This isn’t our first time writing about making tomato powder but we’ve changed our approach a bit and thought it was worth sharing the results with you.
Tomato powder can be made from whole tomatoes but we make it with the discards from making tomato sauce; so this is mostly skin and seed.
Whenever we post about tomato skin and seed, people often ask if the flavors are bitter. When it comes to this preserve, I have two general thoughts:
- I’ve never bitten into a bitter tomato. Although the skin and seed do have a slightly bitter flavor, they aren’t overbearing when used as an ingredient.
- Even though it is slightly bitter, bitter isn’t a bad thing. I, and many like me, love IPAs (a style of beer that’s generally very bitter). I don’t plan on eating this by the spoonful!
The powder is used in place of tomato paste. It can thicken sauces (the powder absorbs some liquid) and add depth to the colour and flavor of the dish. It can also be added to baking, bread, noodles, dry rubs, stir frys and more.
We store it on a counter in a jar with a lid on it.
TOMATO POWDER – INTRO TO PRESERVING (DEHYDRATING)
October 4, 2013 by Joel MacCharles
This isn’t our first time writing about making tomato powder but we’ve changed our approach a bit and thought it was worth sharing the results with you.
Tomato powder can be made from whole tomatoes but we make it with the discards from making tomato sauce; so this is mostly skin and seed.
Whenever we post about tomato skin and seed, people often ask if the flavors are bitter. When it comes to this preserve, I have two general thoughts:
- I’ve never bitten into a bitter tomato. Although the skin and seed do have a slightly bitter flavor, they aren’t overbearing when used as an ingredient.
- Even though it is slightly bitter, bitter isn’t a bad thing. I, and many like me, love IPAs (a style of beer that’s generally very bitter). I don’t plan on eating this by the spoonful!
The powder is used in place of tomato paste. It can thicken sauces (the powder absorbs some liquid) and add depth to the colour and flavor of the dish. It can also be added to baking, bread, noodles, dry rubs, stir frys and more.
We store it on a counter in a jar with a lid on it.
It’s easy to make tomato powder – spread tomato skin and seeds (or slices) over a tray and dehydrate at 125 degrees until the tomatoes are dry and break when you try to bend them. The time will vary greatly depending on how thick the tomatoes are.
I’ve written in the past about storing dried goods in whole form (i.e. prior to turning into a fine powder). Large pieces will retain flavor longer (they have less surface area) and I generally store the flakes whole. Tomato powder is the exception – grinding it into a fine powder makes storage so much easier (it takes far less room than the whole flakes). If I had a large freezer I might consider freezing some of it to help retain the flavor but I’m confident that the powder will last at least a year with a lid on it. I was thrilled with the texture that we ended up with (mostly due to our newish high-speed blender).
What would you use this for?
Following our speech at TEDxToronto, we’re sharing at least 10 easy preserving recipes in the next 3 weeks. If you’re looking for easy places to start, these recipes are for you (but note: the other recipes really are just-as-easy)! The actual speech is expected online on Tuesday, October 8, 2013.