A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Sun Dried Tomatoes

I raise tomatoes for sun drying. I do about 1000 to 2000 lbs a year which I sell to the upscale restaurants in Cody Wyoming & Billings Montana. I wanted to pass on my favorites for you considering doing some drying. Any tomato can be used for drying but some varieties are better than others.
I grow 15 mainstay varieties that I have kept as I culled others that did not meet my criteria. I have over 150 plants.
I also try at least 5 new varieties of paste types each year and am lucky if one makes it into my "herd". I am looking for specific things:

 Meaty with a low moisture content
 Few seeds
 A rich and tangy flavor
 Size-Small tomatoes are just more work for me.
 Not fussy-Take heat and cold and wind. No primadonnas!
 Bloom well and set lots and lots of fruit
 Indeterminate
 Dry to a nice pliable consistency

These are my Top Favorites
Chinese Giant
Carol Chyko
Cuoro D Toro
Opalka
San Marzano Redorta
Russo Sicilian Togeta
Zapotec
Costoluto Genovese
Federle


I wanted to add that were I to be stranded on a desert Island with only one tomato it would be Russo Sicilian Togeta. This is my allstar that sets fruit first, ripens the earliest, bears heavy crops in any weather and is producing right up until hard frost. It is not a true paste but rather a stuffing tomato. None-the-less, the flavor of these dried is as good as it gets. It is also wonderful for just eating or slicing and the fruit is extra large.

For those wanting to know my Secret Recipe for drying, here you go:

Wash, stem and slice each tomato into 1/2" thick slices. It is important to try and keep your slices all about the same thickness as they will then dry evenly and all pieces will dry at about the same rate. Place in a very large bowl or clean bucket and cover with cheap red wine. I use Merlot but if you prefer something else, knock yourself out. I have a friend that swears by cheap Chianti! Soak tomato slices 24 hours in the wine. Drain well. Lay tomatoes, cut side up just touching on dehydrator shelves or on screen in your sun-drying apparatus. Sprinkle each slice with a mixture containing equal parts of dried basil-oregano-parsley & garlic powder and then sprinkle each slice with Sea Salt. You may choose to forego the salt if you wish but tomatoes will take longer to dry. Dry tomatoes until they are firm and leatherlike with no moisture pockets, but NOT brittle. (If you get them too dry, soak them in lemon juice for a few minutes.) To store, place in vacuum bags or ziplock bags and freeze.

IMPORTANT!!! If you will be storing sun-dried tomatoes in Olive oil you !!!MUST!!! dip each slice in vinegar before adding to oil.

To pack in oil:
Dip each tomato into a small dish of white wine vinegar. Shake off the excess vinegar and pack them in olive oil adding 1/4 cup red wine. For tomatoes in oil I am selling, I put the tomatoes into the oil four weeks ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. Make sure they are completely immersed in the oil. When the jar is full, cap it tightly. I use my vacuum sealer to seal the canning lids on. Store at *cool* room temperature for at least a month before using. They may be stored in the refrigerator, but the oil will solidify at
refrigerator temperatures (it quickly reliquifies at room temperature however). As tomatoes are removed from the jar, add more olive oil as necessary to keep the remaining tomatoes covered. I have stored oil-packed tomatoes in m root cellar for over a year. . I have tried a number of methods to pack the tomatoes in oil, but the vinegar treatment is the difference between a good dried tomato and a great one. It is also important from a food safety standpoint, as it acidifies the oil and discourages growth of bacteria and mold. Soaking in the wine also acidifies them.

****** WARNING ********

Do *NOT* add fresh garlic cloves or fresh herbs of any kind to oil-packed dried tomatoes, UNLESS you store them in the refrigerator and plan on using them withing 7 days. Garlic is a low-acid food which, when placed in oil, creates a low-acid anaerobic environment just
perfect growth medium for botulinum bacteria if the mixture is not refrigerated. Be safe and add your garlic to the dried tomatoes as part of the recipe for them *after* they come out of the oil.

Which tomatoes did you cull because they were too sweet if any? I love sweet tomatoes and would love to dry some. I just haven't found the perfect sweet tomato yet. And thank you for the drying recipe.

Very interesting! I have never tried drying tomatoes, just like to eat them as is and I also found a good recipe for roasting in the oven for an appetizer. Just delicious. Where could I find seeds for the russo sicilian togeta? Will they grow in NY?

If I can grow them in Wyoming i can see no problem with you growing them in NY. Also, Mine are always bigger than the three inches described in the cultivar info. Mine average about 5". Her's a link where you can buy the "Togies"
http://store.tomatofest.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TF-0437

My favorite sweet is Costoluto Genovese. They are big and really sweet. They also are the only tomato I grow to make sauce to can for my family. They are really productive and the plants are just loaded. These cook down into a really nice thick sauce. They are also terrific dried. I use the dried Genovese for a Ziti with olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes and Liguria Olives from Italy.(They are brine cured and have an explosive flavor.)

If one gets on google, and types in "Sun Dried Tomato Recipes" there are about a gazilion. I give jars of toms in olive oil with a little booklet of recipes to my family and neighbors as xmas gifts. I also try every single recipe before I include it. Lets face it...some recipes just suck!

Thank you for the information.

Do you have a source for those seeds too?

Sure...Gary Ibsen site http://store.tomatofest.com/Costoluto_Genovese_p/tf-0125.htm. He has a big variety of heirlooms as does
Mariannas Heirlooms
http://www.mariseeds.com/

and Tomato Bob, www.tomatobob.com

All three of these sites have a good selection of paste varieties and Italian culinary varieties.

Thank you for the sources. I appreciate it. Hopefully my quest for the best sweet tomato has ended with these.

I love tomatoes too. I've never thought of drying any on my own, just buy them already done. Maybe I'll get a dehydrator know that I know what to do. I'll put that on my wish list.

Lots of good info. here, thank you!

Now...all I need is the name of a tomatoe for those of us who DO NOT like eating tomatoes but love growing the plant.