Sun Dried Tomatoes

[FrannieGreen]

Are these raw? If so....do you buy them? Make them?
Use dehydrator?

I've seen recipes for ketchup using sun dried tomatoes.
So wondering if sundried tomatoes you buy from Whole Foods
Mediterrean Organics is raw. I sent an email to them...but no reply yet.
Thank you,
Frannie

[Veganforlife]

It depends. I HAVE dehydrated mine. I've also bought from www.rawfromthefarm.com
More than likely the ones you can just buy out "there" are not raw....

[T-Bird]

Do you trust those rawfrom thefarmfolks?

I'll try some of their wares if you do, really really, trust them.....

[soulstar]

I've ordered sun-dried tomatoes from "Raw from the farm" and find them to be one of the most reputable folks on line.
Their sun-dried Tomatoes are more red than the ones you would find at the HFS. THe more colorful the end result, the less heat was used, from what I have heard.
When I make my own in my dehydrater, the end result of the tomatoes, color-wise, is nice shade of red. My own tend to be the brightest, but "Raw from the farm" is the second best in terms of retaining a red color, that I have seen so far.

All the best

[Mary Kay]

For years now I have dried my own maters in the D. Well, I ran out last year and went to the store to buy some. The lady there told me they were on this shelf. I kept looking and could not see them. Finally went back to her and she pointed them out to me! No wonder I couldn't see them! I was looking for red and these were dark brown!!! I was looking right at them.

The easiest/quickest way to dry them, is to cut off the stem and I even cut off a teeny tiny sliver of the bottom skin. Then I cut them in half and throw them in the blender on low.

I leave them a little chunky and pour onto teflex sheets. The reason I leave chunky is because they don't get so watery, and spill off, as well as they take up less space in the D.

Then I stuff them in a jar and seal the jars once I get a good number built up, with one of those vacuum sealer thingies with the lid attachment.

HTH,

Mary Kay

[cara4art]

I've done these a lot in my dehydrator, just slicing them into 1/4" slices and arranging them on the trays(no teflex, just the mesh sheets). Then I just stick them into zip lock bags and put them in the back of the refrigerator for winter use.

[FrannieGreen]

Thank you. I see a dehydrater in my future.

[delaluna]

hi all,

if you dehydrate tomatoes, how long and at what temperature do you d for?

what would happen if i left the dehydrated tomatoes a little bit soggy (retaining some water)? Would it spoil quickly even if I put it in the fridge?
The reason I ask is most recipes ask you to soak the sun-dried tomatoes for an hour, but if I retain some water, I wouldn't need to soak again... make sense?

[Veganforlife]

Do you trust those rawfrom thefarmfolks?

I'll try some of their wares if you do, really really, trust them.....

YES! I have bought from them and they are WONDERFUL!

[Mary Kay]

Cara4art,

I've sliced many a tomato in my day, and do like them, and they dry a little quicker than my blender way, but find it to be much less tedious and quicker to just throw in the blender first.

My thoughts anyway.

Mary Kay

[Saija]

Sun-dried tomatoes are ripe tomatoes which are placed in the sun to remove most of the water content from the tomatoes. Cherry types of tomatoes will lose 88% of their initial (fresh) weight, whilst larger tomatoes can lose up to 93% during the process. So it takes anywhere from 8 to 14 kilos of fresh tomatoes to make a single kilo of sun dried tomatoes.After the procedure the tomato fruits will keep their nutritional value. The tomatoes are high in lycopene, antioxidants, and vitamin C and low in sodium, fat, and calories.