We are still pulling in a couple kilos of tomatoes every week, which is still more than we can eat on a daily basis. So although I thought my days of preserving tomatoes were over, last weekend I again found myself drying tomatoes.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had tried 2 methods of drying tomatoes, the first being to leave sliced tomatoes in the oven on the lowest heat for about eight hours. Very straightforward. The result was... acceptable. They had a nice aroma and flavour, but looked horrible. They'll do in a sauce, but never in a salad or on a sandwich.

So the next time I baked them at at a slightly higher temperature for about half the time, with a little olive oil and salt sprinkled on top. These had to be frozen in order to keep, but when thawed they looked and tasted fabulous, just like out of a jar from the store. So this is the method I will employ happily ever after.

After slicing them up, though, I had quite a few seeds on the cutting board, so I decided it was time to up the ante and start saving seeds. I squeezed a few more tomatoes until, after discarding the solids, I had about a deciliter of seeds and the gelatinous mass they reside in.

 

Having googled, I knew that the green seeds had to be separated from the yellow, as the green will not germinate. The easiest way to do this is to add water to the gooey seeds (about 1.5 deciliters for my 1 deciliter of seeds), cover with a clean rag, and let sit for 3-5 days

 
After sitting 5 days, they should be covered in a nice layer of mold.
 
 
This may be the only time I'll be happy to see mold in my kitchen!
 
Through some miracle of nature, the green seeds and gelatinous mess will cling to the mold. you only have to pour that off, and you're left with the good yellow seeds in water at the bottom of the bowl. Rinse these well, then dry on paper towels.
 
 
There they are! Ready to be planted next year!
 
Actually, I am going to plant a few this winter, just to make sure that they will germinate. I don't know if the seeds I planted last year were hybrids or not, and some hybrids have been modified so that they can't reproduce. It's the tricky bastards at the seed companies, making sure we are forever dependent on them. If these seeds won't grow, you can bet I'm buying heirloom seeds next year!

Kommentera

Publiceras ej