I have been wanting to make my own spice and herb powder for a while. Recently, because of the rumored food shortages and rising food prices, I was more motivated to make my own garlic and onion powder. It is very simple to do and make, especially if you have a dehydrator.
Garlic and Onion Powder – Steps to Make
In order to make garlic and onion powder, you will need to peel and slice both thinly. With onions, I cut off both ends, cut down the middle and peel the outer skin off. I slice the onion into thin slices and place on my dehydrator rack.
For garlic, I smash it with a knife. For faster peeling, place all smashed garlic with skin on inside 2 equal size stainless steel bowls. Place them all into one stainless steel bowl, then place the other bowl on top, top side down and shake. The shaking helps to more quickly remove the garlic skins. Please let me know if you know of a more efficient way to peel garlic in the comments below! Once the garlic skins are removed, either place them into a food processor or blender to mince or chop. Alternatively, you can slice it with a knife. I highly recommend following the mincing or chopping step because I skipped it myself. The result was after placing the whole peeled garlic cloves in my dehydrator, it took over a day or 2 to fully dehydrate the garlic cloves. Save time and energy by chopping or mincing the garlic. Once you have completed this step, place in your dehydrator.
I recommend setting the temperature on your dehydrator to 115 degrees Fahrenheit to preserve the nutrients and enzymes in the garlic and onion. The amount of time it takes to dehydrate will depend on the temperature of your dehydrator and how thin you slice your garlic and onions. I would recommend starting at 8-12 hours. You may need less or more time. The key is to remove all moisture from the food. You want the spices to be completely dry so that mold cannot grow.
Once the garlic and onions are completely dry, place in a high speed blender and blend until each one is powdered. I stored mine in glass jars. Enjoy!
Please watch my video below if you need to see how I did it.
