Dehydrating

Tomato powder and pepper powder? Good thought! I grew a lot of peppers this year, but the only variety I grew which can be classed as hot are the Jalapeno's. I've searched for years for the seed for the giant Poblano pepper used to make Chili Rellenos. This year, I planted a variety which is supposed to produce large poblano's. Early in the season, they were pretty large while the plants were still small. As the season progressed, the plants became larger in the summer heat; but the peppers got smaller and they had no heat. Now, with cooler weather, the plants are about eight feet tall and producing larger peppers again. I was surprised to find they also have a heat similar to black pepper and a great peppery flavor. My dog even likes them. He usually only wants sweet peppers. I believe they would make a good pepper powder to combine with the tomato powder. I think the variety was Tiburon, but I'm not sure without pulling my list up.

[Worth1]

Ted I was just wondering because I have been doing a ton of research on food as of late.
I guess it is due to my mixed ethnicity that allowed me to be subjected to so many different cuisines at home.
I am using the therm ethnicity not as race but culture as it should be.
Nobody in any place we lived cooked the way my mother did.

Worth

[Worth1]

I eat the Poblano out of hand in the form of ancho/dried but leathery like jerky they are very good and not hot at all.
They come from Mexico.
Worth

[coronabarb]

Tomato powder - the Master Gardeners are trying it out this year. Today, I tasted a hummus a friend made in which he put tomato powder along with some other things to jazz it up. Delicious! I've read many times of folks making powder out of the skins leftover from canning tomatoes. I don't have room to do that right now but want to try it next year when I have a bigger kitchen. For now, the chickens get as much as they want of the skins as they want.

I read once of making tomato powder from the dried tomato skins. It didn't sound very appetizing because the skins seem to be kissing cousins to plastic wrap. I know the large tomato processors have a huge volume of tomato skins to either throw away or find a use for. I hope the tomato powder I will buy on the internet is dried tomatoes and not just dried skins.

Ted

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by tedln

I read once of making tomato powder from the dried tomato skins. It didn't sound very appetizing because the skins seem to be kissing cousins to plastic wrap. I know the large tomato processors have a huge volume of tomato skins to either throw away or find a use for. I hope the tomato powder I will buy on the internet is dried tomatoes and not just dried skins.

Ted

I hope so too I think the skins are better off left to the chickens that is what ours ate all summer that and the pulp and seeds left over from processing.
You cant re-hydrate a skin and get anything out of it.

[Salsacharley]

Here's how I made NM green chile powder. After dehydrating the roasted and peeled chiles I put them in my $18 Ninja blender and gave them about 30 seconds of processing. I did all the chiles on the 3 racks shown in the post above. The powder is quite fine. All those chiles made only 4 oz of powder. The powder in the baggie looks a bit suspicious but honest...it is NM No 9 chiles from Espanola NM.

[whistech]

I'm dehydrating okra and grinding it to a powder that i will use as a thickener for soup and stews or other dishes this winter. I have frozen all of the okra I have room for in my freezer, which isn't a whole lot. My two freezers are mostly full of meat that will become sausages when cooler weather gets here.

[FarmerShawn]

I have, last year and this, made a few batches of smoked tomatoes that make a darned nice snack. After slicing I spread them in a disposable aluminum pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and a bit of hot pepper powder. I then smoke them in my electric smoker for a couple of hours at about 150 degrees (I like apple wood smoke), then transfer them to the dehydrator. Wow. What a flavor pop! I usually use large cherries or small salad tomatoes for these.


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[coronabarb]

That sounds yummy, Shawn.

[Worth1]

Shawn do you have any problems with metal transfer to the tomatoes due to acid?
I ask because I am trying to figure out something.
At a certain place I have seen food served that has had foil on top of it, Shrimp.
All of the shrimp had a metallic crust on it from the foil, I wouldn't eat it.
I have never seen it with tomatoes though.

Worth

[FarmerShawn]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Shawn do you have any problems with metal transfer to the tomatoes due to acid?
I ask because I am trying to figure out something.
At a certain place I have seen food served that has had foil on top of it, Shrimp.
All of the shrimp had a metallic crust on it from the foil, I wouldn't eat it.
I have never seen it with tomatoes though.

Worth

Worth, I am always careful with foil, especially on acid dishes left in the fridge overnight, because I've noticed exactly the reaction you refer to. But the tomatoes are only in the pans for a couple of hours, and they're cut in half with skin side down, plus, when I take them out, there is a layer of juice covering the bottom of the pan. I am not really sure if air is needed for the chemical reaction to take place, but I've never tasted aluminum on my dried smoked tomatoes, and I reuse the same pans several times after washing, and no holes have appeared, so I think it's ok.


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[Salsacharley]

How much drying does the smoking do? Or, how long do you have to dehydrate them after smoking? Are they leathery or really crispy? Your procedure looks pretty good! I'm thinking after dehydrating, you could make them into powder for a real concentrated smoked, flavored impact on a lot of recipes.

Originally Posted by FarmerShawn

I have, last year and this, made a few batches of smoked tomatoes that make a darned nice snack. After slicing I spread them in a disposable aluminum pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and a bit of hot pepper powder. I then smoke them in my electric smoker for a couple of hours at about 150 degrees (I like apple wood smoke), then transfer them to the dehydrator. Wow. What a flavor pop! I usually use large cherries or small salad tomatoes for these.


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[coronabarb]

Worth, I have made dried tomatoes in the oven on foil and never had a problem with taste.

[Worth1]

Just wondering about the aluminum as I have never had the problem at home either.
The only place I saw it was at work with big trays of boiled and fried shrimp.
I will eat a lot of stuff but I wont eat shrimp with an aluminum oxidized coating on it.
I was friends with the head chef and lead cook and I told them about it.
They cant watch everything thanked me and the problem stopped.
They put on a layer of plastic then the foil from then on.

Speaking of dehydrating those guys gave me a bag of dried she-talky mushrooms the size of a big grocery bag.
Worth