How to make dried bananas at home. Dried bananas, composition, benefits and harms of dried bananas

Due to their geographic location, bananas do not grow on the territory of the former CIS (they prefer to grow closer to the equator), so they have to be purchased in all sorts of "friendly countries" like African and South American republics.

In the USSR, there were three types of bananas: green, dried and ... rag - so they called fashionable pants, wide at the hips and narrow at the ankles. Bananas were sold for 1 rub. 10 kopecks, then they began to cost 2 rubles.

Dried bananas. The benefits and harms of a popular delicacy from childhood

Surely, among the current young generation there are many people who have never tried dried bananas in their lives. But those whose childhood and youth were spent in the Soviet Union know firsthand about such a delicacy. In those years, dried bananas were often easier to buy than fresh ones. And in the absence of other delicacies, this type of dried fruit occupied a special place in the hearts of lovers of all kinds of goodies.

Today, dried bananas can be bought in almost any store, they lie freely on the shelves. Now they are not as popular as they used to be. But this does not make them any less useful and tasty. Sometimes eating dried bananas is definitely worth it. Let's figure out what dried bananas are, how they are prepared, and what are their useful and harmful properties.

How dried bananas are made

dried bananas(sometimes called banana figs) are made without the use of any chemicals. The whole process consists of three stages:

1. First, bananas are peeled.
2. Then they are dried for several days in special greenhouses with low humidity.
3. In the end, bananas are packaged in bags, the air is pumped out of them and sealed.

The moisture content of dried bananas is only about 18%. Shelf life - at least one year. An opened pack should be stored in the refrigerator and it is best to try to eat it a few weeks in advance.

Why are dried bananas so small

Once, as a child, the guys in the yard told me that dried ones are made from ordinary large fresh bananas. With bulging eyes, they added that the fruits shrink so much in size due to the evaporation of water. There is, of course, little truth in this story. Yes, indeed, when dried, bananas significantly decrease in size, but certainly not several times.

Indeed, large companies make dried bananas from special small varieties fruits. Now they can often be found on the shelves of Russian stores. So, initially they are slightly larger than later in the dried state. This is clearly seen in the video below.

Technology for the production of dried bananas. Video

The benefits and harms of dried bananas

Let's start with useful properties dried bananas. This product has many more than possible contraindications and potential harm

• Content of vitamins and minerals dried bananas are no less than fresh ones. They contain vitamins C, A, PP, E, K, group B, as well as phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, fluorine, zinc, selenium, manganese, sodium, saturated acids and organic acids.
• Like fresh bananas, their dried counterparts are excellent source potassium which is essential for normal functioning of cardio-vascular system good for skin and hair.
• dried bananas apply even in medicinal purposes : in the treatment of anemia, constipation and hemorrhoids, stomach ulcers and gastritis. This product promotes the removal of salts and fluids from the body, and also helps to cope with high fatigue.
• It is best to eat dried bananas for breakfast or an afternoon snack. This product is excellent natural supplement for porridge, yogurt, cottage cheese, muesli. It can be welded delicious compote or, cutting into small pieces, add to baking, but still it is better to use dried bananas in their natural form and do not process when high temperature. So the body will get much more benefit from them.

Needless to say, dried bananas as a snack are much more healthier and more natural than popular chocolate bars, pies and other fast food. By their own nutritional properties, content useful substances and price, they are able to give odds to any popular fast food.

With all this, dried bananas have some contraindications for use. Neglecting them can lead to the fact that this product will turn from useful to harmful:

• A significant disadvantage of dried bananas is high calorie content . It is 5 times higher than fresh fruit. There are about 350-400 kcal per 100 grams of this product. At the same time, the content of proteins is 6%, fats - 5%, carbohydrates - 88%. It is carefully recommended to use this type of product for overweight people, as well as those suffering from dyspepsia and flatulence. Suffering diabetes dried bananas can also be harmful, they can be consumed only with the permission of the attending physician.
• Bananas can increase blood viscosity. They should be used with caution by people who have recently had a heart attack or stroke, as well as those suffering from thrombophlebitis.

How to make dried bananas at home

With inexpensive dried bananas available in almost any fruit and vegetable store or department, it is quite difficult for me to imagine why it would be necessary to dry these tropical fruits at home. Unless, the number of fruits in the house was not calculated and they bought too much. To prevent bananas from spoiling, they can really be dried. Semi-green and unsweetened fruits can also be dried. During heat treatment taste properties unripe bananas are greatly improved.

