# What's your best method for sun dried tomatoes?



## imthedude (Jun 7, 2011)

The kids have finally slowed down on the cherry tomatoes enough to let me have enough for sun drying. A good problem to have I suppose. I've never tried this before, but what I envision is laying some cheesecloth on an old window screen, placing the sliced tomatoes on that cheesecloth then doubling the cloth over, and then placing another window screen over top of the cheesecloth to sandwich the cheesecloth and tomatoes. 

Does this sound like a reasonable approach? Overkill? Just put them on a cookie sheet and leave them in the sun for a couple of weeks?

TIA


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

You need to keep the bugs off of them so the cheese cloth method probably would work. I have a side question, how is sun dried different from machine dehydrated? They both are dried tomatoes. It seems there would be little if any difference, how they are dried shouldn't effect the taste I would think.


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## imthedude (Jun 7, 2011)

BlackFeather said:


> You need to keep the bugs off of them so the cheese cloth method probably would work. I have a side question, how is sun dried different from machine dehydrated? They both are dried tomatoes. It seems there would be little if any difference, how they are dried shouldn't effect the taste I would think.


Probably no difference, but sun dried requires no electricity, just energy from the sun. Plus it seems more traditional.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

I remember reading an article where they used some recycled storm windows and screens making a box n painting it black to fit the windows .a glass window for the front door faceing the sun and the screens on the bottom and top and slide in shelves of screens as well for the produce to be dried . seems the box color helped heat and the screened top n bottom promoted air flow helping to dry the fruit as the sun came in the front door / window they set it on bricks on the picnic table and could move it with the sun .the screens kept bugs out .; if you had some old screens and didn't want to build a big permant dryer a cardboard box and plastic could be fachioned to work as well to keep bugs off without cheese cloth


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## Ms.Lilly (Jun 23, 2008)

Your tomatos would stick to the cheesecloth.


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

i did mine in the oven...


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

I prefer to do sun dried and I also use screens but instead of cheesecloth I use sheer curtains that I cut into pieces and surge all around. The food, especially the tomatoes peel off the sheer material so easily, and the sheers can be rinsed and used again immediately. I also use the sheers for draining cheese and in place of a jelly bag.
I cover the food with more sheer and then with another screen. I don't find flies and bugs crawling all over the drying food to be very appetizing


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## chaossmurf (Jan 6, 2017)

ive always wondered how they got the tomatoes close enuff to the sun --yet managed to retrieve them ( explains their costs) I luv N.A.S.A.


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## Bungiex88 (Jan 2, 2016)

I dry mine in the sun just joking


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