Homemade banana ice cream recipes. Banana ice cream: recipe
Bananas spoil quite quickly, but experts do not recommend purchasing these fruits for future use. But still, sooner or later, a situation arises when you need to save several bananas for a certain time. Therefore, this must be done in accordance with the instructions.
Why do fruits turn dark at home?
The process of selling bananas begins with the fact that bananas are collected in an unripe form. During transportation, which is about forty days, the fruit must reach retail outlets. Then, if they are still not ripe, the bananas are treated with ethylene in a special chamber for several days. This gas “accelerates” the processes, after which the yellowed fruit ends up in the store. When the buyer brings the product home, after some time he may discover that the fruit has darkened.
This happens for two reasons:
- firstly, the fruit may simply become overripe;
- secondly, it loses moisture.
The peel of a banana is not as dense as the skin of a pineapple or orange, so it is not able to completely prevent the fruit mass from drying out. First, the peel darkens, and then the pulp itself.
If you do not intervene in time, the fruit will be completely unfit for consumption.
How to choose the right bananas?
The conditions and periods of their storage will depend on the choice of bananas, so you should be careful when shopping. Green fruits are unripe. Their individual fruits are difficult to separate from each other; they have not very sweet pulp and taste like something vegetable. However, it is green bananas that can be stored for the longest possible time, ripening during this process. The familiar yellow fruits can be consumed immediately - they smell good and taste wonderful.
They will keep well, but not for too long. By the way, these are the bananas that are best frozen. Finally, there are overripe bananas whose skin becomes dark and speckled. They, of course, can still be consumed, but it is better as quickly as possible, since they do not last long. Thus, if bananas are bought for immediate consumption, they should be bright yellow with small brown spots, but if they are to be stored for some time, then green.
When choosing products on the market, you should definitely look at the shape of the fruit. It should be streamlined without obvious ribs. In addition, the correct peel is matte and smooth. Don’t worry if you find spots of water on its surface in a supermarket - usually sellers spray them to increase their shelf life and attractive appearance. The most correct color is bright yellow.
Black dots on the surface are not scary. On the contrary, this is considered an indicator that the product is ripe and approved for consumption. However, you have to eat it immediately after purchase. Large black spots, on the contrary, symbolize a problem. The grayness of the peel indicates that the banana is frozen, that is, it was already in the refrigerator or was transported if the requirements were not met and will no longer ripen properly. The size of the fetus can be completely different. The highest quality ones usually have a length of twenty centimeters, those of average quality - fifteen centimeters, and those with smaller sizes are the least good.
Can it be frozen?
To keep bananas fresh for the winter, they need to be peeled and stored in the freezer. In this state, the fruits will remain suitable for consumption for up to six months. By the way, you usually have to rid them not only of the peel, but also of the existing threads. Prepared bananas are cut into small slices and placed in sealed plastic boxes. Unfortunately, after defrosting, fruits are only suitable for smoothies and purees, or for desserts or baked goods.
In general, it is believed that you can freeze fruits with the peel, but in this form they will be stored for about a month less. However, this method is much more convenient, because you don’t have to worry about individual pieces breaking.
In general, professionals identify three main ways to freeze bananas.
In the first case, peeled bananas are laid out on a tray or board covered with baking paper. After making sure that the individual fruits do not touch each other, they can be placed in the freezer. When they are completely frozen, they should be placed in prepared freezer-safe plastic bags and labeled with the current date. For cooking, it is recommended to remove as much fruit as required so as not to need to re-freeze.
In the second case, bananas are also peeled and cut into slices of the required size. They are laid out on a lined tray or wooden board, after which they are put in the refrigerator for thirty or forty minutes. Ready fruits are placed in plastic bags.
Finally, in the third case, the peeled fruits are cut, mashed with a fork, a potato masher, or processed in a blender. Lemon juice is poured into the resulting substance to improve storage. For 250 milligrams of banana puree you will need about a tablespoon of liquid.
Instead of real lemons, you can use ascorbic acid - dissolve a quarter of a teaspoon in fifteen milligrams of liquid, and then stir it into the puree.
Banana puree is frozen in containers with hermetically sealed lids, on which the date of freezing should be indicated. The substance may be stored for no longer than four months.
How to ripen green bananas?
It is important to understand that greening bananas are generally not allowed to be placed in the refrigerator or freezer, but they will feel great at room temperature. The fact is that the peel begins to deteriorate, the fruit is prone to rapid rotting, and besides, when you take a banana out of the refrigerator, you will have to eat it immediately. To make them ripen faster, a bunch of unseparated fruits should be placed in a dark-colored craft bag or a darkened wooden box and left in this form for five days. The temperature in the storage area should be approximately twenty degrees Celsius, no higher.
By the way, if you place ripe apples next to each other, the ripening process will go much faster. When the hue of the banana peel changes to a warm yellow, it's time to transfer the fruit to a graceful bowl and store at room temperature.
