Sun Dried Tomatoes Done Three Different Ways - Dehydrator, Oven & Sun

Join Don and Brenda as they experiment with different ways of drying tomatoes. They tried dehydrating them, baking them in the oven and then the old fashioned way of drying them in the sun. They had interesting results.

[SaintCoemgen]

I have been drying tomatoes for over a decade. Mostly sun drying (in purpose built solar dehydrators), but also with table top units. And here are a few things to consider from my experiences. For all types of dehydrators, they work by removing moisture from the surface. And interior moisture then moves toward the surface along a gradient. But because of this, depending on the tool used, yes you can get different results.

- Oven and table top dehydrators do work quickly, as they provide a constant heat and air flow to remove the moisture from the dehydration area. But also, they can work a bit too fast, in that the fruit may seem to be dry, but the interior may still contain moisture. Simply "feeling" the product to see if it is really dry may not be sufficient unless you dry to chip crispness. Better to use a moisture meter to actually test interior moisture.

- Solar dehydrating takes more time as the external temperatures and rate of moisture removal can vary (even well built units with good passive airflow). The darker discoloration you saw on some tomatoes was when things got to hot and the tomatoes oxidized from the heat. This happens to those that are typically thinner or contain less moisture than others. But solar dehydration also has cycles, so at night, their is time for the internal moisture to move to the surface, where it can be removed the next day. Adding salt helps to aid this moisture movement (and also deters fungal growth). Which is also why is not really necessary to add salt to oven or table top dehydrators as the action of the salt gradient will not act fast enough to really help as much as with solar dehydration nor is there fear of fungal growth as there is no real "cool" period.

- Finally, to rehydrate, I pour boiling water over the dry tomatoes in a bowl, and let them soak till they get the consistency I want. That is, do not assume any batch needs a fixed time to rehydrate. One can even rehydrate in cold water, but that simply takes longer.

Hope this helps.

[bbttresidder]

7/25/24 and I’m sitting in my kitchen prepping my tomatoes for the …. Dehydrator. Well darn. Going to have to ask my engineer husband to construct an outdoor drying rack for me and do it the old fashioned and best way next year. Thank you for the very helpful and informative video!! Happy gardening!

[LesssIsMore]

What a wonderful video from start to finish. You two make a great team. Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

[trinalee]

Thanks for drying three different ways and sharing the whole process. Great video!!

[michaelcaruso]

Your experiment was very helpful, informative, information I’m very glad to now have. It must have been some work and I appreciate how carefully you kept the test equal for all variants. Thank you.💕

[conishkee]

8/13/24: WOW!! This was a wonderful tutorial, and I learned so much from it. I have some Compari tomatoes waiting in the wings for me to do something with them and THIS IS IT!! I live in California where the sun is always shining, especially these days with the hot summer we've been having. Nonetheless, I am excited to get it going, starting today, so thank you both for making the comparisons. I'm gonna go for it the good ol' old-fashioned way with El Sol... Yum! 😋

[jeffbee]

I'm glad I watched to end! great video!

[cristinapetruzzellis-htiy]

I been drying tomatoes outside for many years and is the best way to do

[TRTGCbyjroed]

What an interesting experiment. Thanks for sharing Brenda. I’m adding this one to my “Recipes to try soon” file. 👏🏾😁.

[lindap]

Thanks for going to all this work for us. I planted enough tomatoes that I'm sure I'll be able to try more preservation methods than my GO-TO Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce. Here in Seattle, there isn't enough sun to do the authentic Sun-dried method. I'll have to rely on my dehydrator. I'm disappointed to hear your results but I'll do my own and see what I get.

[vickymik]

Love your video…you guys do a great job! Thanks 😊

[ennn]

wow what a wondreful video <3 thank you so much for doing it, you saved a lot of time for me (will share this with the family too)

[deannewbern]

Great video. The horned worms didn’t find our tomato patch this year so we have a bunch. Because of the detailed comments included in the video - as opposed to a silent hand video - the oven method will most likely be the way to go here in Charleston, SC. Of all the different cities I have lived in, Charleston is by far the most humid and insect ridden. Thank you.

[Michelle-oois]

That was a very interesting experiment. Thank you for sharing that with us.

[lorraineyohey]

I love sun dried tomatoes thank you for this experiment

[heatherpfeil]

Super interesting! Now I know how I’ll try mine.

[mary-comfortogholo]

Watching this in 2023, love you guys! Thanks for the effort & detailed process.

[StoneHavenWof]

I have done the in the dehydrator but all inclusive with seasonings and bit of oil on them. They were shelf stable for a year and kept consistency and flavour .. lots of methods to try.

[russalinaakhanova]

Huge thanks from Kazakhstan 🇰🇿 you are amazing ❤

[miamor]

Thank you for the experiment. I will do the old fashion way from now on