My list of tomatoes grown for drying

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by z_willus_d

Brokenbar, your dried tomato in olive recipe looks great. I was given a small oak barrel for making vinegar a while back. I've been looking for an excuse to brew up a batch, and now I have one, or will next season, owing nothing dastardly happens to your drying varieties in my garden, my hands.
-naysen

Did you know that there is now this HUGE market for "aged" vinegars? Big auction in New York last year where a 50 year old bottle of red wine vinegar fetched 25 thousand (for vinegar...go figure!)
Last time I was in Spain I was in a shop in Barcelona that was selling aged vinegars and the cheapest bottle they had was $75.00 €.

I have tons of sun-dried tomato recipes. Give everyone in our family and circle of friends a jar of dried toms in the olive oil at xmas and include a little recipe book with 5 new recipes each year.

Sun-dried tomatoes provide the most lycopene gram-per-gram, than any other food.

[z_willus_d]

Brokenbar, I certainly have noted the extravagant pricing on aged vinegars. I'm a big wine nut, and I while that juice is more often associated with escalating value over time (assuming good provenance and source material), it seems aging vinegar might be the far surer way to turn a profit with aging. It's certainly far more tolerant of heat, light, vibration, and temperature variation, and it I believe the quality of grapes that feed it while important is not nearly as essential as in wine making. In any event, my white wine vinegar would be far from aged were I to use a new batch for next seasons drying harvest. I'll be hitting you up for your best recipes sometime next fall.

Thanks,
Naysen

[Tracydr]

Excellent. I started a bunch of Amish paste yesterday, which I haven't grown before. I also started Speckled Roman, which I grew last year and found to be extremely dry.
Hoping to dehydrate plenty this season, as well as can a bunch.
I'm also planting a few cherries, which seem to do better in the heat, when I start getting BER on the paste tomatoes. Any preferences on cherries for drying?
I planted plenty of Sungolds, plus some Black Cherries, Matt's Wild Cherry, Green Doctors and Mexico Midget.

[walkinggin]

Tracydr, I can't offer a cherry suggestion cause I rarely grow them but Heidi is a very productive small plum shaped (2-3 oz) which has the reputation of being less prone to BER than most paste types. In the last 3 or 4 years I've grown it I think I've only seen 2 fruits with BER.

Course you are in a more challenging climate. Last year I gave a few Yamal plants to my father who is in Tempe and he loved them. Not cherries but small 2-4 oz and red.

Ginny

[brokenbar]

Okay...My Husband grew "Fortuna" which came from Charles Case in Georgia. here is Charles' description:

70 days, Indet. regular leaf, bushy, swaggering, super healthy, productive, long lasting plants that produce hundreds of 1" X 1. 5"elongated brilliant red gems, bold taste, dry texture, few seeds, perfect choice for cooking, canning, drying or salsa. A productivity champion in my garden and literal garden standout.

"

When I spoke to him on the phone, he said these were his new favorite small tomato.

My Husband grew them in Mexico for the first time and I have to admit, they were fabulous and I never saw so many dammed (sic) tomatoes on one plant! Personally, I never grow anything small for drying because it is just too much work and takes so many tomatoes for a decent amount of finished product. These were truly a paste-type small tomato which is rare. I will see if my Husband saved very much seed. He is the BIGGEST WHINER when it comes to saving seed and always forgets to save seed from stuff he wants to re-grow (I refuse to do it for him...) He actually will re-buy seed for a variety rather than save it himself

[Sun City Linda]

I have heard many folks say they dry Jaune Flamme, a 2-4 oz orange with great flavor and thick walls. I grew it last year and it is prolific and tasty, although juicy!

Broken Bar - OK, so now we all want Fortuna! LInda

[walkinggin]

Brokenbar, you recommended Fortuna to me in another thread when I mentioned that I like varieties that can be simply sliced in half, but that was before you had tried it. Its good to have a report on it and a positive report at that!

ginny

[brokenbar]

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

I have heard many folks say they dry Jaune Flamme, a 2-4 oz orange with great flavor and thick walls. I grew it last year and it is prolific and tasty, although juicy!

Broken Bar - OK, so now we all want Fortuna! LInda

Yeah, and I don't know if anyone but Charles has it...He was the only listing for it in last years yearbook. I have not gotten this years yet. Geez 'tho...small tomatoes dry to about the size of a dime which is pretty puny...You would need "hundreds" to get a few jars full of dried ones!

[sicily]

Brokenbar, Thanks for the wonderful info!! I also grow a large number of paste tomatoes that I process every year. I sent you a new variety with the sase for your seed offer. The Nudi Family Heirloom is one you should try. It's large, tasty, and dry. I received it from a gentleman whose family has been growing it for 60 yrs. in Calabria. It's also very productive and disease free. Have you grown Gildo Pietrboni? I know you don't want any new varieties, it's another one you might want to try. If you change your mind, let me know, I'd be happy to send you seeds, loved the recipes.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by sicily

The Nudi Family Heirloom is one you should try. It's large, tasty, and dry. I received it from a gentleman whose family has been growing it for 60 yrs. in Calabria.

Sicily, do you know if the Nudi Family Heirloom seed is available from any vendors? I googled but nothing came up. My family is from Calabria so I'm always on the look out for stuff that originated there. Sadly dad gave up on the seeds from the old country years ago. Thanks for any info you can share.

[JJJessee]

Originally Posted by brokenbar

SUNDRIED TOMATO RECIPE

Wash, stem and slice each tomato into 1/4" thick slices. Keep slices as uniform as possible so they will dry at 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. You can re-use the wine soak 3 times but then it should be discarded.



Lay tomatoes 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 and then sprinkle each slice with Kosher Salt and garlic powder. You may choose to fore-go the salt if you wish but tomatoes will take longer to dry.



Dry tomatoes until they are firm and leather-like 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 two 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 re-liquifies 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 my 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 within 7 days. Garlic is a low-acid food which, when placed in oil, creates a low-acid anaerobic environment just a perfect growth medium for botulism 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.

I think this bares resurrecting for us tomato noobies.

Thanks, Brokenbar.

[tnpeppers]

I have been on a quest for the ULTIMATE fresh salsa tomato for several years. I note that you have several 'maters listed that meet your standards for salsa, but is there ONE you feel 'outflavors' the rest?

[tnpeppers]

When soaking tomato slices in wine, should the container be refrigerated, or can it just sit on the counter prior to dehydrating?