Stages home drying bananas:

1. First you need to peel the fruit and cut into circles 3-4 centimeters thick.
2. Then put them on a baking sheet (non-stick or lined with baking paper).
3. Pierce each piece with a fork.
4. And then dry in the oven for about 4-4.5 hours at a temperature of 40-60 degrees.

Door oven during cooking should be ajar so that the bananas do not begin to bake. Periodically, the pieces need to be turned over.

In many countries of the world, bananas are the basis of the diet. For example, in Burundi, the annual consumption of this fruit per capita is 189 kilograms, in Samoa - 85, in the Camoros - about 78 kg, in Ecuador - almost 74, in the Philippines - over 40 kg. For comparison, in Russia this figure is just over 7 kg.

Bananas, like apples, are not a hard-to-find delicacy. You can buy them in any grocery store regardless of seasonality. But why then "bother" and engage in their drying? Yes, just dried bananas are delicious and healthy snack, which can be prepared for future use to pamper children with it or feast on it yourself.

Bananas of any size and variety are suitable for drying, the main thing is that they are ripe, and their peel is yellow and without any defects in the form dark spots and others.

The whole process of preliminary preparation of fruits is not complicated and includes the following steps:

1. Washing fruits. Although the peel will be removed during the cooking process, bananas must be washed with it in warm water and dry.
2. Slicing. Bananas can be dried whole, but most recipes call for chopping them first. The slices should be the same for uniform drying. You can often find advice that for uniform cutting, it is better to chop the fruits along with the peel, and only then remove it.
3. Soaking in an acidic solution. To prevent the attractive appearance of fruit slices from evaporating with moisture, they are soaked for 30 seconds in a solution of 100 ml of lemon juice and 200 ml of water. Then the moisture from the fruits is allowed to drain in a colander, after which they are dried.

During drying fresh fruits lose about a fifth of the water that they contain, so the calorie content dried bananas is (already!) 345 kcal / 100 g versus 89 kcal per 100 g of fresh tropical fruits.

Dried bananas in the oven

Not every housewife has at her disposal a special electric dryer for vegetables and fruits, but in every kitchen there is an oven in which you can easily cook healthy and crispy banana chips.

A set of ingredients that will be needed in the cooking process:

• 2 - 3 large bananas;
• 10 - 20 g of powdered sugar;
• cinnamon to taste

Step by step cooking algorithm:

1. Tropical fruits are peeled and chopped diagonally with oval plates of 3 - 5 mm.
2. Cover the oven rack with parchment. For better air circulation, baking paper can often be pierced with a thick needle.
3. Arrange the banana slices on the prepared grill at a small distance from each other.
4. Mix some cinnamon with powdered sugar and sprinkle the chopped banana with this mixture through a strainer. Sugar will help draw moisture out of the fruit faster.
5. Put the grill with banana slices in an oven preheated to 50-70 degrees and dry for 2-3 hours, leaving the door ajar. If the device has a convection function, then the banana dryer will be ready earlier.

Cooking in an electric dryer

Dedicated dryer helps to recycle in one go a large number of fresh fruit, so you can cook sun-dried or dried bananas in it much faster and with less energy.

To fully boot the device, you will need:

• 2 - 7 kg of fresh bananas;
• powdered sugar to taste.

Sequence of actions:

1. Chop the bananas into round slices and arrange on the pallets of the electric dryer so that they do not touch each other. Otherwise, the slices may stick together into an unappetizing shapeless mass. If desired, sprinkle bananas on top with powdered sugar.
2. Place fruit trays on the dryer, close the lid and set the temperature to 65 degrees. The duration of dehydration will be 10-14 hours depending on the desired result.

During the drying process, the trays can be rearranged in places for more uniform evaporation of moisture.

Whole banana recipe

The taste of dried bananas is affected not only by the amount of evaporated moisture, but also by the way the fruit is cut. Slices cut along the fibers dry faster, and slices across the grain take a little longer, ultimately acquiring a rich, sour-sweet taste. And the fruits, dried whole, resemble marshmallows in texture.

