I thought i was making banana chips

[PunkinPeep]

but what i have here is more like banana leather.

I sliced up four bananas and put them in my dehydrator (not heated), and left them for roughly 2 twelve hour days.

What am i missing please? Should i leave them there? Are they going to turn into chips?

 

[keljonma]

I'm not going to be much help, PunkinPeep. But here is my

They should be crisp. Also, they should be sliced into 1/8 inch pieces. According to my dehydrator manual (old one with no fan) it should take about 1 1/2 days for banana slices to become crisp. I think if the humid is high, it takes them longer to crisp.

My last bunch were kind of leathery too. I jarred up the leathery ones I made. My dh thinks they are best if added to hot cereal, because they are **really** chewy!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Years ago when I first got my dehyrdrator, I wanted to make banana chips--and got ther same results as you. If you are looking for ones like the ones in the store--you won't be able to make them unless you treat them with icky stuff.

Running short on time this morning--I'll look deeper for the info later on if no one els pitched in.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm not going to be much help, PunkinPeep. But here is my http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-forum/2c.gif

They should be crisp. Also, they should be sliced into 1/8 inch pieces. According to my dehydrator manual (old one with no fan) it should take about 1 1/2 days for banana slices to become crisp. I think if the humid is high, it takes them longer to crisp.

My last bunch were kind of leathery too. I jarred up the leathery ones I made. My dh thinks they are best if added to hot cereal, because they are **really** chewy!

O.k. thanks. I guess i will leave them on for another day and a half or so and see what happens. This is east Texas, so it's ALWAYS humid. I'm really hoping for crisp.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Years ago when I first got my dehyrdrator, I wanted to make banana chips--and got ther same results as you. If you are looking for ones like the ones in the store--you won't be able to make them unless you treat them with icky stuff.

Running short on time this morning--I'll look deeper for the info later on if no one els pitched in.

well, no icky stuff, so shall i go for crisp-ish? haha

 

[sufficientforme]

I have "How to dry food" By Deanna Delong and she states that commercially dried bananas are flavored and fried to get that super crispness, not treated with chemical (so they say) No pretreatment is needed according to the book and they should dry at 150* in about 2 hours. And she recommends only using ripe but still very firm bananas.
The book states you can dip in lemon juice or lemon juice and honey and be rolled in nuts, seeds, coconut before drying also. The book states they do not do well trying to dry in the sun they ferment first, and take longer to dry in humid weather. Hope that helps, I am just getting into dehydrating and had to buy a book I was lost.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I have "How to dry food" By Deanna Delong and she states that commercially dried bananas are flavored and fried to get that super crispness, not treated with chemical (so they say) No pretreatment is needed according to the book and they should dry at 150* in about 2 hours. And she recommends only using ripe but still very firm bananas.
The book states you can dip in lemon juice or lemon juice and honey and be rolled in nuts, seeds, coconut before drying also. The book states they do not do well trying to dry in the sun they ferment first, and take longer to dry in humid weather. Hope that helps, I am just getting into dehydrating and had to buy a book I was lost.

Good info. Does she expound on the frying thing?
So, they need heat to do the crisp thing. So i guess i should've used the oven? Does she say that would work? Or does it need to be a heated dehydrator?

All that business about rolling in honey and nuts sound wonderful!

 

[keljonma]

This is east Texas, so it's ALWAYS humid. I'm really hoping for crisp.

My son in law's family is from Buna/Jasper area. DD, SIL & the grands are in Grapeland.

 

[2dream]

The ones in the store are fried from what I can find. Leather bananas is the best I have ever gotten from my dehydrater too.

 

[ducks4you]

What about frying them in vegetable shortening? Maybe someone else has a thought? I have heard that the commercial chips are coated with sugar, too. But I THINK we all wouldn't care about how sweet they are, as long as the texture is right. I am VERY interested in this, because my 5 stack dehydrator is gathering dust in my basement counter cabinet. If we could figure out how to do this right, I know I'D make 'em!!