I finally did it! I dehydrated my beets and made beet root powder! There are so many uses for beet root powder and it's incredibly healthy for you as well! Beets are FULL of nutrients and vitamins... they have also been known to help fight cancer as well!  A great way to add beets to your diet is to make beet root powder (or buy it) and add it to certain things like smoothies, which is exactly the way my husband does it!

What I realized as I was drying my beets was that it was going to take a lot more beets to make a good amount of powder but I went ahead and tried it with the few beets I had since it was my first time anyway.  First I washed and cut off the tops to the beets and cut them all in half.
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Next I steamed them for about 20 to 30 minutes...until tender. These beets that I had were fairly large so I went ahead and steamed them for 30 minutes and they were perfect.
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I then peeled the skin off with a pairing knife and shredded all the beets.  Since my intention was to make a powder I went ahead and chose to shred rather than slice... figuring it would dry better and not be leathery.  I later did some research and found out that, since my intention was to make powder, I could have just put the beets into the dehydrator raw instead of steaming them. 
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I went ahead and laid the shredded pieces out between three different trays.  The instruction manual that came with my dehydrator was no help at all so I just guessed and adjusted my trays to sit as far away from each other as possible and I opened the vent on the lid completely.
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And here it is in the morning after 12 hours!  I needed the beets to be brittle and they were!  As I said before... I only had about 5 beets.  it might have been better if I had quite a few more.
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Then it was time to try and make the powder.  I initially thought my food processor would work but as you can see below it left quite a bit of large pieces and only made the tiniest bit of powder.
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At this point I was quite disappointed with the result of my beet root powder so I took a step back and did a little bit of research online to see if I had any other options.  I'm so glad that I did this because I discovered I could use a coffee grinder instead!!  And VOILA! Here is my beet root powder!!
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So I am very happy with my first attempt at making beet root powder but next time I think I'll try a few different things:
1. I'm going to try putting the beets into the dehydrator raw, thinly sliced.
2. I'm going to use my coffee grinder from the get go... I think in doing the food processor first it kept me from having the finest powder I could have had.

So definitely give this a shot if you want... It was so easy and fun!  Plus... other than the health benefits you can use beet root powder as a beauty secret as well!! Check out what I did with the little bit of beet root powder I made!

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Dyan Colby
2/7/2012 04:48:30 am

Can you put this powder in water and then shake it to make a juice? Or will it not dissolve? Do you know if you can juice veggies and put the juice in the dehydrator to make a powder that is water soluble?

Thanks

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2/7/2012 05:21:59 am

I do not believe it would dissolve completely but it wouldn't hurt to try! And I think if you put the juice in the dehydrator it would create more of a fruit chew consistency rather than something that could be ground into a powder. If you're looking for the juice to drink I would suggest juicing straight from the beet with a juicer! I'm still wanting to buy one eventually! :) Thanks for reading!

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Jeanne
11/18/2015 12:43:18 am

If you put water it will evaporate

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melissa
10/19/2012 11:34:24 pm

thanks, im looking into making my own natural food coloring and the price for natural is way to much, 5 bucks a jar. I noticed that it comes in two types, powder and paste forms. Then i saw you can buy beet powder and wondered if making the powder was possible yourself. Thank you and it looks quite easy and need just a few supplies to get started.. A great solution for natural food coloring.

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2/20/2013 06:28:30 pm

Try halving raw beets, dehydrating fully and then use a microplane to shave off powder as and when needed.

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Yael
4/24/2013 05:37:16 pm

Hi
Can I use an oven on low heat instead of a dehydrator? I don't have a dehydrator. I want to make a lip gloss and a blush with the beetroot powder.
Best regards
Yael

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Jeanne
11/18/2015 12:44:31 am

You can use a microwave for 40 minutes

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LL
6/1/2013 09:31:36 pm

Yes Yael I believe you can use your oven on its lowest setting however I have never tried this. I do remember hearing that if you do try this you'll want to leave your oven door slightly ajar otherwise they may retain too much moisture. Hope this helps!! Thanks for reading!! :)

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monique
7/22/2013 12:06:30 pm

how many pounds of beets per ounce of powder?
thanks for this helpful information!

