Made my first batch of oven dried cherry tomatoes....help!

[cheezz]

I kept baking them on low until there was no more moisture (which I figured I needed to do to prevent molding) and, apparently, baked them about twice as long as I should. They are yummy but on the hard side. Will they reconstitute if I simmer them in a sauce??

 

[Marg CDN]

I think not completely. The skins will always be a little crunchy. It's such a fine line between

just right time and a little too much. Keeping them in oil now will help them from drying out completely. The skins just get a bit tough but that works well for some uses.

But there are lots of ideal uses for them when they are very dried. Mixed into cheeses for bruschetta. Chopped and added sauces and stews. Chopped and used in compound butters. LOTS of uses. The flavour is so intense that the texture becomes somewhat irrelevant.

 

[barb_b]

Nope; they will be nice and crunchy!! YUM!! I seriously would eat the entire batch in a day.

 

[barb_b]

Add some salt and think tomato chips.... Mmmm I can be there in 6 hours or so.

 

[charley]

Use them in a salad instead--like a "tomato raisin". nt

 

[karennoca]

I do my tomatoes on a non-stick foil lined sheet pan on our gas grill outside

I use the indirect method and when they are almost done, I turn of the gas, keep the hood down and let them finish is the residual heat. They seem to dry better, yet retain some moisture that way. I make tomato sauce out of most of them, even paste if I have enough of the paste tomatoes. Otherwise I eat them like candy, they are so yummy.

 

[cheezz]

Thanks all. I'll play around with them. They sure are delicious at any rate

 

[dawn_mo]

I did this with a bunch of grape tomatoes from my garden one year.

I kept them in a jar with a lid on it. They were very dry and crispy, but when I would add them to soups, they were fantastic and they did not mold in the jar. They sound great to me!