Concentated Banana Goodness

Yesterday at the store they had some bananas for fifty cents a bunch.  A bunch jumped into my bag.

My default need-to-eat banana recipe is bread or muffins, but when I got home I realized that it was really too hot to turn on the oven.  I started thinking creatively, and wondered if it was possible to dry the fruit for later.  A quick Google search revealed that not only was it possible, it was easy.

I started out by weighing the bananas to see what I had... a little over 3 1/2 pounds of gooness:

After I peeled and sliced the fruit, I tossed it with lemon juice and arranged the slices on dehydrator trays,

then started up the dehydrator and waited.

The process took longer than I anticipated.  At bed time the bananas were still moist.  Before I turned in I lowered the dehydrator thermostat as far as it would go (so the slices wouldn't finish in the middle of the night).  This morning things were still dampish, so I turned the thermostat back up.  Two hours later I had this:

These slices are chewier than banana chips (which are actually fried) and have an intense banana flavor.  I put them in a container in the pantry, but since I've already gotten into it several times I suspect it won't take long before the bananas are gone.

Five years ago today: The Same, But Different