Tomato dehydrating update

Well, that crazy contraption actually worked. When I was putting it together, I felt like I should have been making a video of it, which would then be sped up and dubbed with some kooky music.

It worked quite well actually, considering the fact that it rained the first night I put it out, it rained all day the next day, and we've had a severe thunderstorm, a tornado warning, and two good frosts since then. I just left the tomatoes out there through it all. Part of me was expecting a big mess.

What I found was this:

Lovely sun-dried tomatoes. They taste like concentrated fresh tomato. The ones that were cut lengthwise didn't fare as well, or at least they need some more time. That makes sense though, since they've got more water to lose. I think I'll slice them the usual way next time though.

Best I can figure, here's what's going on: The corrugated metal acts as a radiant heat barrier to enhance the greenhouse effect under the glass. As the air between the ridges heats up, it flows upwards (due to the slope), carrying away the moisture and creating a convection current (with a key point being that the ridges run top-to-bottom rather than side to side). The screen insures good airflow between the corrugated metal and the black cloth. The black cloth protects the stuff you're drying from getting sun-bleached, and it also adds heat due to the black color. The south facing slope arrangement insures maximum sun exposure. The author of the original article claims this works better in humid climates than other sun-drying methods. I think under normal circumstances, things would dry much faster under appropriate weather conditions, but it's good to know that it works even in extremes.

I'll call this a success. I wish I'd tried it earlier in the year. It should be interesting to try it with some other garden goodies next year.

Simple solar food dehydrator

I built a very simple solar food dehydrator, based more or less on this article. Without diagrams or pictures, I'm not entirely sure I got it right, but it did a fabulous job drying some sage and rosemary before we went on vacation. Now I'm trying it on something a little more challenging: Tomatoes. I got some grape tomatoes and some of the smaller roma tomatoes. I cut them a couple different ways to see what works best.

Tomatoes to be dried:

Tomatoes cut -

some lengthwise,

some crosswise

(for comparison)

Corrugated roofing,

leftover from goat

shelters, propped

up at an angle

Screen from our

old propane fireplace

Black cloth draped over screen

(cut to 2x the size of the screen)

Sliced tomatoes

placed on black cloth

(set on level ground

so they don't roll off)

Black cloth folded in half

over the sliced tomatoes

Glass front from old
propane stove placed
on top of the black cloth

The whole stack
propped at an angle

It was a bit overcast today, and it may be tomorrow too, so it might not be the best time to test it, but I'm willing to experiment on a small batch.

The best part is that the whole thing was made from stuff I had lying around. It didn't cost me a dime.

I'll post an update in a day or two once we see how it goes.