How to Make Delicious Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I don't know about you, but our greenhouse is absolutely red with tomatoes right now. Every day the plants surprise us with new rosy-cheeked fruits, and that's why we're taking a small risk today and talking about how to make sun-dried tomatoes yourself. The Estonian weather is quite unbelievably Mediterranean, so why not try making Mediterranean delicacies.

The small risk lies in the fact that although tropical heat has persisted here for several weeks, you never know when such a miracle ends – it could rain on your beautiful tomatoes instead. That's why in today's post we're also talking about how to make it in the oven, just in case, and use an old good oven instead of the sun.

As a small note, we'll mention that in the next post we'll talk about real estate topics again, but now is the fastest time for making preserves and that's why we're weighing in on this topic too.

Find a suitable drying base

First of all, you need a base where the tomatoes will dry. Ideally, it should be an air-permeable dense mesh or grate, but if you don't have one, anything else will do, for example a regular oven tray with baking paper laid on top.

Go to the greenhouse

Now go to the greenhouse and pick as many tomatoes as you like. What an incredible smell there is, isn't it? You can't get such an experience at the store anymore. We, for example, sometimes just sit in the greenhouse and meditate. Actually, we do!

Slice the tomatoes into slices

Slice the tomatoes into medium-thick slices and lay them on the mesh to dry. About so that from one average tomato you get four slices. Thicker slices don't want to dry very well. Season with sea salt and herbs that you like the most. You can use parsley, basil, thyme, etc.

Put the fruits to dry and wait

To protect against wasps and other insects, put cheesecloth or some other fabric over the tomatoes and take them outside in the morning and bring them back inside or to some shaded place in the evening. Usually, tomatoes should dry nicely within a week. The tomatoes are ready when they no longer stick and their texture resembles somewhat like a raisin's.

There are several options for storage

You have at least two options for storing tomatoes: put the freshly made delicacies in a container in the deep freezer or in a jar with olive oil in a sealed jar to wait for cold winter days.

As an alternative, the oven

If the weather outside doesn't allow for drying, you can do it in an oven too. Set the oven to 100 degrees and budget 8–10 hours for drying. During this time, enough water should evaporate from the tomatoes and the Mediterranean delicacy is ready.

You can also use a food dehydrator, but first try drying in your garden in the sun.

Check out offers of houses with greenhouses here>>.