Yes, if they are totally dried you can store on the shelf. Some people like them a bit more soft so they don't dry them until totally crisp, so they have to keep them frozen.

Yesterday afternoon I started a tray of Sungold tomatoes and a tray of Chocolate Habaneros dehydrating. The habs I'll dry for 3 or 4 days or until they are dry enough to grind for powder. The little cherry toms I had planned to dry only to raisin-like consistency & store in a mason jar. I cut them in half, placed cut side up on tray & dusted them with Zatarain's Creole Seasoning. Drying at no higher than 130°.

Will they HAVE to be frozen?

I've dried tomatoes crispy before so could grind and add to my hot powder concoctions and have never been satisfied with the taste. Granted, I used to dehydrate at 160° or so and that might have been the reason. That high seems to always ruin the color and alter the taste too much.

I've been storing all my dehydrated things in the freezer. No problem with space this year because of the late freeze that wiped out all the berries and fruits. After drying and putting the product in a jar or bag and then storing at room temperature, any condensation inside the container means you will most likely have trouble with mold. The commercial dried foods are treated (with sulfur?) to keep them from molding, I think.
As for dehyrating temperature - my book says 135 for fruit and 125 for veggies. That has made dried foods with perfect color.

I store my dried tomatoes in the freezer mainly because I don't want them "snappy-crisp" and because I like to baste lightly with olive oil and sprinkle seasonings on them before drying. Because of the oil and the added moisture they need to be refrigerated or frozen.

I have kept thoroughly dried peppers and onions at room-temp with no problems. Books on dehydration generally talk about conditioning and how to tell if what you have is appropriate for room-temp storage.

Carol

I store mine in a ziplock baggie in the freezer. They were very crisp. I wanted to make sure they would last a long time. And also- because they are dehydrated, they really don't take up too much space. I can't remember how many I started with last year, but once they were dehydrated, they all ended up in a quart size ziplock bag. It was amazing at the amt of size reduction.

best wishes,
bluejean in ohio

Thanks for the replies. I have some other scenarios though...

If I were to baste tomatoes with some oil and maybe some dried oregano and dry them, then put them in a ziplock, how long would the shelf-life be if they were stored in a fridge? What about raisin-consistency tomatoes in a mason jar topped up with olive oil, then stored in a fridge?

Refrigeration or freezing helps dried tomatoes retain their color.

I'd say basted tomatoes with DRIED oregano close to indefinitely.

As far as immersing dried tomatoes in oil is considered, the UC Davis method acidifies the tomatoes with vinegar. Then, UC Davis says they can even be kept at room temperature; eventually the oil will turn rancid, but it's not a safety concern. (I'm not comfortable with that, but that's the word.) So in the fridge, again, almost indefinitely.

HOWEVER, if you add fresh herbs or garlic to your tomatoes in oil, then 3 weeks in the fridge is the limit.

Here are their instructions if you want to check further. There are other documents on their site also.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: UC Davis Dried Tomatoes

G'Day Jason. I have had great success with dehydrated tomatoes. The flavor is intensified in dehydration. I add the dehydrated tomatoes to all sorts of dishes when I am out backpacking. I have always stored my totally dehydrated products in zip lock bags. I suck the air out of the bags. Then I have a plastic storage box in a closet and store all my bags of dehydrated fruits and vegies in that box. I have a dehydrator built in 1974 that operates with light bulbs for heat (can vary bulbs from 60 to 100) and a fan. As a supplement, I purchased an Excaliber dehydrator last year and must say that it is a remarkable appliance. I have dehydrated heaps of morels, boletes, and chantrales. These are all stored in zip locks and keep for 2-3 years. My tomatoes keep for a couple of years. The key is to dry them completely! I slice my tomatoes about 1/4". I follow other people who advise on storing "moist" dehydrated products in the freezer. All my dehydrated bing cherries are in a zip lock and are frozen. The same holds true with my appricots. I refuse to use sulfur and/or sugar. Hope this helps. Cheers, Gary

Thanks a bunch everyone. This forum is the best.

