Tomatoes made into Powder for Winter

This easy way of storing garden fresh tomatoes for over the winter is a sure winner in the pantry. Try tomato powder in stews, soups, casseroles, eggs, and many other winter wholesome meals.

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Gardening can be an overwhelming task all by itself with our modern busy lives. We have worked hard on the garden and now the fruits of our labor begin to popup fast in the garden. This can be hard to keep up with. I have found ways to handle the big loads of tomatoes from our garden to save for the winter months. One great and easy way that our family does this is turning the tomatoes into powder.

Okay. I have my tomatoes now, so where do I begin?

First things first. I call in the kids for help for this process to go smoothly and quickly. We wash/rinse all the tomatoes then begin slicing the tomatoes. Keeping the compost bucket near by (or trash can) makes clean up a breeze. The top of the tomato that connects to the stem is sliced off and discarded.

Helpful Tips When Cutting:

Slice the tomatoes into one fourth inch slices and place nicely and compactly onto the food dryer tray. Make sure to pack them in tightly next to each other so there is less space waisted. It is important to cut the tomatoes into one fourth inch slices. If they are cut too thin it is difficult to pull them off the racks. Learn from our mistakes. If the slices of tomatoes are cut too thick it will be difficult to place the next tray on top. A happy medium for our food dryer has been one fourth of an inch. Play around with your food dryer as it maybe slightly different space between trays than ours.

How long should the tomatoes dry for?

After all the trays are full we set the lid on top and turn on the power. Let the drying begin! We let ours go over night and a lot of times into the next day. It is best once the dried tomatoes have cooled to get them off the trays right away when they are their crunchiest texture. I am not always good about this because of our busy family life. I’ll get to it within a day or two of the food dryer sitting on the counter with the power off. One of my kids take a small thin metal spatula to carefully pluck the dried tomato slices off the trays.

How should the dried tomato powder be stored?

At this stage we will place the dried tomato slices into a large mason jar with the lid on for storing until the jar is completely full. Out comes the food blender or food processor to crush these dried slices down into a chunky to fine powder. Carefully pour the powder into a sealable container. We use a type of jar that has a rubber seal with a snap down lid. However I have also used a mason jar in the past. The big thing is keeping the moisture, dust, and bugs out of your nice red delicious tomato powder. When we are all done we will set the jar up on our spice shelf. Do not forget about the name and date label! Any extra jars made we will store in our basement pantry where it is dry, cool and dark.

Dried Tomato Powder Recipe

What will you need:

Food Dryer

Thin Metal Small Spatula

Sharp Knife with Cutting Board

Compost Bin or Trash Can near by

Lots of Tomatoes (nothing smaller than a Roma Tomato)

Dried Tomato Powder Instructions

• Wash the tomatoes (no soap needed just a good rinse and possible scrub)
• Cut the tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices and dispose of ends
• Place onto food dryer trays tightly packed
• Place the lid on top once filling your trays or when out of tomatoes
• Turn on and let dry for at least over night or longer until fully dried
• Let the tomatoes cool then use a thin metal spatula to pop off the slices
• Store dried sliced tomatoes in an air tight container until ready to turn them to powder
• Use a food processor or blinder (I have a Ninja that we use) to chop into powder form
• Pour dried tomato powder into an air tight container with label and date for winter storage

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