Sundried tomato question

[Bob Solomon]

Yesterday, I set out my first batch of romas to be dried in the sun, and today they have a thin white film on them and smell spoiled. Is this a normal part of the process?

[CharlieBear]

No, sun drying is would be very difficult in Tn. You have high humidity, they are usually sun dried in places like Ca. that is very dry and very warm. High humidity keeps them damp too long and promotes harmful bacteria growth. So, unfortunately if you want to safely dry them you will have to use a dehydrater.

[Bob Solomon]

Awwww... I was hoping to not use a non-renewable energy source, but if the local conditions don't permit, so be it. Thanks so much for your replies.

[Father's Daughter]

I've read about people who dry tomatoes in their cars on hot, sunny days with just a window cracked for a little air circulation. Never tried it, but maybe someday I will.

[gixxerific]

I've read about people who dry tomatoes in their cars on hot, sunny days with just a window cracked for a little air circulation. Never tried it, but maybe someday I will.

I have dried herbs in my truck window facing the sun on a hot day once.

[CharlieBear]

There is such a thing a solar ovens that you can build for out of doors. The extention service keeps offering classes on that about every 2 weeks here. We are too cheep to pay the price they charge, so all I know is that you can do it and fairly inexpensively once you are taught how. Don't know if there are any books on the subject, just a thought

[mansgirl]

I know you'd like a natural, renewable energy source, but if it makes you feel any better you can set your oven temp super low to dry things. I live on the western edge of Lake Michigan, and believe it or not the lake helps us to have super humid summers, even up here.
We love to dry any extra peppers we have to make our own pepper flake seasoning mix. For our peppers, we can freeze them until fall when its cool enough to run the oven for that long. I wonder if you could preserve your tomatoes and then dry them in the oven once its cool out and you want your house warm anyways? Two birds with one stone.. : )

[DoubleDogFarm]

Lots of information on solar dehydrators on the internet.

Many on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aofrh-bjCvQ

Eric