I’m excited to have a tropical homesteader visiting the blog today– Kris Bordessa of Attainable Sustainable. I’ll have to give this idea a whirl with my store-bought bananas, since growing them on our Wyoming homestead is pretty much out. 😉
Here on the Island of Hawaii, we’re fortunate to be able to grow our own bananas.
I know, right??
But no matter how many bananas my guys can Hoover, it’s still difficult to work our way through a 50-pound bunch* before they get overripe. None of us really care for crunchy banana chips, so I started making this chewy version. We love ’em. In fact, when my son was away at college, they were the one thing he always asked us to send.
I’m delighted to share my technique for dehydrating bananas with you all today. This method yields tangy, chewy bananas–our favorite!
*What you likely call a “bunch” of bananas is what we refer to as a “hand.” A bunch is the entire stem of bananas that grows on one plant.
How to Dehydrate Bananas
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- 2 hands of bananas
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- A dehydrator (any model will work, but this one is considered the Cadillac of dehydrators!)
Depending on the size of your dehydrator, the amount you can dry will vary. Double (or triple) the ingredients as necessary. (I can fit six or seven hands of bananas in my 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator, so I use about a cup and a half of lemon juice.)
Get started by pouring the lemon juice into a shallow casserole pan. Peel all of the bananas and put them in a big bowl. Using a serrated knife, slice bananas lengthwise. (I find it works well to slice each banana into five equal pieces, but you should aim for an 1/8″ thickness or so.) Place slices into the lemon juice as you work. This prevents them from turning that unappetizing shade of brown.
Once you’re done slicing, or as the lemon juice container threatens to overflow with sliced bananas, fill your dehydrator trays, placing the bananas close together but not touching.
Turn the dehydrator on to 135 degrees and go about your day. Check the bananas after about six hours; it typically takes mine six to eight hours, but this varies depending upon the thickness of the banana slices.
A perfectly dehydrated banana slice is leathery and dry, but might be slightly sticky to the touch. If the bananas tear easily as you remove them from the tray, they’re probably not quite done. Slices that feel at all “fleshy” or soft should go back in for awhile longer. Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy your dehydrated bananas whenever you need a healthy snack on the go!
Kris Bordessa swapped prolific crops like tomatoes and zucchini for papaya, pineapple, and bananas when she moved to the Island of Hawaii with her family in 2005. When she’s not wrangling chickens or fighting pickleworms, she writes about self-reliant living at Attainable Sustainable. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter, too. All photos by Evan Bordessa.
I’ve done bananas before but never cut them this way.
Also, it’s kind of funny that this is a post about bananas and there is an ad popping up saying bananas are 1 of 5 foods to never eat. Haha!
Oh dear— I don’t have a lot of control over the ads unfortunately… that’s pretty poor placement tho, ha! 🙂
Thank you so much for this! Now I know what I have been doing wrong before. I was just slicing them and placing them in the dehydrator. They came out a yucky brown color. Duh. 🙂
We really like the lengthwise cut so much better. (And don’t tell my kids about that ad!)
What do you mean by lengthwise cut the picture shows that they are cut normally?
I just dehydrated apples over the weekend. To which my husband replied, “You know what is really good?” As it turns out his ‘favorite’ dried fruit is bananas. So this will be my next adventure in dehydrating:) Thanks!!!
Ah-ha! Perfect timing!
Have you ever tried to make banana powder? I pureed my bananas, dried them for 24 hours at 135. Put it through the coffee grinder, our it was sticky. So I but then back in the dehydrater. Been in all day but it’s all clumpy and sticky, kind of like brown sugar. Is that the best it’s gonna get it I want banana powder? Do you know?
Why do you want banana powder and what do you use for? I dehydrate the banana peels and grind them for my plants and I do the same with my egg shells. Thanks.
I want to know if anyone has recipes for using dehydrated bananas besides just using them as a snack. I am hoping for a recipe to use them to make banana bread or something else. They take up space in the freezer until time to use them and dehydrating takes less space to store them. I would appreciate any and all recipes using dehydrated bananas. Thank you! cindylhoff@yahoo.com
This looks yummy! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/memphis-banana-bites-recipe.html
Yes, I found this link. http://www.thriftyfun.com/Recipes-Using-Dried-Bananas.html
Can this be done with a low temperature in the oven if I don’t have a dehydrator?
You asked about using an oven; however, most if not all oven cannot be set at 135 degrees. Mine will not set below 180. Guess we will have to buy a dehydrator! Good luck!!!
Wouldn’t the lemon juice change the flavor profile of the bananas? I don’t want my bananas tasting lemony.
Say wha?
if your afraid of a tangy banana try using a vitamin c tablet I use 500’s it worked great for me. one pill crushed and then put in a quart jar shake till mixed. bananas are pretty and not tangy.
Yes, I’ve used my oven for dehydrating. Get an oven thermometer and check to see if your oven will set down to 135 degrees. I can get close to that with my “warm” setting. Then, put your goods in on some sort of rack/tray. Use a ball of tinfoil to hold the oven door open just a touch so that moisture can exit the oven.
It might be tricky with an oven, since they usually don’t have a low enough setting and might “bake” them instead. However, you could definitely do a test batch!
