sun dried tomatoes

[drock]

hello,
I know this has been asked before, but i couldnt find the right question anywhere using the search....but, how would someone go about sundrying thier own tomatoes...i know you can do it with a dehydrator, but i havent gotten one of those yet seeing as how the good ones are 200$...is there any way to actually use the "sun"..has anyone ever done this at all?..thanks for any info..
dusty

[rawpriestess]

YEP, remember sundried tomatoes are from ITALY, and France, so you want that much sun and wind and no humidity, also, you don't want it too hot or it will kill the enzymes, so you do need to keep track of the temp, so it doesn't get above 115 or so.

Just take a screen and lay out your marinated tomatoes, and then place where bugs can't get to it, make sure you have plenty of wind, I would use an electric fan, that will also keep the temp down a bit and will keep bugs off.

and try it.

I'd try it with a couple of tomatoes first, but since you normally need to dehydrate a day or so, I'd try it first thing in the morning, and keep checking during the day.

Also, normal sun dried tomatoes are roma's I prefer cherry they dehydrate quicker and are a sweeter tomatoe than a roma.

Good luck. let us know how it went.

Do you sun dry other foods? Essene breads, and crackers etc.?

[shakti17]

just FYI, they are not $200 for dehydrator. $100 for a 4 tray.