View Single Post
Old August 14, 2017   #9
StephenCoote
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Nelson, New Zealand
Posts: 42
Default

My wife and I love to have dried tomatoes in the pantry. The main way we use them is on pizzas. Our pizzas are made 'from scratch' using a yeast dough. I like to ensure that the dried tomatoes and any bacon we might have on the pizza sit tight against the dough and are well-covered with cheese so that they don't go hard or burn.

I dry any available tomato and the results are generally pretty acceptable. However I too am on the quest for the best drying variety. Not only should it dry well, it should be a healthy, reliable and prolific plant with fruit that tastes good raw.

Last season I grew Principe Borghese and, like you, I found that it wasn't all that special despite the rave reviews that seem to get repeated all around the internet. I also grew Grappoli d'Inverno - reputedly a variety used for drying on the vine - but it didn't seem to offer any advantages over other varieties in the garden. I suppose I should try growing them for several seasons before writing them off... but with the hundreds of other varieties out there I'm more inclined to give these others a go.

I agree with folks who say that a meaty (less juicy) fruit is better for drying. This makes sense because if there is less watery pulp in the fruit, it should dry quicker and there should be a greater volume of usable fruit at the end of the process. This season I'm trying two types that may be in this category (although the reviews are mixed). One is Amish Paste, the other is a strain of Orange Roma which has been grown locally for a while.

If I were forced to select just two varieties of tomato for my garden, I would grow Stupice and Tommy Toe. Both have been reliable plants and their fruit is very acceptable. Tommy Toe taste pretty good whatever you do with them. And while the Stupice I grow here aren't that marvellous to eat straight off the vine, they are wonderful cooked and OK when dried.
StephenCoote is offline   Reply With Quote