ounces.

No wonder we prefer the Metric System over here...

wheels wrote:Grr.... You swine you! I tried this a couple of weeks ago - all I got was a mushy mess - Maybe I didn't zap them for long enough 'cos yours look great.

Phil

Hi phil

They do go through the mushy mess stage before reaching the desired product, just make sure that during the final zappin they are skin side down as this contains the mushy mess somewhat

Do as I did and just keep zappin em, some will be ready sooner than others so remove these when they are ready and carry on with the rest,

Im going to try mushrooms in the near future so will let you know how they come out.

Regards TB.

Thanks TB

Phil

Further to my initial post re drying tomatoes in the microwave.

I did some more today but this time I tried a slightly different approach and the results were better than the last time,

I just sliced the tomatoes in half and carefully scooped out the pips leaving the core in.

After Each 10 mins in the microwave I took them out and rested them for 5mins to cool slightly

This resting period really makes a real difference, the tomatoes firm up considerably, the mushy stage is almost non existant.
After they were finished I left them to stand for 30 mins to dry out completely.

The yield was a bit of a shock, (I weighed them this time) I started of with with approx 700 grams of tomatoes (processed in two batches)...... and ended up with up with just 50gms of dried tomatoes, I don't really remember the figures for when I used a fan oven but I suppose it must be almost the same.

Still better than freezing them whole, and a lot less freezer space.
:

Hey Abrwstr,

I'm going to try this tomorrow. We too have a glut of tomatoes. My wife cans our production every year and we all know how time consuming that is. We have dried them in our home made but very conventional dryer. They do take a long time to finish.

Your second attempt sounds very doable. We like to season them, (without salt,) prior to dying. The seasoning adds greatly to the finished product.

This is a sample recipe which is also a great salt substitute.


1/4 cup dried minced onion flakes
4 teaspoons crushed dried vegetable flakes
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried savoury
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
dash crushed dried rosemary



1. Combine all of the ingredients in a coffee grinder and reduce to a powder.
2. Store the spice blend in a covered container or a sealed shaker bottle.

Makes about 1/2 cup.

Try freezing tomatoes whole
Great for plum tomatoes,they don't stick and when you need them. put them in a little water and the skin slips off.then cook with them it tastes fresh

Well I tried several times but failed to get anything acceptable. Our new microwave has a user manual with more pages than my Chevy. I can't find the will to figure out how it does any more than thaw foods, (very efficiently) and heat leftovers. Went back to basics and dried them the old way.