STOP Canning Tomatoes-- Do THIS Instead!

If you do this with hot peppers, make sure you let the dust settle for a long time. I made the mistake of opening my Carolina Reaper powder too soon and it was like I got hit with mace. Tears, snot and a lesson learned.

I chunk the fresh tomatoes, and put them in the blender. I then pour the liquified tomatoes onto the fruit leather trays of my dehydrator, and dry them. When dry, I shatter the flat sheets of dried tomato off the trays, and put it in the (cleaned and dried) blender. Less cutting, and you get a very fine powder.

Don't waste your tomato paste! If you have part of a can left over, place one tablespoon globs on a tray and freeze, then pop those into a ziplock bag. Easy to grab one or two to add to chili or other sauces. Also works well for partially used cans of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

A quick tip for dehydrating and safely storing foods. If it doesn't snap, put it back. Which means if something isn't dry enough to make a crisp snap sound and break when you bend it, then it needs to go back in the dehydrator until it does. As bending without breaking means moisture is left, and that can cause/allow dangerous bacteria to grow in your food.

Can I just say that I love the fact that you had a dirty dish in your sink when you were washing the tomatoes? Makes me love you more since you're not trying to make everyone think you're kitchen is perfect. Just a great woman sharing her knowledge with the rest of us. Thank you for all that you do.

We dehydrated this year's entire tomato harvest! Try adding a teaspoon of tomato powder to your mashed potatoes. AMAZING! Dehydrating is also a great answer for neglected zucchini that become monstrous. Powdered zucchini is sweet and perfect in cakes, brownies, smoothies, or as a thickener for spaghetti sauces, etc.

Wow! This is so exciting. I’m 73 and have been canning since I was 21 and have spent years and years canning tomatoes and freezing them and throwing out the skins as well. I had never ever thought or heard about drying them. Today I was reading a recipe for Nacho Cheese seasoning and it called for tomato powder. Well, I had to search that out. And here I am learning about it. I am shocked that I never knew about that. The family and friends that do canning do just that. No drying. I’m excited to tell them about this. I’ll need to get a dehydrator and it will be worth it. Thank you so much for teaching me this and thank you to the commenters for all the wisdom that I see in the comments.

If you're going to use the plastic storage lids on your jars, be careful. Your powders will slowly absorb moisture from the atmosphere because they are not air-tight. You can add a dessicant packet to the jar to absorb the moisture. I lost a jar of raspberry powder because I didn't realize that was a concern. So either use an airtight lid or add a dessicant pack for long-term storage.

To keep the powder from sticking to the top use plastic wrap. You put it between the lid and the top of the blender…… game changer! Wipes right off 😊

That's going to save me tons of jars and those precious lids

Always canned tomatoes myself but my Grandma did this in a more primitive form on a wood and coal stove. She ran them through a meat grinder and laboriously finished in a mortar and pestle!

Been doing this for years.. love love it!!! quick note after you power it is wise to put the power on cookie sheet in the oven at 200 for about 30min to dry after grinding ..

When I was over in Germany, some people would dehydrate meats to the point of maybe 1% hydration and they would pulverize it and turn it into a powder. They would then make the most excellent meals that I've ever had. This process really does open up a lot of culinary possibilities. Thank you for the video

Use powdered tomatoes when making bread. Makes a wonderful tomato bread which is then wonderful fresh or toasted with butter, cream cheese or even goat cheese.

I've become obsessed with your videos/channel~ Most homesteading/cooking channels featuring women have so much wasted time with chit-chat (sorry ladies, but it's true) & for busy Moms & Grandmas they're just SO frustrating. THANK YOU so much!

try adding dried herbs and spices, to the dried tomatoes when you put them in your blender. do one batch to use for pasta sauces and another with herbs and spices you would use in soupes. yum yum. i have around 10 quarts of different tomato powders. they never go bad. thanks for spreading the word about powered veggies.

Those that came off the dehydrator were bendy. That says they aren't fully dried. They should be brittle to get a dry powder product. Otherwise your shelf life is going to be very short.

We dehydrate grape tomatoes and use them as “croutons” in the winter. We put just a very tiny bit of salt on them.

I love dehydrating my veggies! It allows me to keep everything on hand that I need for making soups, stews, and casseroles. Little tip, you can also do this with frozen veggies and they come out great! And you don't need to blanch them if they're frozen because they do that before packaging. I normally keep the jars out on my counter and shake them up for a week to make sure they're dry. It's called conditioning the powder, and at the same time you're making sure it's fully dry.

Jill this rocks! I tried tomatoes, pumpkin, onions, cabbage, potatoes, bell peppers, celery (left in chunks). Absolutely amazing results. Will try more veggies next summer. Thank you!!