Thank you for that tip. Happy New Year to all of you good folks on the Prairie Homestead. A special thank you to Jill and looking forward for more good stuff.
Does the lemon juice alter the flavor? If I don’t care about them being brownish, can I skip it?
I wondered that, too, but I don’t think it does. I have done bananas several times and love them.
glad someone else cuts the bananas this longway they are good
I got a galanz oven with air fry and dehydrate options. But dehydrate setting is only 150 degrees. No option to adjust or set to 135 degrees.
hey Jill,
I love all the things you do . I feel i am a homesteader because i love to can , I love to cook and make things home made like bread which that is how i found you by looking for the Ezekiel bread i had that original recipe lent it to a friend and never got it back. so i love all that you do . i would love to get some land and some sheep because i love to work with the raw wool , i would love to shear my own sheep, iwould love to have chickens. i have grown my own ginger and will try my hand at garlic i know its easy i have grown my own avacado tree from seed and a papaya tree also i have made my own ricotta cheese and morzerlla spelt it wrong. my problem is i am going on 71 and healthy praise the Lord but trying to sell our house so i can hopefully talk my husband into a small farm we have raised our grandchildren and they are such a Blessing grew up to be such wonderfull young adults they still live with us. Jill you are a blessing to this generation keep it up i love it you do not see this in these days i live in florida so farming can be a challenge.
Wow Suzanne, you are amazing! And an inspiration, too. Keep up the amazing work!
The book that came with my dehydrator said to use either a watered down honey solution or lemon juice. I chose honey. my banana chips are now permanently cemented to the dehydrator rack :/ If i use lemon will i not have this problem again? I’m apprehensive now to try this again. 🙁
Yikes– I don’t believe lemon juice should cause that problem.
I spray lemon juice on the slices and I still have to peel them off the rack
What I do is spray a bunch of lemon juice on a cookie sheet and place the bananas on it, spray more lemon juice on top, and then transfer them to the drying racks. I still have to peel mine off, but it doesn’t leave much behind at all. Maybe a few spots? Since I got my mandolin slicer, they are all sliced pretty uniform and are all done at the same time, so I don’t really have a lot of pieces that will be dryer than others. Before I had this, I did get a bunch and everything was stuck on. I have not tried honey, but thanks for commenting that it probably doesn’t work.
I tried throwing the bananas in a bowl and spraying lemon juice on them, then stirring a bit, but I didn’t have much luck and mine all turned brown and nasty. Granted, it was my first attempt. Using the cookie sheets, though, is wonderful. They are nice and yellow.
After dehydration, how are the banana chips best stored? How long will they stay fresh?
Thanks so much!
How can you dry them without the bananas sticking to the rack in the dehydrator?
Hello,
They will stick if it’s not fully dried. When they are dry, they come right off. There is often some residue. I just soak my racks overnight in some hot soapy water.
i like bananas and think james harden is the worst basketball player ever
yeet bannanas taste bad
Wouldn’t the lemon juice change the flavor profile of the bananas? I don’t want my bananas tasting lemony.
Several years later here but hope to get clarification. You say slice the banana into 5 equal pieces, but then you say 1/8 of an inch? I’m not sure if you’re going for big chunks or thin slices…
It also says to cut them the long way.
What variety of banana do you use?And is it ripe or over ripe?
Kinda think Jill didn’t actually make these. If so why are the photos with the article from a free photo site that clearly show deep fried bananas?
My bananas are chewy not crunchy after over a day in the dehydrater using this recipe.. what did I do wrong?
I made some bananas yesterday, and followed the process with the lemon juice. I tasted a “chip” today and it tasted bitter. Can I use orange or pineapple juice instead?
thank you theprairiehomestead for giving me wonderful information
Mine are still a little chewy even after 36 hours. I think I’ll take them out in a little bit regardless.
I tossed them in a bowl of lemon juice and put in old circular dehydrator. I have no idea what the temp is. Maybe it’s taking longer because it doesn’t get to 135 degrees. I know you’re suppose to set one on the counter and wait 30 minutes to test it. Still slightly chewy after the 30 minutes. The flavor is really good. They were sticking to the tray when I tried to peel them off. I literally had to peel them off. I did the peeling off after 18 hours and left them on the tray thinking they would dry better if they were able to shrink and weren’t so stuck to the tray.
Colette,
I used to have an “old circular dehydrator” also and my suspicion is that your elements are suffering from old age. With mine everything took 3-4x longer than the directions said it should. Once I upgraded my dehydrator I don’t have any problems. I hope that helps some!
I’ve had many dehydrators over the years, including the Excalibur. To it’s credit, the only thing that went wrong with the Excalibur was the thermister went out. Easy fix for DIY types with a little electrical background.
These things aside, for about the same money, the Cabelas 80 liter, digital dehydrator makes the Excalibur looks like a toy, up against it.
I had 160 liter unit, but that went with the ex. Now it’s just me and my new wife, so the 80 liter unit is fine, even here in farm-orchard country.
The cost of the two is so close there is no reason to look at the Excalibur.
Those are absolutely amazing for long hikes or camps, so easy to snack on those while moving! Throw in some bananas and mix of nuts/dried fruit and call it a day!