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I want to have oven roasted tomatoes that have some black on them for salsa. I have over 100 tomatoes and don't want to use the oven for a full day doing this. I think a blowtorch might blacken the tomatoes in a good way. Would this have the desired effect (i.e., having blackened charred tomatoes)? How would it be different from baking them in an oven?

I know the tomatoes won't lose as much liquid as if they were baked, but that is not an issue since I'll be reducing them in a salsa anyway.

Behacad
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    Well - they'll still be almost entirely raw if you just blow-torch them compared to roasting them in the oven ... – brhans Aug 28 '19 at 22:05
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    ...plus, it will take you a lot longer to blow torch 100 tomatoes, than it would to place them on sheet pans and put them in the oven. It certainly wouldn't take a full day. – moscafj Aug 28 '19 at 22:11
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    Hey, we can't really tell you if it will have the "desired effect" since we don't know the effect you desire. Rephrase your question? – FuzzyChef Aug 28 '19 at 22:43
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    And I have heard that some people can taste the propane from food that has been torched. So I would at least try it to see if you like the flavor. – Steve Chambers Aug 28 '19 at 23:13
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    If the tomatoes aren't tiny, 100 is going to make a rather large amount of salsa ... unless you're going to be canning, have a huge family, are planning a large party, or going to be giving it away to friends ... it's probably best *not* to turn it all into salsa. At the very least, make multiple smaller batches of salsa, so you can decide what you like and refine your recipe as you go. – Joe Aug 29 '19 at 02:31
  • @SteveChambers that's when temperature is too high and/or the flame is incorrectly adjusted (it should have a blue tip, not yellow) – Luciano Aug 29 '19 at 09:19
  • @Joe yes I am canning, so I had about 40 pounds of tomatoes. TONS. Oven took way too long, so I gave up and didn't roast them. – Behacad Aug 30 '19 at 02:40

2 Answers2

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Does your oven have a fan-grill?

30-ish tomatoes on a tray, 3 trays, set to fan grill & rotate the trays every few mins.

Alternatively, use the regular oven & when the tomatoes are nearly done, switch to the grill. Rotate as above.

Tetsujin
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It depends on what effect you're going for.

If all you want is some burnt bits? Sure, go for it. Heck, you don't even have to use the tomatoes for that; you can just burn some paper, or grind up some lump charcoal. (I wouldn't suggest using briquettes or self-lighting charcoal for that.)

If you're going for the taste of roasted tomatoes, that won't be there. That develops through a longer cooking time (though not all day. See Tetsujin's answer) and can't really be short-cutted. A kitchen torch doesn't deliver much heat compared to an oven, just very focused heat.

The other thing you might consider, particularly if your oven is low-powered and/or doesn't have a convection mode, is roasting some of the tomatoes and leaving the others raw. I've actually made salsa like this before, because I like the taste of roasted tomatoes and also the tang of fresh ones. It lets you absolutely roast the hell out of the ones you're roasting.

Sneftel
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