Home-Dried Tomatoes
Ripe tomatoes turned into flat leathery chips that weigh nothing and rebuild any camp dinner.
- calories
- 60
- weight
- 0.7 oz
- cal / oz
- 86
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Bikepacking
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ripe tomatoes | 4 lb | firm, not mushy; splits are fine if fresh and clean |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 1 tsp | optional, scattered over the cut halves |
Method
- Wipe the tomatoes dry. Halve them and scoop out the seeds and jelly with a thumb or a small spoon. Seeds left in roughly double the drying time.
- Press the larger halves flat with your palm. Flat means more surface and faster drying. Slices work too, as long as they are all the same thickness.
- Lay them on dehydrator trays cut side up with air space around each piece. Crowded trays dry unevenly and the thick ones stay damp.
- Run the dehydrator at 125-140F for 8 to 12 hours. Check at 8. Done is leathery to brittle with no soft cool spot in the middle.
- No dehydrator: oven at its lowest setting, tomatoes on a wire rack, door propped open with a wooden spoon so moisture escapes. Overnight at minimum.
- Let them cool to room temperature, then seal in a jar. Any warmth left in them turns into condensation in the jar.
This is home prep, not camp cooking. You dry tomatoes in October so that in July a quarter-ounce of chips can turn a pot of couscous into something that tastes like food. Fresh tomatoes are about 94 percent water, which is why they are the single worst thing to carry and one of the best things to dehydrate.
Two details decide whether it works. Scooping the seed jelly out removes most of the remaining water before the machine ever starts, and flattening the halves cuts the drying time again. Dry them until there is no give at all in the thickest part. Anything short of that molds in the jar three weeks later, usually right before the trip you dried them for.
Packing
Store the batch in a jar at home and portion into small zip bags per trip. Half a cup of chips per dinner is plenty. If you see moisture beading inside the bag within a week, they were not dry enough. Run them again.
Variations
- Grind the fully brittle ones to powder in a blender. A tablespoon thickens and reddens any camp sauce.
- Save the scooped seeds and skins, dry them separately, and grind them into a salty-sour seasoning dust.
- Toss the chips with dried oregano before jarring so the pasta night seasoning is already handled.
https://hedgecombers.com/dehydrating-tomatoes