Thread: Keeping cut bananas fresh

DanS. added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
8/3/2010 in writing
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a fresh
> fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I seem to
> recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice - 8am and the
> picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng just
> before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my bananas for me
> as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure dipping
> in lemon juice will work.

Perhaps I could freeze them and have them mixed in just before serving.
I wonder if they have a freezer there. (I know I'm answering my own
post - sorry). Thoughts welcome.

--
Yours,
Dan S.
There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
can't.

"DanS." wrote:
>
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.

You might check the "fruit fresh" product, but that's basically just
citric acid I believe.

Really, you need to protect the sliced bananas from oxygen and there are
only two ways I can think of to do it.

1. Purge the container holding the banana slices with an inert gas.

2. Vacuum the air out of the container holding the banana slices.

I did an experiment with banana slices once, two containers, one with
the acidulated water, and one with a dry nitrogen purge. After a day,
both were still white, but the acidulated water ones were mushy. I
didn't test the vacuum method.

Presuming the vacuum method will be more workable for you, you could put
the banana slices in one of the Foodsaver "marinating" containers and
vacuum the air out. This should theoretically work about as well as the
nitrogen purge, and use equipment you're more likely to have.

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS. wrote:

> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.

Package the bananas separately in an airtight ziplock with some
lemon juice and have your daughter throw them in there just before
putting it out.

-sw

On Aug 3, 10:32*am, DanS.
<DanUNDERSCOREgoesHEREslaugh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:


First, make sure the banannas you use are not really very ripe. You
don't want to use ones whose skins are still green,
but you certainly want to use ones that are 'almost' green. The
riper the bananna, the musher it will be.

Cut the banannas and keep them seperate in a bit of fruit fresh before
adding them a the last minute.

On Aug 3, 12:38*pm, DanS.
<DanUNDERSCOREgoesHEREslaugh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> DanS. added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
> 8/3/2010 in writing
>
> > My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. *I want to make a fresh
> > fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." *Last year, I seem to
> > recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice - 8am and the
> > picnic at 8pm.
>
> > It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillngjust
> > before serving. *I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my bananasfor me
> > as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> > How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? *Not sure dipping
> > in lemon juice will work.
>
> Perhaps I could freeze them and have them mixed in just before serving.
> *I wonder if they have a freezer there. (I know I'm answering my own
> post - sorry). *Thoughts welcome.
>
> --
> Yours,
> Dan S.
> There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
> can't.

Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.

N.

On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:05:03 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
>ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice.

I like to use orange juice instead of lemon juice. OJ makes the
bananas taste sweeter...got that hint from Rose Beranbaum Pie and
Pastry Bible. She uses that for her Banana Crème Pie and the results
are amazing. Beautiful bananas and the orange overtones of the juice.







Join me....a little fun, some ramblings and good recipes

http://whstoneman.blogspot.com

Nancy2 wrote on Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:05:03 -0700 (PDT):

> On Aug 3, 12:38 pm, DanS.
> <DanUNDERSCOREgoesHEREslaugh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> DanS. added the following to the totality of all human wisdom
>> on 8/3/2010 in writing
>>
> >> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want
> >> to make a fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned
> >> "fruit." Last year, I seem to recall the bananas got mushy
> >> between the start of practice - 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
> >> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with
> >> peach pie fillng just before serving. I'm sure the
> >> attendants won't want to cut my bananas for me as there
> >> will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
> >> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long?
> >> Not sure dipping in lemon juice will work.
>>
>> Perhaps I could freeze them and have them mixed in just
>> before serving. I wonder if they have a freezer there. (I
>> know I'm answering my own post - sorry). Thoughts welcome.
>>
>> --
>> Yours,
>> Dan S.
>> There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and
>> those who can't.

> Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet
> super- ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually,
> if you mix them with the other fruits, they shouldn't
> discolor.

You can keep bananas in the *refrigerator* and add them to your fruit
salad at the last moment. I know that the skins of bananas will become
brown in the fridge but the fruit does not ripen quickly. When I have
too many bananas I often keep them in the fridge since I don't like
fully ripe ones.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS.
<[email protected]> wrote:

>My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
>It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
>How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>dipping in lemon juice will work.

To keep sliced bananas from discoloring over 12 hours I'd coat them
with fresh lemon juice and also freeze them... but to be perfectly
honest your choice of a cut up fruit dish for 1000 people at a picnic
is absolutely idiotic. At a picnic one serves whole fruit. For 1000
people that is NOT a picnic, that's a MOB!

DanS. wrote:
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice - 8am
> and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>


I wouldn't use bananas at all in that situation.

Melon balls (various types), blueberries, strawberries, raspberries,
mango, peaches, plums are all in season. The peach pie finning sounds a
bit odd, too. I'd use simple syrup with mint, but I know there are
people who don't like mint.

gloria p

Nancy2 wrote:
>
> Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
> them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.

