My mother spoke about drying apricots with her grandmother outside in the summer. Easy enough in the hot Vegas summer weather, we could climb up onto the roof, put the newly picked apricots from next door onto a clean area, cover them, and wait a few days. Here the temperature in the summer can hit 120°, and while we are hot in the summer, the apricots are too. That's one method of sun-drying fruits and vegetables.

In this article, we shall consider three methods of drying food in the sun: solar sun-drying, oven dehydrating and electric dehydrating. We shall take apricots and tomatoes as examples since they are favorites among dried fruits. Since sunny spring weather is imminent, consider the following methods for drying your favorite food:

Method 1: Solar sun-drying

That's correct; this process is old-fashioned and leverages the energy from the sun in order to dehydrate any type of food that you desire, but this process is actually only an available choice for people in conditions with 100+ degree temperatures and very low humidity (i.e. Las Vegas or Arizona….). There are some procedures you have to take in order to get the ideal solar dried food, so read on!

1. Prepare

Select your fruits wisely—don't harvest poor fruit to dry since you'll end up with a poor result. Wash big Roma tomatoes and slice them lengthwise into slices about 1/6 inch thick.

Rinse the apricots and drain off excess dirt and pesticides. Remove the pit from the apricots and slice them all into similarly-sized pieces (e.g., quarters or halves).

One should cut apricots, tomatoes, and other fruits to the same dimension while drying them. In this way, they will dry at the same speed.

2. Treat

A few recipes ask that you pretreat the tomatoes before drying them in the sunshine, but you can pretreat the fruit with vitamin C by placing the fruit in an ascorbic acid bath made up of 2 tablespoons of ascorbic acid (almost 5 grams crushed vitamin C tablets) and a quart-sized container of water. Blanching fruits before drying them is also discouraged except in the case of apples, pears, and apricots.

3. Lay Out

You can also use Silpat mats and cookie sheets for drying tomatoes and apricots. Spread the tomatoes and the apricots in an even layer in the cookie sheet, or in the Silpat mat-lined cookie sheet (the latter one cleans up very easily) and then cover the fruits with the cheese cloth such that the bugs and the kids may not get a chance to touch them. On a sunny day, keep the cookie sheet in your car's dashboard (subject to the dashboard being in the sun), or keep the cookie sheet in a table in your patio where direct sunlight falls onto the table, or keep the cookie sheet in your roof (be careful so that it does not slide down from the roof).

4. Wait

Tomatoes and apricots require varying times in order to get dried in the sun. Drying normally can take anywhere from two to four days, and the fruits must be changed once each day in order for them to get dried evenly. It's best if the fruit can be brought in at night so dew does not settle on the fruit.

5. Test for Doneness and Store

You can tell your apricots or tomatoes are done drying when they are shriveled up and parched but are not hard (a raisin). They must be leathery-soft. If you notice beads of moisture in the fruit after cracking it open, they require more sun. When they are ready, store them in an airtight container or plastic food bag to exclude moisture. Do NOT store them in the refrigerator.

Method 2: Oven dehydrating

This process needs an oven, in case you didn't quite get that from the name. This process needs your oven hot for a very lengthy amount of time and the person making the rice at home so the house does not catch fire — a reasonable heads up.

1. Follow all the steps discussed above until step 3

2. Lay out

In order to dehydrate food in the oven, put the sliced apricots or the tomato slices onto the wire racks which are in a cookie sheet. Do not allow the pieces to be in contact with each other. Set the oven at the lowest setting or at 145-150° F, and set the sheet into the oven.

3. Wait

Close your oven door and let the fruits simmer for 10 to 20 hours. Observe them once in a while and turn them every now and then. You can also put your oven at 200° F if you prefer speeding up the process, but you must observe what you are drying very well.

4. Check for Doneness and Store

Proceed with the above procedures, re-checking for the right texture and keeping it in an air-tight container.

Method 3: Electric Dehydrating

This technique utilizes the services of a commercial dehydrator, which may intimidate new comers. You are not required to sit and watch your fruits while they are drying in the machine with this technique, unlike with the oven technique, which some prefer. But if you lack a dehydrator, you can disregard this technique since the two techniques above are perfect. If you have a dehydrator, though, the process below follows:

1. Carry out all the process described for the solar sun-drying process up to step 3.

2. Lay Out

When you are working with an electric dehydrator, you should space the fruit out. Most dehydrators have racks or sheets in which you put the fruit or the other item that you are drying, so keep that in mind. Manufacturer's guidelines should always be read before you use a dehydrator or any appliance.

3. Wait

The faster method of "cooking" vegetables or fruit is with an electric dehydrator. Even if your dehydrator does come equipped with a thermometer, set the temperature at somewhere in the range from 140° F for tomatoes and apricots, and leave them three to eight hours and they're ready.

4. Test for Doneness and Store

Refer to the solar sun-drying method for storing guidelines. Whether you select one method over the other, drying food in the sun yourself is a good practice commercial sun-dried food can contain additional preservatives, chemicals, and oils that are not required. It's simple and fun to sun-dry food and customize it the way you want, so give it a try today!

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