Making Tomato Powder

11 years ago

I'd like to try making some tomato powder this weekend. I have my trusty dehydrator and the farmers' market is on.

The process I've read about seems to me: slice tomatoes, dehydrate slices using a heat setting on the dehydrator, then grind into powder using a food processor. I don't want to use the oven as it is hot today.

My thought is, seems a lot of the time involved is dehydrating away the liquid in the sliced tomatoes. Suppose I rough chopped the tomatoes, pressed out as much liquid as possible using a sieve or colander or cheesecloth, then dehydrated the remaining smashed solids, before powderizing in the Cuisinart? Would this save time? Its going to be pulverized anyway, so it wouldn't seem to matter if the slices are intact or smashed when they are dehydrating.

Also, is it necessary to seed the tomatoes? I don't usually seed tomatoes, or remove the jelly, in normal cooking.

Finally, do you add anything to the tomatoes during the process? Salt? Sugar? Red food coloring? :-)

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Comments (4)

triciae
11 years ago
John,

I usually just follow the instructions & my tomato powder has always worked fine. I slice the 'maters about 1/4" thick, place on the dehydrator trays so they are not touching, set the temperature & timer. Mine dry so that they are paper thin & crisp. Remove from the trays while still warm or they will stick like glue from the sugar content in the 'maters. Allow to thoroughly cool before grinding in the FP.

I would not do the process you've described. You'd end up with uneven pieces that would not dry uniformly.

In my climate - the dew point today is 74 - it takes about 18 hours, maybe 20 hours (but it might take even longer depending on the type tomatoe) to dry at 130-135 degrees. Your time will be different because your climate is different.

I also use a mandoline to slice for uniformity. I've got Excalibur dehydrators.

Homemade tomato powder from heirloom tomatoes is fantastic! Remember, the better the tomatoes you use the better the finished product. I don't mean blemishes on the fruit - but the type of fruit. Lousy, grocery store tomatoes will still be lousy, grocery store tomatoes after drying.

/tricia
grainlady_ks
11 years ago
I use a little different method. I skin (hot water dip) and seed my tomatoes and blend to a puree in my blender. Put the slurry on fruit/vegetable leather sheets and dry it like I would fruit roll-ups. As soon as it's set enough to peel off the sheets I remove the tomato leather and finish drying it on the drying racks until crispy dry. You can now cut the tomato leather and store it that way for use, or run it through the blender and use it in the powdered form.

-Grainlady
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Dehydrating tomato skins is the quickest way to make tomato powder at home. They dry very quickly. Store the crispy dry skins in a jar until you are ready to use them. If you make it into a powder and store it, it will clump because there isn't an anti-clumping ingredient in it, so make it into powder as you need it. Give the crispy-dry tomato skins a whirr in a coffee/spice mill. Use a 1:1 ratio of powder to water for tomato paste and a 1:2 ratio of powder to water for tomato sauce - or any thickness you like. Note the difference in ratios if using commercially prepared tomato powder, such as the one from The Spice House: For thick tomato paste mix 3 parts water with 1 part powder. For sauce mix 4:1. You will also get better results by making a puree from cooked tomatoes rather than using sliced tomatoes, then making "leather" like you would fruit roll-ups. Dehydrate them until it is crispy dry to make tomato powder. You can also make tomato leather (pliable, not crispy) and cut it into squares to use for sauce or paste, added to soup, etc. I make packets of "instant" soup with dehydrated veggies and squares of tomato leather. To make sauce or paste: Add the tomato puree squares to boiling water, mix occasionally, until you get the thickness you want. How to make tomato puree: Remove peel, core and cut up ripe tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes in a pan, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly and force cooked pulp through a food mill, colander, or strainer. In a shallow pan over low heat or in an electric skillet set at 260-degrees, cook juice down to a thick puree. Spread puree as thin as possible on plastic sheets. Dehydrate until dry enough to peel off of sheets. Place back on drying trays and dry until completely dry and crisp. It takes 1/2-3/4 c. of homemade tomato powder per cup of boiling water to make tomato sauce or paste. -Grainlady
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dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
John, the only requirement for making tomato powder is to have the tomato crispy dry but not burnt.

You can have skin, no skin, seeds, no seeds and you can add seasoning if you want.

This is my post for making leather, take a look. I like to make mine with no seeds and no skin.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: Leather Fetish
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
11 years ago
Just thinking,

Tomato is 95% water.

Therefore to make one pound of powder, you need almost 100 lbs of tomatoes.

dcarch

Making Tomato Powder

Comments (4)

triciae

grainlady_ks

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