Dehydrating bananas -- question

[Glynn]

My first attempt at dehydrating bananas was a dismal failure. I don't know what went wrong. I wound up with brown little globs that never totally hardened, even after I left them in an extra long time. They never did get crisp. I followed the directions that came with my Excalibur. I had envisioned banana chips but I wound up tossing five trays' worth. I would like to try again but with the high price of bananas I need to do everything to ensure success. Please help. And thanks so much.

[Cat]

This is what I've done...

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

BANANAS

 

Choose all yellow or lightly speckled bananas. Too green and they won’t be sweet; too ripe and they will be unappetizing.

 

Preheat the dehydrator at 5-10 degrees higher than the recommended temperature for your food (about 135 degrees F). The moisture in the food cools your dryer at first, so my book says to leave it at the slightly higher temperature for one hour at the beginning of your food drying, then turn down to the recommended temp.

 

Bananas must be pretreated before drying. Dip in unsweetened pineapple juice, Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) dissolved in water (1 Tbsp. crushed & dissolved in 1 qt. water), or try the honey dip (my favorite!).

 

(Honey Dip: )

**Dissolve 1 c sugar in 3 c hot water. Cool to lukewarm, then stir in 1 c honey.**

 

Peel the bananas and cut into 1/8” to 1/4” slices, removing any bruised portions

 

Dip fruit in small batches, remove with slotted spoon, and drain well before placing them on the trays.

 

Dry at 135 degrees until leathery, roughly 8 hours.

 

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...true#Post119742

 

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I've never one them without a dip. How did you do yours, exactly?

 

 

[Glynn]

Thanks for the info, Cat. You're a peach!

 

Bananas are so expensive right now, with no relief in sight. We have some ethnic markets that offer them on sale from time to time so I wanted to be ready to take advantage of any special offers and make up a bunch (pun intended).

 

[susie]

I just slice and go...no dipping or anything. I have to turn them a lot in the beginning so that they don't stick, though. Sometimes I sprinkle cinnamon sugar on one side.

[Violet]

They won't be anything like the store ones. The ones in the stores are dipped in sugar, then deep fat fried in coconut oil. So, if you are looking for that kind of crisp, they won't turn out like that.

Mine are chewy. I don't dip mine, either. I don't care if they are a bit brownish.

I think the honey would be good, though.

 

[Crazy4Canning]

I just slice and dry, too. My sweetie doesn't care if they are a little brown. He loves the texture and banana flavor.

[susie]

Mine aren't all that brown, but I don't use the fully over-ripe ones (those go for banana cake-in-a-jar).

 

PS Something else that's nice done with bananas is to cut them in half and poke a popcicle stick into the cut end and freeze them and, once frozen, dip them into chocolate melted wth a bit of cream or canned milk, and then roll in chopped nuts or coconut or candy sprinkles, and then refreeze.

[JCK88]

Oh..something else really nice with bananas...Get egg roll wrappers. Then put half a banana inside and roll like an egg roll. Deep fry. Then sprinkle with confectionary sugar and you have a very fun and unusual dessert.

[Mother]

I dry bananas like the rest, just slice and dehydrate. In my book they are too slippery to try to dip in anything to keep them from browning and the color does not detract from the flavor. As the others have said, they do not get crispy but are chewey like all dried fruits should be.

 

I'm really sorry you discarded yours, Glynn, as even if you didn't like eating them as is they could have been chopped up and put in all sorts of deserts, cereals and breads. I cut ours in smalll pieces and add them to my oatmeal mix and they soften just a little from the heat. (We don't cook our oatmeal mix but just pour boiling water over it and let it set a minute or two)

 

I also freeze bananas and use them for fruit smoothies or frozen fruit icecream. They keep very well just peeled and put into zip lock bags in the freezer for a year but then start to lose their flavor and most likely their nutrients but are still edible for some time after that especially if you thaw them and use them in breads and cakes.

 

[westbrook]

I purchase bananas for drying slightly green... when they are starting to get yellow.

 

I like them firm. I slice them into a bowl of water (cold) and a little lemon and sugar or splenda or honey.. what ever you prefer.

 

I only let them in and then use a slotted spoon to remove. I don't want them soaking up all the water and turning to mush.. which is why I prefer an almost ripe banana... firm.

 

Now I lay on trays and dehydrate.

 

Brown or not brown the flavor won't change, I just prefer the look of a nice light chip.

 

 

[Fullpantry]

I just slice and dry in the dehydrator - no dipping, etc. I leave them in for a week to a week and a half. They are ROCKS when I take them out. I put them in mason jars and put them in the pantry. I want them hard so moisture won't make them mold. Course, they're never in there long enough to mold, anyway!

[Pansy]

Like most of you I just slice and put in dehydrator - they are not that discolored and never had any turned down. I am wanting to get some as crisp as possible so I can try putting them into a powder. We drink a diet type drink at night sometimes and having the Bananas in powder form in case I don't have fresh would be super.

[PureCajunSunshine]

Originally Posted By: Pansy

I am wanting to get some as crisp as possible so I can try putting them into a powder.

Hmmm...you might want to try something I found out by accident.

Make a fruit leather by whizzing bananas in the blender, thinning with a little applesauce, and pour onto parchment paper lined dehydrator trays (or use those nice flexible tray liners).

Pour it a little bit thinner than for true fruit leather, and overdry the leather a little longer...

Peel off and stack between layers of parchment or wax paper. Stash them in a bag and freeze. They will become extremely brittle, and can be shattered easily into a powder. Pick up the bag and crunch it in your hands until the bulk of the contents have been reduced in size. Making sure all the air is out of the bag, place it between toweling. With a rolling pin, shatter the crumbs as fine as you want. Refreeze. Repeat as needed, until desired size is reached.

You might want to keep the banana 'powder' frozen until ready to use. I'm not sure if it will remain in a powdered state once unfrozen, or if it'll turn into a sticky lumpy mess...if it does, then maybe dust the works with cornstarch before and during the shattering process?

I'll take one of the banana bags out of my freezer now, and report back in a day or three...

Edited to add: I noticed a loose sort of clumping almost immediately after it began to warm up. I don't care! This would be perfect in granola!!!!! Those tiny little clumps are intensely flavorful! This might also be really great addition to pemmican (the original fast food of the First Americans...) I'm going to try this banana stuff a fat-free version that I love: http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/2007...d-of-first.html)

[westbrook]

use banana extract!

 

cheaper to use, strong banana flavor and takes less space to store.

[susie]

I powder crsp banana slices in a little electric coffeebean grinder, and then keep the powder in a jar with a tight lid. It's put into drinks, used as a part-substitute for flour in cakes, sprinkled into milk and egg mix for puddings and flans, addec to hot cocoa...

 

Sometimes I do what PCS does and make it into fruitleather...the prettiest way is to use sliced strawberries and surround the slices with banana puree...or sliced bananas and surround them with strawberry puree.

[Pansy]

All great ideas for powdering the Bananas and will try soon - Bananas too expensive right now. Banana extract is fine, except we are looking for the "bulk" rather than just the flavor. Thanks a lot - Mrs. S. to the rescue again.