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Farm Kitchen:  Sundried Tomatoes?  |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 08 2008 : 09:55:29 AM
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Have any of you dried your own tomatoes? I'd prefer to do this in the sun this summer (not the oven for 12 hours, helloooooo electric bill!) - but how do you keep all the critters from finding them, wrapped in cheesecloth or not? Ants are pretty darned ingenious at getting into things you don't want them to, so that's my main concern.
I have cheesecloth, did you make some kind of structure to go around the toms to protect them? Simply lay them on a sheet? Take them in at night, and how many days until they are dry?
Advice desired! I love dried toms, and I want to pack some in oil -After we got some from Italy that were packed that way, ohmygod the explosion of flavor in our mouths was just amazing... REAL food is just a wonderful thing! |
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nashbabe
True Blue Farmgirl
687 Posts
687 Posts |
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Kay Marie
Farmgirl in Training
24 Posts
Kay
Tomball
TX
USA
24 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2008 : 10:23:05 AM
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| I also did mine in a dehydrator. As an experiment, I halved a bunch of cherry tomatoes and soaked them in balsamic vinegar prior to drying. I use them to make tomato bread. I may have to play with packing them in oil -- that sounds really yummy! |
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Cindy Lee
True Blue Farmgirl
510 Posts
Cindy
Sparks
Nevada
USA
510 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2008 : 1:55:59 PM
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| Lynn, although I have not dried tomatoes myself, I have read about it and plan to give it a go this summer. Don't know about he ants but it said to use screens (window screens) and I bet you could figure out a way to raise the screen so that the ants couldn't get onto it. |
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La Patite Ferme
True Blue Farmgirl
623 Posts
Jenn
CA
USA
623 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2008 : 2:12:52 PM
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| My X-FIL use to dry jerky outside. He had a cube framed in 1x2's then wrapped all the sides in fine window screen. It was about 18" tall with screen shelves. He would hang it from his patio cover. I think something like that would work fine for sundried tomatoes. Also check the Mother Earth News website. I think they've had something in a past issue about tomatoes. |
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Peanut
True Blue Farmgirl
603 Posts
Jennifer
Waverly
Virginia
USA
603 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2008 : 2:12:59 PM
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Ants don't like cinnamon. Maybe you can leave a trail of cinnamon around the platter of tomatoes?
My blog: http://thecottonwife.wordpress.com/
"John Deere. We stand behind everything we sell. Except the manure spreader." |
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Prairie Princess
True Blue Farmgirl
1075 Posts
Jodi
Washington
USA
1075 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2008 : 3:24:33 PM
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Kay, I've never tried to make a tomato bread. It sounds really good, though! Is it just like a quick bread, or a yeast bread?
~Jodi
"Women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt |
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Georgia
True Blue Farmgirl
92 Posts
Angie
ballwin
mo
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2008 : 08:29:53 AM
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I did some this summer in the dehydrator and them froze them. I have used some but I still have plenty. Would anyone like to share some recipes using them? That bread does sound great!
dreamer |
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Farm Kitchen: Sundried Tomatoes? |
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Sundried Tomatoes?