Dried tomatoes tend to darken and turn brown after a long storage. To help keep the color a bit longer, I refrigerate them. Sodium metabisulfate is used to prevent oxidation, as in the case of raisins from grapes. A couple of years ago, I dried a big batch of red seedless grapes. These were better tasting than any you can buy. They did need refrigeration as they could spoil, only because they were not totally 100% dried. YOu can find the proper sulfur(s) at wine making supply stores.

I'm convinced now. Into the refrigerator it will be for my little Sungold morsels or I will dry them completely for powder or flakes.

Thanks for all the good advice again!

jt

I store my dried tomatoes in my dark, cool pantry and they hold their color well, but I have to also say we go through them really fast....they seldom stay on the shelf more than a year.

You can make sure your dried foods are dry enough to store on the shelf by 'conditioning' them. Put the food in an airtight container and shake or turn several times a day for a few days. If there's condensation in the container, it's not dry enough to store. Conditioning also evens out the moisture content.

I dehydrated bananas one time when I got in on a big sale. Packaged them in gallon freezer bags and stored them in my cabinet. One day I noticed a lot of moth-looking things flying around, started checking everything. Guess what? They'd actually made HOLES in the ziplock bags and ruined the whole batch! I had the bags in a plastic storage box but the lid apparently didn't fit tight enough. Considering that they don't take up as much space, I'd vote for freezing, even if they are nice and crispy, because possible insect infestation.

Just for posterity and maybe if anyone in the present or future is looking at this thread for tomato drying tips, I've found that a simple and effective way to dry cherry tomatoes is to blanch them quickly and then take the skin off, sprinkle with a dash of salt and then straight into the dehydrator. I found that the skin gets very hard and unpleasant when dried. Deskinning means you only get that nice gummy dried tomato texture that you're looking for.

john_Show_me,

Even in the fridge, I have had my raisinlike cherry toms develop mould. Only the occasional batch, but it made me SO sad to lose such yumminess, even occasionally, that I store all my dried toms in the freezer now.

You could try conditioning the toms --- put in a sealed jar and see if there is any condensation --- and if there is any, then I wd recommend a Ziploc and the freezer. (I find it easier to just put 'em in the freezer than to bother checking.) The great thing with using cherry toms is that they are so small that they thaw out in no time. I pop them still frozen into hot pasta, or let them sit out for 15 minutes before adding to salads, or give them 15 seconds on half power in the microwave and then just EAT THEM, especially those sweetie sungolds... mmmm... just had my first few ripe ones the past few days....

Good luck,

Z

Hi Zabby!

Guess I'll take your advice and put in the freezer. Gosh those Sungold are good! They are the only tomato variety that will survive my fusarium infested garden area. Next year I'll have to try grafting onto resistant rootstock again.

Happy growing to you!

jt

John, wow, all that sweetness and a tough plant, too! Gotta love 'em.

Enjoy your home-dried bounty...

Zabby

I live in Australia and will be buying a dehrydrator for Christmas I can hardly wait to be able to dry herbs and vegetables when I have plenty of them and be able to use these in the off season. I love the comments you guys have seems dehrydrating is a big thing in America.

OK gang I have an Unusual question here. I too dry my tomatoes to crispy and I use them in a potpourri i make. they smell so fresh! I have had a couple start to get moldy in the plastic bags I pack them in for craft shows. I cant sell moldy tomato potpourri but it looks so good with them in it. QUESTION- is there something I can put on these to keep them from re-hydrating or molding? No one will eat these so was wondering if some type of sulfur, citric acid or....?

My husband and I just dehydrated four trays of cherry tomatoes. We are going to sterilize jars and dry pack them. Has anyone tried this?

I am new to dehydrating, but my sister has been doing it for years. She dries any tomatoes she has to a brittle texture and stores them in glass jars in a cupboard. She might make a powder out of some. She uses them in stews, soups, and casseroles. It seems frustrating to me that dehydrated foods need to be stored in the freezer or fridge. My whole reason for dehydrating at all is to have foods that can “survive” a power outage, or that won’t take up valuable freezer space. Didn’t indigenous people survive on dehydrated foods without refrigeration? Obviously, there are certain foods that lend themselves to dehydration better than others. I will start another thread re dehydration in general.