• hauled and wash the tomatoes. I use some soapy water and give it a good rinse. Dry them.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully cut the tomatoes in thin slices. Discard the seeds and place them on a cooling rack. If you have some seeds stuck to the tomatoes, its okay too. Give it more texture and visibly it is more aesthetically more pleasing. Place a baking sheet under to catch the juices or extra seeds that may fall. Give them enough space where they are not touching each other.
• Place them on a table or a place that is off the floor that has the most sun in your house and away from insects that may get to it. If you think bird or other animals may get to it, place another cooling rack on top to avoid animals contaminating it. Flip and check on them every couple hours. Depending on where you are, it may take 1 -2 days for the tomatoes to fully dry.

Smoking with a small portable charcoal grill

• Assemble the grill in an area not close to anything flammable, and have all your essential items ready: wood pieces, tongs, fire starter, fan, and fire extinguisher (if possible).
• Start your fire as you normally would. I like to build the wood from small pieces of wood first and then larger pieces. The small piece will catch fire easier, and I sometimes add extra plain card board (with no tape or prints on it), or egg cartons made from paper. Then I add the liquid fire starter or oil. keep the heat and fire going and slowly build larger pieces of wood on top until you get a stead heat and fire.
• Once the fire slows down and the wood is exerting heat without large flames, similar to how charcoal is ready for bbq, you're ready to begin smoking. Using a non reactive bowl, place the sea salt onto the pan and spread it out evenly.
• Place the sun dried tomatoes on top. Add some extra smoking wood chips to the fire and close the lid.
• This is where the trial and error part comes in. Open the vents on the grill and occasionally use the fan and fan some air into the grill. Also have the vent open at the top of the grill. Air circulation is important here and this is the fine line between success and failure. If there's not enough air in the small grill, it will kill the fire. If there's too much air it will cause the temperature to rise and burn the salt and tomatoes. How I test is if I can place my hand near the pan and not need to jerk my hand away from the heat, its too hot. And if I can see lots of smoke and still have my hand near the pan at a comfortable heat, you're good.
• Smoke with the lid on for 1-2 hours. Remember to check on it every 20 minutes to see if you need to feed the smoke or add/minus heat.
• Once ready, you'll see the sea salt is a mixture of black and brown colour. The tomatoes will be also slightly brown, and when you smell it, you'll smell some smokey flavour on it.
• Let it cool, and immediately jar it in a clean mason jar, or whatever vessel you choose.
• Add the smashed garlic and 1 TSB smoked sea salt on top. Pack the tomatoes in, and fill to the top with olive oil. You may or may not need the full 1 cup of olive oil depending on the size of the jar you choose. make sure the tomatoes are all under the olive oil and no tomato is poking outside the surface of the olive oil.
• Preserve the smoked sun dried tomatoes in a dark place and out of sunlight for 1 month. The more time you give it, more flavours will be extracted and enhanced from the tomatoes.
• For the extra salt, put it in a jar and use it for other food as salt garnish.

Smoking with device

• Follow through the device instructions on how to activate smoke.
• Using a non reactive pan, place sea salt at the bottom and spread evenly. Add the sun dried tomatoes on top, and release the smoke into the compartment. Close the lid and trap the smoke inside.
• Smoke the sea salt and tomatoes for 1-2 hours. If you want more smoke flavour just add more time.