Banana Tips and Tricks

First, know that home dehydrated bananas will not turn out like the store-bought ones. The commercially prepared ones are sulfured.

There are several ways to prepare your bananas. Usually they need to be treated with lemon juice or ascorbic acid (Fruit Fresh) to keep them from turning brown. This is purely aesthetic and does not affect the taste in any way.

I’ve tried several ways of treating them, but the easiest is with a pump bottle. 

Get a bottle of lemon juice, any brand will do. Remove the cap and replace it with a pump bottle sprayer. You will use the lemon spray on all fruits to keep them from turning brown. The mist is so fine, that it will not affect the taste at all.  

Little Round Pieces:

• Cut your pieces fairly thin, not paper thin. Only cut a few at a time. With practice, you can get them onto your open palm. They should be spread out, not overlapping.                        
• When your hand is full, lightly mist them, then flip the whole handful upside onto the dehydrator tray.  
• Shift them around so there is a little space between each one. Repeat the process until the tray is full.
• When your tray is full, lightly mist the tops... you already did the side that is on the bottom. dry on a low temp.  

Long slices:

·         You can also cut them lengthwise. I usually cut the bananas in half. follow the same procedure for lemon spray. These make a nice baby snack because there is enough for little fingers to grasp. Also a tasty treat when dipped in chocolate sauce.  

Puree:

·         You can put them through your blender or puree machine and make a puree for fruit leather.

·         I like to just stir in a little lemon juice.

·         Before putting them on the fruit leather tray, be sure to spray it with some non-stick stuff, preferably the unflavored kind.

·         One of my favorite ways of doing the puree is to mix them with apple sauce about half and half, or to your taste.  

·         You can let your imagination and taste go wild here. I sometimes add coconut, finely chopped nuts, other fruit... cinnamon...

·         I take a portion scooper or use a measuring cup and make 1/4 to 1/2 cup blobs. Make sure there is space between them and spread it around a little so they are about even thickness. These dry into wafers. The advantage of them is that you know exactly how much is in a portion.