Dehydrating Bananas?

[Peg]

I have being playing with my dehydrator, but here's a question. How exactly do I dehydrate bananas? Should I use lemon juice or pineapple juice?

[Violet]

I like them plain. You can dip in juice if you want. It prevents some browning, but lemon juice is tart. Sprinkle with jello, too, if you want for flavor.

[PoGo]

Slice about 1/4" thick and dry until leathery or crisp...however you prefer them.

 

You don't have to use lemon juice or fruit fresh, etc. if you don't want to. The banana's will be fine without it, they just turn kind of brown. The juice is to keep the nice pale yellow color.

[Tracie]

Leathery is okay? I have five trays that I dried and dried and dried and can't seem to get crisp. I was goign to throw them out tonight, figuring they're no good anymore

[Tracie]

Here's what I did. I mixed some lemon juice into water in a bowl (amounts were in teh book the dehydrator came with). I would slice a couple of bananas into the water, then lay them out on the trays.

 

It said it would be 6-8 hours.

 

At 8 hours, I turned the heat down because I was going to bed. In the morning they *still* were only leathery, not crisp. I had to turn of the dehydrator to go to work. I dehydrated them for another 4 hours or so after I got home from work and gave up. They never did crisp. I'm not sure they're any good, actually.

[Peg]

Thank you all so much.

[PureCajunSunshine]

Wait, there's more:

 

Bananas

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthr...0&Words=bananas

 

 

Dehydrating bananas -- question

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthr...6&Words=bananas

 

 

 

[PureCajunSunshine]

If you'd like to try dusting banana and other fruit slices with sugar, and maybe a little cinnamon powder, try using a "superfine" grade of sugar powder, instead of regular table-grade granulated sugar.

 

Sprinkle it lightly onto sliced or pureed fruit before dehydrating them.

 

That way you don't have that deliciousfinemess of drippy, messy, yummy melted sugar all over everything. Plus a drier product will last longer in storage.

 

The superfine grade is is just as sweet as regular sugar, but it looks sort of like a cross between regular table sugar grade and powdered sugar. I got mine in a 1 lb box (C&H brand) for about a buck. Works like a charm! The apple slices dried COMPLETELY through and the light dusting of superfine sugar crystals did not melt all over creation. Because it dries so well and is not sticky or gummy, it should be excellent for storage!

 

The trick is not to supercoat the goods with the sugar. A light dust is perfect.

 

 

 

 

[Tracie]

PCS - You rock!! Thank you!

[Crazy4Canning]

Tracie,

 

Your home-dried fruit like bananas is never going to be crisp like the banana chips the store sells. This is because the store-bought ones are actually DEEP FRIED, then sprinkled with some sort of flavoring or sugar until they look nothing like the real thing....the home-dried chewy banana chips are supposed to be leathery - they're great. I dip mine in lemon juice to keep the color light, but many don't do it. My DH LOVED some dipped in no-sugar strawberry jello.

[JCK88]

I dehydrated bananas for the first time in the convection oven yesterday and the book that came with the stove said it would take 24 hours. I checked this morning and they aren't quite done...but they are also a bit leathery, but tastes great. I don't care if they are hard rock like the store ones...I like them leathery! I did the lemon juice dip--but the cinnamon sugar coating sounds good! Thanks for posting this thread, folks!

[Tracie]

Thanks C4C!