How to Dehydrate Bananas

Dried banana chips, cooled and ready to be stored in an air-tight jar

We were blessed with five kilos of bananas this week. That's a lot of bananas!

I kept some in the fruit bowl to eat, put some in the freezer to use for banana cake, banana bread, banana muffins, banana smoothies - you get the general idea.

And the rest I sliced, soaked in a citric acid bath and then put them in the dehydrator to make banana chips to add to the stockpile.

Drying, or dehydrating is the technical term, is a great way to preserve excess produce for long-term food storage. And it's easy to do too. It can be done in most kitchens, you don't even need any special equipment, although a dehydrator does leave your oven free for other things.

The hard part is waiting till their ready to try them.

Make a solution of 1 teaspoon of citric acid dissolved in 3 litres of cold water. This will stop the banana from going brown.

Cut your bananas into chips. Aim for even slices, not too thick, not too thin - I like them about 6mm (1/4 inch) thick. You can also slice them lengthwise too if you want longer "chips".

I've been told that if you chill the bananas for 30 minutes before you slice them they're easier to slice. I haven't tried chilling them, I just slice each one and put it straight into the citric acid bath.

Once you've sliced all your bananas, put them in the citric acid bath. Let them soak for at least 10 minutes. Drain.

Banana slices soaking in citric acid bath - this helps stop them going brown during the drying process

Dehydrator method:

Lay the banana chips on the trays of your dehydrator, making sure they're not touching.

Turn your dehydrator to 55 degrees Celsius.

Dry the bananas for 6 - 12 hours, rotating trays every two hours to ensure even drying.

On the trays in the dehydrator ready for 12 hours of drying!

Oven method:

Turn the oven to 60 degrees Celsius.

Lay the banana slices on a baking sheet, leaving space between them for the air to circulate.

Place the trays in the oven. Prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon.

Bake for 6 - 12 hours, rotating trays every two hours.

Once your banana chips are dry, turn the heat off.  Let them cool completely before packing in jars to store.