Drying the August Harvest: A Beginner's Guide to Preserving Tomatoes, Herbs, and More

August Made Too Much of Everything

By late August the garden tends to flood the kitchen. The tomatoes come in by the basket. The basil has gone to seed. The peppers have been green since July. If you have more food than you can eat this week, you are standing at the start of the preserving season.

Drying is the easiest entry point to that season. It asks less of you than canning: no boiling water baths, no pH charts, no pressure cooker. It asks less of your wallet than freezing: a basic dehydrator costs less than a chest freezer, and it uses far less electricity. And it makes some of the best things in the pantry, because dried tomatoes and dried herbs taste like summer turned up to eleven.

This post covers what to dry first, what temperature to use, how to tell when the food is actually done, and how to store it so it lasts.

What to Dry First

If you are new to drying, start with these. They are forgiving and they show fast results.

• Tomatoes. The star of the drying pantry. Roma and slicing tomatoes both work. They dry into leathery pieces that soak up into soups, sauces, and pasta water in minutes.
• Herbs. Basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, dill, and parsley all dry beautifully. A jar of dried basil in January is worth the one afternoon it took to make it.
• Peppers. Sliced jalapenos or sweet peppers, dried whole or in rings. They make the winter's answer to "where is the hot sauce."
• Zucchini. Sliced thin and dried, they make chips and a rehydratable ingredient for soups. The perfect use for the zucchini the neighbors bring you.
• Fruit. Apples, pears, strawberries, and mango slices all dry into a great snacking food. Children usually will not believe you when you tell them the snack came from the garden.

What does not dry well? Foods that are mostly water and have no body: lettuce, cucumber, watermelon, and raw corn off the cob. Onions and potatoes are possible but fussy for beginners, so skip them in year one. If a food is watery and will not hold its shape, pickling or freezing is the better route.

The Equipment: One Dehydrator Does the Job

A food dehydrator is a tray box with a fan and a thermostat. It moves warm, dry air across thin slices of food, slowly. The cheap ones are fine. They do one thing and they do it well.

If you do not have one yet and do not want to buy one, two workable substitutes:

• The oven, door cracked open. Most ovens run hotter and drier than a dehydrator, so set the lowest heat, prop the door open a few inches with a wooden spoon, and check on the food often. It works for herbs, peppers, and tomato slices, and it is not ideal for fruit, which can burn or get gummy.
• A dry, warm day on a tray. Herbs especially will dry on a paper plate or a rack in a warm, dry, airy spot, covered with a clean cloth to keep the dust off. This is how most of the world dried herbs for centuries, and it is a completely legitimate way to start.

The dehydrator wins on consistency: same air speed, same temperature, hands off for hours. If you plan to dry more than a few trays a year, it earns its corner in the kitchen.

Temperatures and Times

These are the ranges that most home preserving guides agree on. Times vary with thickness, humidity, and your model, so treat them as a starting point, not a promise.

• Herbs: about 95 to 110 degrees F, one to four days. Low heat keeps the oils and flavor.
• Vegetables: about 125 degrees F, four to twelve hours.
• Tomatoes: about 135 degrees F, six to twelve hours. Thinner slices finish sooner.
• Fruit: about 135 to 140 degrees F, six to sixteen hours. Grapes and figs take longer than apple slices.

Two practical notes. First, if your dehydrator has no dial, it is running somewhere in the 125 to 165 degree range, which is fine for everything above except herbs, and even herbs will dry, just with a little less perfume. Second, the goal in all of this is the same: remove the moisture until the food will not spoil in storage. The temperature is the tool, the dryness is the target.

Getting the Food Ready

Preparation matters more than the equipment. Three habits make drying easier.

1. Cut to even thickness. Aim for about a quarter inch on tomatoes, peppers, and fruit. Even slices finish at the same time. If a batch has thick and thin pieces, the thin ones are done while the thick ones are still wet in the middle, and a wet middle is where mold starts.
2. Herbs go on whole. Dry the leaves or small sprigs, not chopped pieces. Chopped herbs lose their aroma fast; whole leaves keep it, and you crumble them when you cook.
3. Do not crowd the trays. Air has to move. If pieces are touching or stacked, the touching spots stay wet. Tomatoes in halves or slices go cut side up, with a pinch of salt or dried herbs on top if you want seasoned tomatoes.

How to Tell When It Is Done

This is the part the instructions on the box are not very good about, because "until dry" depends on what you are holding.

• Herbs: done when the leaves crumble between your fingers and the stems snap. If a leaf bends back instead of breaking, keep drying.
• Vegetables: done when they are hard and brittle, or leathery with no cool, wet spot in the center. Bend a piece. If the center gives and feels damp or cold, it is not done.
• Tomatoes: the target is leathery, not crispy. They should feel like dried fruit, bend without tearing, and show no dark, wet patches. If a slice cracks and snaps like a chip, you went too far, which is fine for snacking but makes a tougher rehydrating.
• Fruit: usually flexible and leathery, with no sticky feel. A clean, dry surface is the sign.

When in doubt, dry it a bit longer. You can always rehydrate food, but you cannot un-mold a jar.

Storing It So It Lasts

Dried food keeps as long as it stays dry. Moisture is the enemy, and the storage rules are simple.

• Cool, dark, and airtight. Glass jars or zip-top bags, both work. A dark shelf or a pantry is better than a windowsill.
• Label with the date. Dried basil from last season and dried basil from this season look the same and taste very different.
• Check before you use. Open the jar and feel a few pieces. If any spot feels soft or cool, or if the jar smells off, dry those pieces again before putting the jar away, and toss anything that shows fuzz.
• Expectations for shelf life. Dry herbs hold good flavor for about a year, best in the first six months. Properly dried tomatoes and peppers keep a year or more. Fruit is great for a year.

To use dried tomatoes and vegetables, soak them in hot water or broth for 15 to 30 minutes. The soaking liquid has flavor in it, so use it in the pot, not the sink.

A Word on Jerky

People ask about drying meat, so it deserves an honest paragraph. Jerky is possible at home, but it is the highest-risk food in this whole process, because partially dried meat is exactly the kind of food that bacteria love. The USDA guidance is to heat meat to 160 degrees F (poultry, 165) before or during drying to kill off pathogens. That takes a thermometer and a process you cannot eyeball. If you want to do it, follow a full tested recipe and use a reliable thermometer. For a first year of drying, stick to plants.

A Season of Small Wins

Drying is one of those skills that compounds quietly. The first August afternoon you fill three trays of tomatoes, you have made winter soup season. The herbs you dry that same week ride along in jars for a year. And when the jars start piling up, you will find that they are some of the best things to bring to a neighbor, a skill swap, or a farmers market stall, because dried summer fruit and vegetables are a small, light, easy-to-give piece of the harvest.

Start with one tray. Get it right. The pantry takes care of itself from there.

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— C. Steward 🍅