I searched the forum and didn't really find any definitive info on this...

I was looking at raw recipes last night and found one that required a sun dried tomato. I eat sun dried rasins 4 or 5 times a week. Then I started thinking. Why would I assume that "sun dried" means that the temp of the food never goes about 106 (up to the debated 115 degrees)?

I made a solar powered pool heater one time. The tubing got so hot (when the water wasn't being pumped through it) that the tubing melted and sprung a leak. I've gotten into my "sun dried" car during the summer before and have seen things melted or warped by the heat. Or, I've burned my self on "sun dried" playground equipment.

Does anyone know for sure if there is any temperature guidelines for companies sun drying things?

Someone mentioned previously that raw is better that dehydrated, and dehydrated is better than cooked... but I wonder if sun dried stuff is really cooked?

Granted this is an extremely small part of my diet, but, I hadn't thought of it before.

-Bill
"29 Days Mostly Raw"

Raisins are laid out on paper between the rows of grape vines and dried in the sun, here is a picture of that, so they don't use anything to make the sun hotter - like a solar food dehydrator - it's just the sun.

[www.lionraisins.com]

Bill,

All the other things you mentioned as getting really hot from being in the sun were made of or contained metal or metal-like parts, right? A really good conductor of solar radiation. Raisins, um, raisins are very poor conductors of solar radiation, being fruits, so I think they still contain viable life-force in some way : )

Well I suppose the rationale behind "sun-dried" is that enzymes usually stay intact for as high a temperature as the sun goes. They have to, otherwise they wouldn't survive like that as their enzymes would denature when the sun reached that temperature. The maximum temperature you can heat them to is really close to the maximum temperature we usually receive on earth, anything warmer is unnatural.

So it would make sense that plants that grow in lower temperatures... eg. vegetables, certain types of apples, especially plants that grow *better* in lower temperatures, may get damaged by 45 degrees celsius a lot more than plants designed for that type of temperature.

I wonder if any of the sun dried food is dried in the desert inside glass enclosures designed to keep the heat in ? If so how hot could the temperature go on a hot desert day inside an enclosure with the food layed out on a tin foil or metal surface ? Do you think it could get above 118 F ?

SuperInfinity Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> So it would make sense that plants that grow in
> lower temperatures... eg. vegetables, certain
> types of apples, especially plants that grow
> *better* in lower temperatures, may get damaged by
> 45 degrees celsius a lot more than plants designed
> for that type of temperature.


Thanks everyone. Good info. I did a tiny bit of research and found that in the San Joaquin valley (were Sun-Maid grows their grapes)the temps can get over 100 degrees F. So, they are probably more "hardy". Check this out from the sun maid site though:

"Early in the spring, tender blooms appear on the grapevines. If weather cooperates, blooms turn into tiny grape bunches. Growers must irrigate their vineyards to encourage grape development. July is the hottest time of the year in the Valley, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). The sun and soil work a special magic, turning grapes gradually sweeter. By August, the grapes are plump and full of sweetness.

In the traditional harvest method, ripe grapes are picked and placed on clean paper trays laid beside the vines. Generally, it takes two to three weeks of hot, dry September weather to turn the sweet green grapes into plump, tasty raisins.

During drying, the hot sun bakes the vineyard floor, producing intense ground temperatures that caramelize the sugars in the grapes enough to give California raisins their distinctive flavor and color."

I think that might just be marketing talk though, since I think you need to reach a temp of over 300 degree to truly caramelize sugar.

I think I'm going to sun dry some tomatoes in my dehydrator tonight at 106 degrees

- Bill

PS - and eat my raisins

thenewguy

Quote

During drying, the hot sun bakes the vineyard floor, producing intense ground temperatures that caramelize the sugars in the grapes

Reading something like this makes me wonder about the wisdom of eating any fruit that has been altered in any way from its fresh raw whole food form ? It seems like altered fruit could be a path to get to the kind of blood sugar spikes that are typical of refined sugar ?

Just listen to your body, its as simple as that. If you can eat a ham and sausage pizza and feel great afterwards, then why stop doing that? However, we know this isn't the case so we don't do it.

Its the same with the raisons. If you feel great after eating them, then continue to eat them. If not, then eat something else that does make you feel great. Its as simple as that. Whether or not a food is "raw" is less significant than how it makes you feel. Even some 100% raw foods/combinations can make you feel worse than some 99% or 98% or even 0% raw foods.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2009 05:42PM by eecho.

eecho Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just listen to your body, its as simple as that.
> If you can eat a ham and sausage pizza and feel
> great afterwards, then why stop doing that?
> However, we know this isn't the case so we don't
> do it.
>

No you are wrong there eecho. I could eat sausages right now and feel fine.

I could eat Mars and milky way bar and ice cream and feel great after them.

I agree with listening to your body, but ONLY if it's with something from the earth. NOT if it's something people have tampered with artificially or something you wouldn't do yourself (eg. kill for ham).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2009 10:31PM by SuperInfinity.

You are right. What I said was under the assumption that certain conditions are met. The first is that your body is clean enough to react to harmful foods. People eating SAD are desensitized and over-tolerant to toxic foods. However, the cleansing process makes your body more sensitive again. And, overtime, if you are focusing on continual cleansing then certain foods will naturally fall out of your diet as your body becomes more and more clean.

My point is that for a lot of things its not really worth the debate. I mean, if you want to experiment to see how much better you can feel right away then that's cool, but if you're stressing over it I would just say judge your foods by feel rather than label. Emotional wellness counts too, and each individual will manage this differently.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2009 05:03AM by eecho.