It is from them that a delicious dessert dried bananas in chocolate is prepared, for which you need:

• 10 - 12 bananas;
• 200 g chocolate (white or black);
• 100 g peanut butter;
• 100 g crushed nuts (forest, peanuts or hazelnuts).

Progress:

1. Cut large peeled bananas across into 2-3 pieces, cook small ("children's") fruits whole.
2. Then lay them out on a grid and dry in an oven or electric dryer at 60 - 65 degrees for 10 - 12 hours.
3. Melt chocolate to liquid state any accessible way. Peanut butter warm it up a little in the microwave to make it more fluid.
4. Stick dried bananas on bamboo sticks like cake pops. Then one by one dip them first in nut butter, then - in melted chocolate and finally roll in nut crumbs. Remove quickly to the freezer.

After the chocolate has hardened, the dessert can be served. Bananas inside are as elastic as before the nut-chocolate baths.

in the microwave

IN microwave oven banana chips can be prepared in just five minutes. This is much faster than in the oven or dryer, but the drying process will require literally every minute participation of the hostess. Ready-made delicacy can be sprinkled with a mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

For one serving of crispy banana dessert you will need:

• 2 bananas;
• 5 ml refined vegetable oil without smell.

How to make dried bananas in the microwave:

1. We prepare fruits in the same way previous recipes and then neat banana slices Spread evenly on a greased microwaveable plate.
2. We put the plate in the microwave oven and turn on the device for 1 minute at a power of 750 watts. After the beep, we take out the plate, turn the slices over and cook again for 1 minute. So repeat a total of five times.
3. Practically ready bananas transfer from a plate to a wire rack and leave them overnight so that they dry a little more when room temperature. Then sprinkle them with cocoa powder and you can eat.

How to dry bananas in the sun

This method of fruit drying has several advantages: it does not require the purchase of an expensive dryer, and electricity costs are zero. However, it is available in our latitudes only during the hot season. But if in intense heat there was a knitting of bananas at hand, why not make a delicious exotic drying out of them?

For her you will need:

• 1000 - 1500 g bananas;
• 200 g of honey;
• 200 g of sugar;
• 600 ml of water.

Cooking dried bananas in the sun as follows:

1. Prepare a honey solution that will prevent the fruit from turning brown during the dehydration process. For him in hot water you just need to dissolve the sugar and honey.
2. Soak bananas cut into thin slices for five minutes in syrup, then drain the excess liquid on a sieve or wire rack.
3. Line a tray for drying fruits with parchment, spread prepared bananas on it. Tighten the tray with gauze from above so that insects do not sit on the fruit, and install glass to enhance the effect sun rays but leaving a gap for air circulation.
4. Dry bananas outdoors for two to four days, depending on solar activity. At night, it is better to clean the pallet indoors so that an unexpected night rain does not spoil all the work. The readiness of drying will be indicated by a white sugar crust on the surface of the slices.

Storage of the finished product

Dried bananas are a product requiring special conditions storage.

Store them in airtight glass or plastic containers in a dark place (such as a closet) at room temperature in well-ventilated areas.

Such storage will not allow the product to become damp and absorb foreign odors. If the bananas are not dried to the state of chips, but remain a little soft and slightly sticky, then so that they do not stick together during storage, they should be sprinkled with powdered sugar or fine sugar.

Depending on the degree of dehydration, bananas can be stored from one month to a year. If the dried slices are soft, but no moisture is released when they are bent, then such fruits can be stored for several months. If, when trying to bend a dried banana piece, it breaks with a characteristic crunch, then even after a year it will not lose its palatability.

An interesting dish - dried bananas will delight supporters healthy eating and all lovers of sweets, which can be very difficult to combine. special way cooking helps to preserve all the vitamins and nutrients in exotic fruits.

Few people know exactly how the drying process differs from drying, so dried bananas are often called dried bananas and vice versa. The main difference in quality finished product and temperature during dehydration.

Dried fruits contain more moisture and retain all useful substances, they are resilient and elastic, can be stored for a long time, dried at a temperature of no more than 40 degrees. Dried ones are more dehydrated, brittle and not as healthy, the drying temperature does not really matter, it is inversely proportional to the cooking time.

You can dry bananas different ways, you will recognize the two most popular. Become an expert in choosing bananas and learn how to properly store dried fruit.

