Seeing that you're in Texas, which I hear has a very dry climate, I would recommend simple low tech drying. No need for a special apparatus like a dehydrator.
My dried tomatoes are super yummy. I use them:
1) eaten out of hand like dried fruit.
2) thrown whole into curries and stews to reconsitute in place.
3) reconstituted and used all winter for spaghetti sauce, curries, etc.
4) powdered in the blender while bone dry, and then either used as popcorn sprinkle (oh my glob!) or used in cooking like puree.
5) Partially reconstituted and then soaked in oil for "sun-dried tomatoes."
Here are my tips:
-- Cut the tomatoes radially like slices of an orange and stand them up skin-side-down initially. Otherwise they stick to the trays badly. Laying down flat slices is an exercise in frustration the next day. I cut them into kinda skinny pieces so they'll dry faster and make space for tomorrow's harvest.
-- By the second day in the desert air they aren't sticky and can be pushed together on a smaller plate to make space for more. After a few more days when they seem almost totally dry, pile them loosely in a pot or jar for final complete drying, for several days or a week.
-- I use all the plates and trays I can scrounge around my house. In my
experience, silicone screens and non-stick trays are unnecessary for tomatoes in the high desert.
-- I try to screen flies off them. Although I am not always able to make a secure screened area, I have never had any flies or larva turn up in my dried vegetables.
-- It is the movement of dry air across the vegetables that removes the moisture. Added heat is not necessary.If you're in a humid climate, added heat will make the air relatively drier and able to carry off more moisture, but in Texas, that is probably not necessary. A lot of people make this mistake. You're not aiming to cook the tomatoes, just dry them.