"Sun dried tomatoes" have such wonderful, concentrated taste and keeping abilities. Most are not actually dried in the sun, however! In our Concord climate (except for the bizarre amounts of sun we've had this summer) it's unlikely we will be able to successfully sun dry tomatoes, or at least not often or reliably.I've used a little electric dryer for more than a decade, and ohmygoodness! The dried tomatoes it produces are fabulous! I usually dry cherry or paste tomatoes, but never whole. Either halved if very small cherries, or sliced (1/4" thick slices are good). Thank goodness there's another thing to reduce the glut of tomatoes -- something that shrinks down and stores VERY small, too!
I'm just finishing my first batch of the season. I've dried 5 varieties already, and am working on varieties 6 and 7 (for comparison's sake). I will put them in ziplok bags, date and otherwise label, and store them all together for up to 3 years (if we let them last that long!) in a very large glass or plastic jar that closes tightly. They are super thrown into a saute or sauce with a little liquid shortly before a dish is finished cooking... simply great flavor.
This is the second dryer I've owned (the first one died after falling down the concrete basement steps on more than one occasion). I strongly recommend having a temperature control is extremely helpful (my first one didn't). This is the one I use, but please don't take that for any kind of gospel (not a bad idea to get a couple of extra trays, too).
I also use the dehydrator for drying peppers, including roasted/grilled peppers (which come out and keep great!), and for making dried apples, pears and bananas. I've done mushrooms too, but two years ago I totally lost my mushroom mojo and they all went moldy. Dehydrated kale "chips" are amazing, too.
I have tried and would not again use this method to dry berries, green beans, celery or herbs (I like to air dry or freeze herbs). Except for the mushrooms, I've not had anything else go moldy in keeping.