How to choose and prepare bananas

Suitable for cooking ripe bananas, which have dense white flesh, without signs of spoilage and decay. The rind may have slight black dots. The size of bananas matters for slicing before cooking.

Small Baby bananas can be dried whole, peeled. Large bananas must be cut into 4 parts: once along and once across

Bananas are high in beneficial vitamins and trace elements, including iron, so the peeled pulp darkens in the air. To slow down the oxidation process and save dried fruit light color, they are recommended to be lowered for 30 seconds into a glass cold water mixed with the juice of 1 lemon or 5 grams citric acid. After processing in acidified water, the slices are laid out on a sieve or colander and allowed to dry.

Drying in the sun

Traditional curing has always been done in the sun. This is how they cook even fish and meat products. Interestingly, for drying, the product must be in limbo, in the sun, high from the ground, in a place well ventilated by the wind. You can hang bananas by wrapping them in gauze (each banana separately). Where to hang them depends on your capabilities. If you are a happy owner of a summer cottage, then you can do this on a rope stretched in a summer cottage.

Please note that for successful cooking In this way, certain conditions must be met:

• the rope with fruit should be at a height slightly more than human height, in a well-ventilated place;
• fruits should be hung on the south side, where the sun shines most brightly;
• the weather during drying should be dry and sunny, if rain is planned, the fruit must be removed from the street and hung in the house.

Depending on weather conditions, drying should last from 3 to 14 days, its completion will be indicated by an increase in the density of the fruit and a decrease in its size.

This method is quite laborious and may not be suitable for those who do not have a summer house or a sunny balcony. Modern electric dryers allow you to cook dried bananas in an easier way.

Drying in an electric dryer

Prepared banana slices are laid out on an electric dryer grate. The appliance must have a good fan so that the food does not deteriorate during prolonged cooking.

The temperature in the dryer is set to 45 degrees and the cooking time is about 16 hours.

Ready bananas are laid out on plastic bags and put in the refrigerator. They can be stored for several months if you are willing to endure that much. You can put bananas in clean glass jars with tightly screwed lids, pouring syrup from sugar and water (1 glass of water per 1 kg of sugar), but this will already be more like banana jam.

We wish you happy cooking dried bananas, the benefits of which will help maintain health, and the taste will delight as a dessert or a wonderful addition to porridge and sweet pastries.

Surely, among the current young generation there are many people who have never tried dried bananas in their lives. But those whose childhood and youth were spent in the Soviet Union know firsthand about such a delicacy. In those years dried bananas it was often easier to buy than fresh ones. And in the absence of other delicacies, this type of dried fruit occupied a special place in the hearts of lovers of all kinds of goodies.

Today, dried bananas can be bought in almost any store. They lie freely on the shelves of the vegetable departments. Now they are not as popular as they used to be. But this does not make them any less useful and tasty. Sometimes eating dried bananas is definitely worth it. Let's figure out what dried bananas are, how they are prepared, and what are their useful and harmful properties.

How dried bananas are made

(sometimes called banana figs) are made without the use of any chemicals. The whole process consists of three stages.

1. First, bananas are peeled.
2. Then they are dried for several days in special greenhouses with low humidity.
3. In the end, bananas are packaged in bags, the air is pumped out of them and sealed.

The moisture content of dried bananas is only about 18%. Shelf life - at least one year. An opened pack should be stored in the refrigerator and it is best to try to eat it a few weeks in advance.

Why are dried bananas so small

Once, as a child, the guys in the yard told me that dried ones are made from ordinary large fresh bananas. With bulging eyes, they added that the fruits shrink so much in size due to the evaporation of water. There is, of course, little truth in this story. Yes, indeed, when dried, bananas significantly decrease in size, but certainly not several times.

Indeed, large companies make dried bananas from special small varieties fruits. Now they can often be found on the shelves of Russian stores. So, initially they are slightly larger than later in the dried state. This is clearly seen in the video below.

Technology for the production of dried bananas. Video

The benefits and harms of dried bananas

Let's start with the health benefits of dried bananas. This product has much more of them than possible contraindications and potential harm.

