By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC
I love, love, love dehydrated bananas and when I saw them a few days ago selling for $19.99 a pound, I decided to dehydrate a few. All you need are some bananas and a dehydrator. My 90-year-old Dad has been growing bananas almost year-round at my parents’ home in Cocoa Beach, Florida, so I thought you’d enjoy seeing some home-grown bananas.
A few of my Dad’s bananas. He literally grows hundreds at a time. My parents dehydrate or freeze them for snacks or smoothies. Also, it’s interesting that my Dad learned how to grow the bananas from “Google”!
Simple Steps to Dehydrate Bananas
- Cut the bananas into about 1/8 inch slices.
- Mindfully place the sliced bananas onto the flat dehydrating trays.
- Set your dehydrator at 135 degrees F and 6 hours of dehydrating.
- Slide the dehydrating trays into the dehydrator.
- Turn the bananas over after 6 hours.
- Dehydrate another 2-4 hours, checking for crispness every hour.
- These bananas took 10 hours to dehydrate.
- Mindfully enjoy eating the dehydrated bananas, which become very sweet and caramelized tasting.
EXCERPT from A New View of Healthy Eating
How to Shop for a High-Quality Dehydrator
A dehydrator, sometimes referred to as a “raw oven,” is an essential tool for the raw kitchen. When shopping for a dehydrator, look for one with the heating unit in the back, as it creates a constant circulation of air in the box, which allows for the evaporation of moisture from the food. Through the removal of moisture, the foods are properly preserved without spoilage and harmful bacterial growth. Excalibur and Sedona are two popular brands. Teflex sheets (or parchment paper) are used to dehydrate foods, such as fruit or vegetables, with higher moisture content.
If you are new to dehydrating you may want to try a less expensive dehydrator to get started. Keep in mind that round dehydrators with fans on the top or bottom do not dry food as evenly and require manual shifting of the trays to optimize drying consistency.
Have fun dehydrating and share your goodies with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating