Dehydrated Bananas

I was super excited to try making banana chips at home. I just knew that my kids would love them, because I can remember how much I liked them when I was a kid. Crunchy and sweet, surely the made at home variety would be just as good, if not better. Ha! 

The bananas seen above are now dehydrated and stored inside a single quart size mason jar. It is less than 3/4 full. It is amazing to me that dehydrated foods require so little storage space. After storing jams and jellies and other canned goods for years, dehydration is a completely new way of thinking.

So, here's the deal with dehydrated bananas. Little did I know that the banana chips purchased at a store are not dehydrated at all! I have bought unsweetened banana chips in the past and assumed that meant they were extra healthy. I was wrong.

Banana chips are typically fried in coconut oil. I spent a few minutes at our local produce store yesterday checking the labels on a couple of different banana chips. I discovered that there are a few other ingredients hiding in there as well.

See these slices? These were accomplished using a good old fashioned knife. Don't be fooled by that silly looking yellow tool in the top picture. That was about as useful for cutting bananas as a hair comb might have been. Luckily, it came with my dehydrator and at least I didn't pay anything for it.

Dehydrated banana chips are not nearly as crunchy or sweet as the chips purchased in a store. They also had a very intense banana flavor. It was way too much for me. Since only one of my boys liked them, I doubt I'll go to the trouble of making these again. Unless that is, they surprise me and work out well in smoothies. If they do, it would be awesome to always have bananas waiting in the cupboard for those days when we are out of fresh ones.