Like where YouTube decided to show the clip of my face? Great! LOL!

Before cherries can be placed on trays to be dried they go through a destemming machine which pulls the stems off of them. After the bad cherries are sorted off the sorting-belt they go through a pitting machine and are then placed onto drying trays.

There are two ways cherries are dried. Cherries can be dried naturally or with sulphur-dioxide. Cherries that are dried naturally are placed into a dehydrator to be dried very rapidly to protect them from oxidation.

The main purpose of sulphur-dioxide is to prevent oxidation. Cherries that are dried in the sun are exposed to oxygen for a great amount of time before they are fully dried. Sulphur-dioxide is a powerful antioxidant that prevents oxygen from bonding to the cherries. When oxygen bonds to the drying cherry (oxidation), not only does it take the color and flavor from the cherry but it also deplete the beta-carotene, Vitamins, anthocyanin, and other beneficial components of the cherry. To preserve oxidation, we place cherries in a closed tent. In the tent there is a bowl with sulphur that is lit on fire which creates sulphur-dioxide and fills the tent.

After this process, the cherries are then placed on trays in the sun to dry for about 3 days in 90* California Valley weather.

Dried cherries are a fantastic snack. They contain anthocyanin which helps lower cholesterol. Just a handful of dried cherries is enough to supply your brain with enough melatonin help regulate your sleep/wake cycle. One of the best things about dried cherries is they are just plain delicious!

Cant wait to hear your questions and comments
Michael Colombo