Countrified Hicks: Making Tomato Powder

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Making Tomato Powder

We love growing tomatoes in our garden. Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow, at least around here, and we always harvest so many of them. I can a lot of them and I also make spaghetti sauce and extra hot salsa. We eat fresh tomatoes with meals but there are still plenty left over. This year, I decided to make Sun Dried Tomatoes to help preserve them so we have tomatoes through out the year. They turned out beautifully.

I also decided to make up some tomato powder. Tomato powder is pretty expensive to buy. It runs about $8.00-$15.00 a pound but you can make it for free with your excess tomatoes. If you have never used tomato powder, you are missing out. Tomato powder really adds a lot of flavor to soups, stews, casseroles, etc. If you need to add tomato paste or tomato sauce to a recipe, you can reconstitute the tomato powder and make your own paste or sauce. If you need tomato paste, just add 1-2 parts water to 1 part paste. For tomato sauce, use four parts water to one part tomato powder.

One of the best things about tomato powder is it is a great way to preserve tomatoes, the nutritional value does not diminish and just a heaping tablespoon of tomato powder equals about a pint of fresh tomatoes (when it comes to adding taste and flavor to a dish).

How to Make Tomato Powder

      Take fresh from the garden tomatoes or tomatoes you have purchased. Cut off the ends of the tomato and using a sharp knife or mandolin, slice your tomatoes. I like to slice my tomatoes fairly thick. I found a bit thicker cut the tomatoes, the easier they are to remove off the trays. If they are cut real thin, they have a tendency to stick to the tray. I never spray my trays with cooking spray or oil because oil causes the fruit or vegetable to turn rancid.

Lay your sliced tomatoes onto your dehydrator tray.