[Grasshopper]

A fair few years ago I bottled tomatoes in La Parfait preserving jars and they were marvellous. It was a taste of summer when they were opened in the middle of winter. Unfortunately I have lost the know how . Can anybody help me ?

[Val H]

There's a whole section on bottling here http://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment_foods/bottling-canning/Bottling-Canning-Preparation.php

Follow the links at the bottom for other pages.

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for that. As you can tell I'm a bit of a numpty when it comes to to these compooterismbob things .

[rhythmvick]

I used to be a chef (my poor back won't let me do it anymore  ) and we used to semi-dry tomatoes. I do it all the time when I'm at home. I don't think it's quite what you meant but I thought I'd share anyway - it's really lovely and dead easy, and it's always good to have back-up recipes for a glut They're so good on salads or to give a tomato hit to anything.

Cut tomatoes in half and place on baking tray. Drizzle sparingly with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, cracked pepper and picked thyme leaves. Put in over at about 100c for 4-5hours, checking every now and again. They're done when they look dry but not shrivelled.

Pack into sterilised jars and cover with oil. DONE! 

[Slowgrind]

Hi rythmvick, will the dried toms. be like sun dried toms? 

[rhythmvick]

Yes, pretty much. I really like doing it with cherry toms - they look so pretty. But it itensifies the flavour for use in soups and sauces.

Before I pack them in oil, I keep some back if I can - they last for a couple of days in the fridge in an airtight container. Makes a really good salad with some bitter leaves, parmesan and toasted almonds. And a vinaigrette made with sherry vinegar if it's knocking around. Brings some Med sunshine to my little kitchen! 

[Slowgrind]

I love sun dried tomatoes! 

[Jodie A]

When my tomatoes ripen too fast for me to keep up, I just pop them into an ice cream tub in the freezer, the odd few at a time, Gardeners Delight size go in whole, Alicante/Moneymaker would be halved, large beefsteak varieties might be quartered.

The frozen tomatoes can then be used at your leisure as fried tomatoes, alongside a breakfast, passata'd, souped, or just chucked into a shepherd's pie dish or similar.

This is far easier than having to collect, say 2kg at a time, to fulfil a recipe's requirements.

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for all the replies, you've given me some great ideas. You just can't have enough different ways of preserving tomatoes.