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9/19/2013 03:07:51 am

I'm so glad I found this. I'm in the Philippines and I hate that we don't have beetroot powder when we do have beetroot! So I will make my own powder from now on. I don't have a dehydrator though, and we don't have many of those here too. And I live in a city in Metro Manila already. Grrr. Anyway, what kind of dehydrator are you using if you don't mind? What brand would be best?

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LARRIANNE CASSERLY
1/8/2014 05:16:39 pm

Hi, I juice my beet fpr health reasons. i have high blood pressure and it is the only thing that keeps my pressure down. Do you know if the way you are processing the beet causes it to lose any nutritional value. thanks for your information.
Larrianne

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Denise Petty
2/7/2014 07:05:29 am

Hi. Love your blog! I got into dehydrating quite a bit, and I'd like to make a suggestion. This works with any powder you make. Do your initial steps through the first drying and powdering, but don't worry about small pieces that don't grind. Then, put the powder back in the dehydrator on solid sheets and dry some more. Regrind. This does a couple things - it makes for a finer grind and usually takes care if those little pieces. Also, it guarantees a better dry, which results in longer shelf life and less spoilage. My favorite is pumpkin. A 1/4 cup powder rehydrated makes a fresh-tasting pie. It's very nutritious and easy to add to shakes, or replace some of the flour in pancakes, muffins, etc. GREAT way to trick kids into eating healthier!

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Emmanuel
3/13/2018 04:00:15 am

Great Input. Becareful of dehydrating the powder if you are using a microwave for the dehydration. Yesterday, I nearly burnt down my kitchen because after I had it in the powdery form, It still had some moisture, and I placed it back, but I guess my temperature settings were too high. I am sure, the dehydrator will work just fine, though i have not used one yet

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vicent kihembo
1/19/2015 06:03:41 pm

Am a farmer here in Africa researching in every corner of the world i want to produce the products that can met local market here

best
regards

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vicent kihembo
1/31/2015 05:12:26 am

what could be the best process of making beetroot powder with the best shell life.
best regards

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virgin
1/31/2015 05:32:34 am

I thank you for the information am in African and i can't wait to try Uganda

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Anna
5/17/2015 05:17:31 am

I have been dehydrating for years. If you use a potato peeler and just peel the beet, carrot, potato or whatever until nothing else remains, tomatoes need to be sliced very thin and place all those peelings in a dehydrator and dehydrate overnight, then put into a coffee grinder after breaking the pieces up into smaller pieces. I bought a used cusinart coffee grinder at a thrift store for $2 and it works great for just about anything you want to dehydrate and make into powder.

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Judy Hoppe
8/19/2015 09:54:15 am

I tried beet powder last year, cut the small, raw, unpeeled beets in thin slices, dried 'til hard but still a little leathery. Put them in my Vitamix. Got good powder for the most part, but about half did compact in the bottom of the blender, like concrete, couldn't even chip it out. What to do. I was afraid my Vitamix was now a thing of the past. Decided to throw in a cup of water and let it sit overnight, hoping it might soften the concrete. In the morning I was so surprised and happy. I now had semi-thick syrup that easily poured and scraped out, put it in a jar and stored in the fridge to be used in my favorite smoothie with: grape juice and blue berries. Will try again this year. Thanks so much

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anna
4/6/2016 05:11:38 pm

Hi. I need beet root powder for a project but I dont have the time to make it. Would you be willing to sell the beet root powder to me? Please let me know if this possible. Hope to hear from you soon.

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Blue K
9/27/2016 08:23:59 pm

Hi where can you buy red beetroots here in the Philippines?

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