• Content of vitamins and minerals dried bananas are no less than fresh ones. They contain vitamins C, A, PP, E, K, group B, as well as phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, fluorine, zinc, selenium, manganese, sodium, saturated acids and organic acids.
• Like fresh bananas, their dried counterparts are an excellent source of potassium, which is vital for the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system, is good for skin and hair.
even used for medicinal purposes.: in the treatment of anemia, constipation and hemorrhoids, stomach ulcers and gastritis. This product promotes the removal of salts and fluids from the body, and also helps to cope with high fatigue.
• It is best to eat dried bananas for breakfast or an afternoon snack. This product is a great natural supplement for porridge, yogurt, cottage cheese, muesli. You can also cook delicious compote from it or cut it into small pieces and add it to pastries, but it’s still better to use dried bananas in their natural form and not process them at high temperatures. So the body will get much more benefit from them.
• Needless to say, dried bananas as a snack are much more healthier and more natural than popular chocolate bars, pies and other fast food. In terms of their nutritional properties, content of nutrients and price, they are able to give odds to any popular fast food.

With all this, dried bananas have some contraindications for use. Neglecting them can lead to the fact that this product will turn from useful to harmful.

• A significant disadvantage of dried bananas is high calorie content. It is 5 times higher than that of fresh fruits. There are about 350-400 kcal per 100 grams of this product. At the same time, the content of proteins is 6%, fats - 5%, carbohydrates - 88%. It is carefully recommended to use this type of product for overweight people, as well as those suffering from dyspepsia and flatulence. Suffering diabetes dried bananas can be harmful. They can be used only with the permission of the attending physician.
• Bananas can increase blood viscosity. They should be used with caution by people who have recently had a heart attack or stroke, as well as those suffering from thrombophlebitis.

How to make dried bananas at home

With inexpensive dried bananas available in almost any grocery store or department, it's hard for me to imagine why you might need to dry these tropical fruits at home. Unless, the number of fruits in the house was not calculated and they bought too much. To prevent bananas from spoiling, they can really be dried. Semi-green and unsweetened fruits can also be dried. During the heat treatment, the taste properties of unripe bananas are significantly improved.

1. First you need to peel the fruit and cut into circles 3-4 centimeters thick.
2. Then put them on a baking sheet (non-stick or lined with baking paper).
3. Pierce each piece with a fork.
4. And then cook in the oven for about 4-4.5 hours at a temperature of 40-60 degrees.

The oven door must be left open during cooking to prevent the bananas from starting to bake. Periodically, the pieces need to be turned over.

dried bananas these are not completely dried fruits, they are quite soft, but of course not as fresh as fresh ones, but dried bananas can be called chips, as they are dry and crispy.

Dried banana recipe

Required Ingredients : bananas (a couple of kilos, more), water - 200 ml. and 100 ml. freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Cooking process:

• First you need to prepare all the ingredients. Take lemons and squeeze 100 ml out of them. juice. Dilute the juice with water, 100 ml. juice, you need 200 ml. water. This mixture is needed more to improve appearance dishes than for its taste, thanks to such a mixture, bananas will not turn black, their appearance will be quite appetizing and attractive.

dried banana recipe

You can cook them in three ways, just like dried ones, either in the oven or in electric dryer or in the sun.

We will consider the first option - cooking dried bananas in the oven, as this is a more affordable way for everyone.

We need about 8 pieces of ripe, large bananas, lemon juice, about 100 ml. and water - 200 ml. Lemon juice can be replaced with 1 tsp. citric acid.

Cooking process:

1. Drying bananas is similar to making dried ones. We will need to prepare a solution of lemon water by mixing lemon juice and water. In this mixture we will dip bananas.
2. Bananas need to be peeled and cut into thin (about 3-5 ml.) Circles.
3. As already mentioned, before drying, we dip bananas in lemon water for about a minute.
4. We cover the grate with baking paper, which can be pierced with a toothpick for greater air ventilation. We lay out banana circles on it, leave a small space between them so that they do not stick together.
5. In the oven, set the minimum temperature, or open the door. Thus, bananas will be ready in about 10 hours.

banana juice recipe

Bananas are not juicy fruits, so nothing can be squeezed out of them. Juice is made from the pulp of bananas with the addition of other juices or water, sometimes milk is added.

To prepare juice, we take about 200 ml. water / juice / milk for 1 banana, you can also add a little sugar or syrup. We load all this into a blender and beat until the state of juice, you can adjust the density yourself by gradually adding water. Great for banana juice Apple juice and also birch.

By the way, at home, you can quit smoking on your own. .