Canned Tomatoes into dehydrated tomato powder/leather

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In cleaning out my guest room closet to make room to put the air conditioner away for the winter, sitting in a box is my American Harvest Dehydrator. I thought it had gotten lost in my last move. I brought it out to the kitchen, oh dear, it had gotten packed up back in 2004 without being cleaned up from my last bout of dehydrating. Sweet green peppers and string beans. No the trays weren't full of food, just that they hadn't been cleaned.

Cleaned them up, then cleaned and chopped some "Ugly" Green Peppers. Green peppers that weren't in the first blush of ripeness, but ones that the store marked down a bunch because they needed to be used in a day or two. In the past 1999-2004 I bought "Ugly" vegetables and mushrooms at greatly discounted prices, took home and immediately dehydrated. Back to the green peppers in the dehydrator. Got 4 of them for $0.25 each. The next day I did mushrooms. 8 oz container of sliced for $1.00. Did two containers.

Now, canned tomatoes. I have two dozen cans of diced canned tomatoes. They are about 3 years old. Has anyone ever dehydrated canned tomatoes? I suppose I could drain them, then put the diced pieces on a Clean-A-Screen then dehydrated them. According to the manual/recipe book I just downloaded, it says how to make tomato paste using fresh tomatoes, cooking them up, straining them and then cooking down to a paste thickness, then spreading on fruit leather sheets.

Do the same with canned tomatoes? Only, I don't think I want to strain out the tomato bits.

I cleaned out my freezer. Took bags of frozen crinkle cut carrots, thawed them in hot water, whirled them in my salad spinner, then placed them on the clean-a-screens and dehydrated them. Four 12 oz bags reduced to fit in a sandwich bag. Did the same with a 4 pound bag of California Blend vegetables. That easily fit into a quart bag. When the once frozen blueberries, blackberries and cubed, grilled chicken are done - I will vacuum seal them for LONG TERM storage. Oh, also have a 3 pound bag of once frozen corn and there is yet another 4 pound bag of Oriental Style Stir Fry thawing out on the fridge section.

The only canned corn I buy anymore is creamed - because that is what hubby likes. I hate it. I only like frozen corn. BUT I do like re-hydrated once frozen corn.

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I never did puree my cans of tomatoes because they ALL were awful, bulging, bad.

[DMGNUT]

I had the same bulging problem with #10 cans of tomato powder.
Never tried to store tomatoes or tomato powder again as I had heard of many others having the same problem, so I figured it was a "tomato" issue.

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I really wanted to dehydrate canned tomatoes, turn it into powder then vacuum seal it. Puts an end to BULGING. BUT I am not going to buy canned tomatoes by the case again. There is only two soups I make that require canned tomatoes - so I will buy what I need as I need them.

It is time for me to make some of my Hearty Pantry Soups. Start with meat chunks - quickly brown, then add to stock. Beef/vegetable/chicken. Lots of stock. Add whatever dehydrated/FD veggies that catch my eye. Let simmer until the smell drives you nuts and you HAVE to eat bowls and bowls of it. IF I plan ahead, I will sprout lentils, beans or even a packet of 15 bean soup mix, then add that to the mix.

My oldest sister never sprouted anything, but she loved barley, so she added it, lots and lots of it. She didn't really like lentils. Me, I love them. Sprout them until they have leaves and eat them in sandwiches, salads, or toss a hand full into canned soups.