# Sun Drying



## anne_ke73 (Mar 16, 2015)

Has anyone had success sun drying things like apples, tomatoes, pears, etc.? I'm thinking about trying it and would appreciate any pointers or good links to online guides. Thanks!


----------



## Pepsiboy (Dec 2, 2014)

anne_ke73 said:


> Has anyone had success sun drying things like apples, tomatoes, pears, etc.? I'm thinking about trying it and would appreciate any pointers or good links to online guides. Thanks!


 anne,

We have not tried sun drying, HOWEVER, we have very successfully dehydrated banana chips and apple chips (YUM YUM YUM) in our countertop dehydrator. No sugar coating, just slice and dry. We tried pears, but they got bitter. Don't know why. haven't tried tomatoes, as they all get used for soup, juice, and salsa. 

Dave


----------



## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I have not but that is because there is so little sun here. There were some interesting articles at one point about using the heat build up in a closed car as a dehydrator.


----------



## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

I sun dried cherries that worked well, I tried tomatoes but it was too late in the season (late August) and the sun was not up long enough, or high enough in the sky to evaporate the water quickly. (tomatoes can have quite a bit of water) Gnats of some type managed to get into the box and got all over the tomatoes. If you try to do it I would recommend a fan to push the air through and try to seal the box up to prevent bugs the best you can. One like this ..... http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/solar-food-dryer-zmaz81jfzraw.aspx ... is the type I built. One day during the summer work was rather dull with very few customers so I took some cardboard boxes at work and made this one.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I haven't tried the sun powered dehydrator yet but I've found it takes a couple of days to do tomatoes in my little electric dryer. I try to slice them thin but they usually run 1/4"+ in thickness.

The dried tomatoes make the best chili I've ever made. It seems to make them sweeter and richer in flavor. Hopefully this year I'll be drying 40-50 lbs again.

The solar powered dryer seems like it would work well. I've read that too high temperature seals some foods and makes it harder to dry them so it's possible that they could mold even if the surface is dry. A person might want to include a thermometer and increase air flow if it starts heating up too much.

The money spent on a dryer like mine would probably build a much solar larger dryer with multiple screen frames.


----------



## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

When I had too much volume of fruit to fit in the electric dryer, I've used a closed-up car. Put down newspapers under window screens so nothing got on the upholstery. It worked great for strawberries, cherries and peaches. Made the old, dead car smell great. No problem with flies since the vehicle had been sitting there with nothing to attract them for a while. And hey, it was free - no electricity.
Kit


----------



## anne_ke73 (Mar 16, 2015)

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions! I like the idea of using the closed up car for some things and I've seen that cardboard idea before so it's good to know it works well. I've heard that the car works really well for herbs and other lightweight items. We have very hot weather and lots of sun which is why I'm looking at drying naturally...I've got an electric dehydrator that I like to use but I love the concept of just using the FREE energy from the sun to preserve some extras!


----------



## sugarspinner (May 12, 2002)

I've sun dried several foods. One of my great successes was sweet corn one year. It was a very hot, dry year, so that helped a lot. I put the corn on a clean screen and covered it with gauze, to keep off the flies, etc. As I remember, it took two days to get it dry enough to keep. This was before I had an electric dehydrator. The corn really needed a very dry year for it to work. I do sun dry herbs all the time, though.


----------



## KIT.S (Oct 8, 2008)

sugarspinner, did you take the niblets off the cob, or dry the corn on the cob? And what did you use the dried sweet corn for?
Kit


----------



## sugarspinner (May 12, 2002)

"sugarspinner, did you take the niblets off the cob, or dry the corn on the cob? And what did you use the dried sweet corn for?
Kit "

Sorry, this is kind of hijacking the thread, but to answer Kit,

I cut the kernels off and did not scrape the cob there, though I did scrape it into a separate bow for another use. After it was dried, I stored it in a jar, and used it by soaking it overnight then either cooking it and seasoning with butter, salt and pepper (just as I would fresh, canned or frozen corn) or fried it in butter or olive oil until brownish and done through. We use corn in chili, in place of beans, and the dried corn works well there, but it does need to be soaked (reconstituted) first.


----------

