For years, Principe Borgese has been touted as the "Ultimate Drying Tomato" (and I have absolutely no idea why anyone would think so.) And I will agree, area and weather makes a difference but we were discussing this on a tomato forum and most said what I said, seedy, average taste and too much trouble. I will give you a list of what I grow. I want Red, BIG, meaty, dry, nearly seedless and early-mid-season. Chefs are starting to ask for the "blacks" because they read something again ($#&@&^$*$) about how the blacks were supposed to have this "salty, smokey, earthy" flavor (I say bah humbug...they taste just the same as any others but I am happy to accomodate them and double the price which they happily pay!) I grow these: Opalka Chinese Federle Amish Paste Carol Chyko Denofrios German (these are HUGE-ripen early and have almost no seeds) Leatha's Italian Russo Sicilian Togeta Big Black Heart (I received in trade, un-named-HUGE, Dry few seeds) Sicilian Saucer Memorial Polish Paste I have about five hundred plants or more (always more.. ) I try at least 3 to 10 new varieties each year. They have to have large fruit, few seeds, dry flesh, ripen fairly early and be tough...we get a lot of wind and late spring cool nights in Wyoming. It takes so many ripe tomatoes to dry 1 pound of product, big and meaty are just absolutely the only way to go. I also soak my sliced tomatoes in Red Wine for 24 hours prior to drying and watery, seedy, less meaty tomatoes fall apart too easily in the soaking process. Every variety listed above has passed muster and has become an official member of my "herd", As I am moving to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico this spring for good (we spent part of last year remodeling our house down there) I will probably have to grow entirely different varieties (a chilling thought....) But, I will certainly have a longer growing season... For sauce...ONLY Costoluto Genovese...it comes through the tomato mill practically finished sauce and the flavor is great. This is a tomato that does not taste so hot fresh but the cooking process changes the chemistry. "Someone who knows" on the tomato forum says: I fully agree with your comments on Costoluto Genovese. The sauce is phenomenal. Tomatoes are supposedly high in the flavor component called "Umami" Saucing and dehydrating concentrates umami flavor. Glutamate has been identified as the organic component responsible for umami flavor in tomatoes, and it has been found that glutamate concentration varies with variables such as variety and ripeness. My suspicion is that c.g. would be high in glutamate, and that heating somehow activates or enhances it. As an interesting note, supposedly glutamate is concentrated most in the seeds and pulp. When making fresh sauce for myself I leave the seeds and pulp on. If i'm cooking for others I remove the skins. I'm growing several hearts this year plus Costoluto Fiorentino and another called Canestrino#1 which supposedly also tastes much better sauced than fresh. So there you go.

You'll find many discussions about this over on the Harvest forum here - it is the food preservation forum. I have linked one of the best and most detailed discussion for you below. The search there will pull up all the others if you want to read them. Personally we dry lots of tomatoes each season including the larger non-roma types. But we use dehydrators - I think most do - given all the problems associated with trying to use the sun. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Making dried tomatoes

Californian, Sounds like you've got absolutely perfect conditions for making sun dried tomatoes -- high temps (above 90 degrees F) and low humidity (I must say with our incredibly high humidity in SC this summer, I'm jealous ... we're using the food dehydrator to dry our tomatoes! Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Dirt: Making Sun Dried Tomatoes

I have nothing at all constructive to add but this anecdote. Years ago, a group of us were at a restaurant for brunch and the heavily accented waiter came over to tell us the day's specials. He kept mentioning Sandra tomatoes, pronounced like this. San (rhymes with Don) - dra (rolling the r). Sandra tomatoes, sandra tomatoes. He said it maybe six or seven times! After he left I was asking my companions, what in the heck are Sandra tomatoes? Yeah, you guest it, he was really saying SUN-DRIED tomatoes! Ever since then, in my mind, they will always be sandra tomatoes, pronounced with the accent and rolling R.