Pineapple Powder

I regularly make homemade pineapple juice at home, but inevitably I always have a large amount of pineapple puree left at the end of every juicing session. What do I do with this? Initially, I threw it out, a waste. Eventually I put this in blended drinks. However, before I learned to do this, I had no idea what to do with all my puree.

One day I figured it out. I would make pineapple powder! Theoretically, you can make any flavor of powder. Popular examples are tomato, fennel, mushroom, etc.. The ingredients are simple and it's easy to make.

The basic idea is to take some puree of whatever you are making powder of (in this case, a lot of pineapple pulp), squeeze as much water out of it as possible in a clean dishcloth, and dehydrate it in a dehydrator. Unfortunately, most normal people do not own a dehydrator machine in their homes, so I jerry-rigged a microwave to do the same thing by using the lowest possible setting for heat over an extended period of time. Since microwaves work on the principle of using water in a substance to produce heat, this works.

First, I took some pineapple puree and squeezed the water out as best I could.


Next, I spread the puree in a thin, even layer on top of a sheet of parchment. I trimmed the parchment into a circle shape so it would sit evenly in my microwave.

I set my microwave on 20% power and "cooked" the pineapple puree on the parchment for about 20 minutes. When I took it out, it was leathery and dry.

I think I might've overdried the pulp because there were some char marks and the flavor of the pineapple was extremely faint. I think overdrying the pineapple muted the flavors.

I put this all in a spice mill and grinded it up until no large pieces remained. It was a fine powder when I took it out.

Finally, I bottled the powder. It should be good for about three to five days. Afterwards, the flavor diminishes.


Now comes the million dollar question. What the hell do you use these powders for?

I have no idea. Anyone care to comment?

P.S. My friend likes to call this "pineapple nose candy."