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
) US barrel = 2/9 Imp. barrel = 4 pecks = 8 gallons = 32 quarts = 64 pints = 1280 ounces. 
