Dehydrated Cherry Tomatoes – Super Easy

Cherry Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are easy and forgiving.  simply wash your tomatoes and slice them.

 

Guides for Success in Drying

Prepared by the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Utah

Photo by Linda Anderson

Selecting the Right Product

• Fruits and vegetables selected for drying should be sound, fresh, and in the "peak" of condition; ripe, but still firm and at the right state of maturity.
• Wilted or inferior material will not make a satisfactory product.
• Immature fruits will be weak in color and flavor. Over-mature vegetables are usually tough and woody.
• Over-mature or bruised fruits are likely to spoil before the drying process can be accomplished.
•  Fruit and vegetables that are inferior before drying will be inferior after drying.

Dehydrating temperatures

There seems to be a bit of controversy regarding the temperature for drying fruits and veggies. Even some books and dehydrator manuals recommend drying at 135 to 140 degrees.

However, there is something I have found that they rarely seem to mention, and that is "case hardening"

 Case hardening is caused when the temperature is too high. It seals the surface, not allowing all moisture on the inside to escape.  That puts your food at risk for spoilage later down the line.

http://www.easy-food-dehydrating.com/dehydrating-fruit.html

"Fruits are best dehydrated between 125°F and 135°F – any hotter than that may cause the skins of certain fruits to get crusty i.e. 'hard' - this is known as 'case hardening' which prevents the inside of the fruit from drying properly. Don't be tempted to turn the food dehydrator on high to speed up the process!"

http://www.food-dehydrator.com/resource-center/glossary-of-terms.aspx

"Case hardening is a result of partially dehydrated food that. Case hardened food has the outermost portion of the food dried while the interior remains moist. This situation typically results when too high of a drying temperature is used. Case hardened foods will spoil due to microbial growth. Moisture from the interior of the food will migrate to the exterior."