With the long, hot summer still stretching out before us you can use it to your advantage and try sun drying tomatoes. It’s a great way to store and preserve them, especially if you have a bit of a glut.
It’s really easy to do, and we’ve got three methods for you to try:
- Dry them in the sun
Slice your tomatoes and place the slices on a baking tray, ideally on a sheet of greaseproof paper. You can sprinkle with a little sea salt, or just leave them plain. It’s best to lay muslin loosely over the top to prevent bugs landing on your tomatoes. Then just leave them out in the sun for as long as possible. 8 hours would be good. They will start to shrink in size. You may need to bring them in overnight and pop them out again the next day if they don’t dry quickly enough. - Dry them in a hot car
Follow the method above, but put them in your car instead. The extra heat will accelerate the process. - Dry them in the oven
Follow the method above, but leave out the muslin. Put them in an oven at 130/140c for anywhere between 2 and 6 hours – check them hourly so that they don’t burn or completely shrivel up (everyone’s oven will dry them at a slightly different speed, and it’ll depend on the thickness of your tomato slices).