I think crushing up some vitamin C pills, soaking
them in water, then passing through a coffee filter
would give you a more effective oxidation inhibitor
than lemon juice. Both vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
and citric acid are potent antioxidants, but I think
vitamin C would do a better job.

brooklyn1 added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
8/3/2010 in writing
> On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS.
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
>> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
>> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>
> To keep sliced bananas from discoloring over 12 hours I'd coat them
> with fresh lemon juice and also freeze them... but to be perfectly
> honest your choice of a cut up fruit dish for 1000 people at a picnic
> is absolutely idiotic. At a picnic one serves whole fruit. For 1000
> people that is NOT a picnic, that's a MOB!

It won't be the only fruit up there. They suggested whole fruit, but I
like to do stuff, so I don't mind.

--
Yours,
Dan S.
There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
can't.

In article <[email protected]>,
Mr. Bill <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:05:03 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> >ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice.
>
> I like to use orange juice instead of lemon juice. OJ makes the
> bananas taste sweeter...got that hint from Rose Beranbaum Pie and
> Pastry Bible. She uses that for her Banana Crème Pie and the results
> are amazing. Beautiful bananas and the orange overtones of the juice.
>
When I make fruit salad, I cut some oranges into wedges. I cut the
fruit off the rind and then cut the fruit into pieces. That leaves a
little orange flesh still on the rind. I squeeze those into the
finished fruit salad and carefully toss. That keeps the other fruit
from browning.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]

"DanS." wrote:
>
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>


You could just leave the bananas out entirely. If there's a nice mix of
fruit, no one will notice anyway. Keep apples/pears out of the mix too,
if you aren't adding citrus juice. They will also turn brown.

Otherwise, less ripe bananas won't mush out. Let them soak in citrus
juice or a bit of citric acid.

On Aug 3, 10:32*am, DanS.
<DanUNDERSCOREgoesHEREslaugh...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. *I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." *Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. *I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? *Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.

To seal the bananas from the air, make banana-stuffed Jello, and have
the attendants add a scoop to each serving.

Else use dried banana slices.

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> Nancy2 wrote:
> >
> > Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> > ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
> > them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.
>
> I think crushing up some vitamin C pills, soaking
> them in water, then passing through a coffee filter
> would give you a more effective oxidation inhibitor
> than lemon juice. Both vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
> and citric acid are potent antioxidants, but I think
> vitamin C would do a better job.

If you're going to do that, just go to the health food store and buy a
bottle of crystalline powder ascorbic acid. There might be some legal
issues with doing that to serve to others though. I'd suggest that
oxygen removal / displacement is a safer route.

In article <[email protected]>,
Mark Thorson <[email protected]> wrote:

> Nancy2 wrote:
> >
> > Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> > ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
> > them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.
>
> I think crushing up some vitamin C pills, soaking
> them in water, then passing through a coffee filter
> would give you a more effective oxidation inhibitor
> than lemon juice. Both vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
> and citric acid are potent antioxidants, but I think
> vitamin C would do a better job.

You can purchase crystal/powdered ascorbic acid.
I used to buy it at Sun Harvest for protein shakes.

Citric Acid is widely available as a canning ingredient.
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. --Alex Levine

In article
<[email protected]>,
Dan Abel <[email protected]> wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> Mr. Bill <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:05:03 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > >Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> > >ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice.
> >
> > I like to use orange juice instead of lemon juice. OJ makes the
> > bananas taste sweeter...got that hint from Rose Beranbaum Pie and
> > Pastry Bible. She uses that for her Banana Crème Pie and the results
> > are amazing. Beautiful bananas and the orange overtones of the juice.
> >
> When I make fruit salad, I cut some oranges into wedges. I cut the
> fruit off the rind and then cut the fruit into pieces. That leaves a
> little orange flesh still on the rind. I squeeze those into the
> finished fruit salad and carefully toss. That keeps the other fruit
> from browning.

Personally, I'd simply leave the bananas out. Kiwi fruit is an adequate
substitute for that type of flavor, and it does not have the issues.


For fruit salad, I most often use Grapes, Kiwis, Strawberries,
Pineapple, Nectarines (as those don't need peeling like peaches do,
alternately you can use canned peaches), Oranges and/or Tangerines,
Apples and a light squeeze of lemon juice.

Dressing is sour cream and Splenda.
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>
*Only Irish *coffee provides in a single glass all four *essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar *and fat. --Alex Levine

>"DanS." wrote:
>>
>> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
>> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
>> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>> dipping in lemon juice will work.


A THOUSAND people and a THOUSAND bananas... make everyone bend over so
you can shove those Chiquitas up their culos. Nanananan anana,
nanananannanana... ahahahahhahahahaha. . . . ****in' moroon!

"Pete C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:4c58b1c9$0$16011$[email protected] ster.com...

>
> If you're going to do that, just go to the health food store and buy a
> bottle of crystalline powder ascorbic acid. There might be some legal
> issues with doing that to serve to others though. I'd suggest that
> oxygen removal / displacement is a safer route.

I was kind of thinking that the addition of any vitamin supplement might
need to be disclosed to those eating it, but just eating fruit is also
introducing the natural form of the powdered supplement. But I wonder if
more is added as a preservative that some people might need to know it's
there?