If it is not possible to create such conditions, then a bunch of bananas can simply be placed on a loop or hook on the kitchen wall. The place must be chosen so that the fruit is far from heating devices and light sources. Typically, two or three days is enough for green bananas to ripen, although flavor problems are likely.
Storage period and conditions
At home, bananas are advised to be stored at a temperature ranging from thirteen to fourteen degrees, although some sources indicate a range of seven to ten degrees. In any case, the riper the banana, the lower the degrees should be. But it is also important that there are no sudden temperature changes, so you should not put them on the balcony, where one day the temperature will be optimal, and the next it will be much higher.
It is also necessary to take into account the humidity indicator, which should be in the range from 85 to 90%. In a private house, such an environment is achieved in the cellar or basement. By the way, bananas can only be preserved in a regularly ventilated space.
To prevent ripe yellow bananas from spoiling, they should be stored at home in a place where direct sunlight does not reach. In principle, it is believed that, unlike green fruits, it is not necessary to keep the bunch whole - it can be divided into individual fruits for convenience. In addition, avocados or unripe pears located next to bananas will help stop the process of overripening and leave a yellow tint for a long time. In the case when you bought a lot of fruits and they are already ripe, there is one way to store them - put them in the refrigerator. Under such conditions, the peels will begin to darken evenly, and the edible pulp will retain its moderately dense consistency and sweet taste.
However, overripe fruits should still be consumed within twenty-four hours after purchase.
There is an opinion that it will be possible to keep whole bunches of bananas in the apartment longer if their stem is wrapped in adhesive tape, foil or polyethylene. The same should be done to prevent them from turning black - wrap the shoots even with ordinary tape. However, storing fruits in a plastic bag is strictly prohibited. This material retains moisture, which means it contributes to fruit rotting.
In the case where the bananas are intended for a buffet table and are already cut, but not enough time has passed before the actual holiday, these pieces should be sprinkled with lemon juice or pineapple vinegar. So, without chemicals, it will be possible to ensure that bananas do not lose their attractive shade for a couple of hours. If fruit flies have multiplied at home, then you will have to hide the fruit from them in the refrigerator or in a resealable paper bag.
By the way, contrary to popular belief, in order to speed up the ripening process, you should not place bananas somewhere close to a radiator or other source of artificial heat. The same applies to direct sunlight - the fruit will not ripen, but will only deteriorate. In addition, it is recommended to purchase a special stand with a hook for storing fruits. In the refrigerator, bananas should be stored separated from other foods in the fruit compartment for no more than a week and at a temperature of at least five degrees Celsius. The exception is the case when it is necessary for bananas to turn yellow faster - then they need to be put in one bag with other ripe fruits.
In the case when traces of mold or gray spots appear on an overripe fruit, this hints that the bananas were either stored incorrectly or were transported incorrectly. Such products should not be consumed, and if found on the market, of course, buy them.
To learn how to select and store bananas, watch the following video.
Why freeze bananas when you can easily buy them in a store or market all year round? What is the best way to freeze bananas? Where can such a blank be used? You can find answers to these questions below.
Total cooking time – 2 hours 30 minutes
Active cooking time – 1 hour 0 minute
Cost - very economical
Calorie content per 100 g - 95 kcal
Number of servings – 6 servings
Ingredients:
Banana - 1 kg or any amount
Lemon juice - optional
Preparation:
Sometimes, there may be bananas in a fruit basket and their shelf life is measured not in days, but in hours. These bananas need to be eaten immediately or frozen. Freezing is a convenient way to preserve fruit without losing its taste.
It is better to use ripe or slightly overripe bananas for freezing. Unripe bananas are not suitable for freezing.
Be sure to wash bananas before freezing. It sounds strange, but peeling a banana without touching its pulp is almost impossible. And if you take into account the duration of transportation and the number of hands that touched the banana while it reached store shelves, then it becomes obvious and quite a reasonable decision to wash the bananas well. Let the washed fruit dry thoroughly.
Bananas can be frozen in any way you like: whole with or without peel, cut into cubes or slices, or as a puree. Each method has its advantages, and I will try to talk about it in detail.
A. Freezing the whole banana without the peel.
Bananas store well in the freezer, both with and without the peel. But the shelf life of such bananas will be different. Without a peel, a banana can last 1 month longer than with a peel. Therefore, if you want to make banana baked goods that use whole bananas, such as banana cake with chocolate mousse, then this method of freezing a peeled whole banana will be quite convenient.
Peel the washed banana.
To prevent bananas from sticking together during freezing, they must be frozen first. To do this, take a flat tray, baking sheet, dish or board and cover the selected item with foil, or parchment paper, or cling film or a plastic bag. Arrange the bananas so that they are not touching each other.
Place the bananas in the freezer and let them freeze. This will take about an hour at minus 18 or minus 22 degrees. The temperature should not be higher than the specified values.
Place already frozen bananas in thick plastic bags. Remove the air (it is advisable to squeeze it out of the bag as much as possible), close tightly and label the label. Be sure to mark the date so you know the shelf life of the product. By the way, such bananas can be stored for no more than 3 months, the temperature is minus 18 degrees and below.
B. Freezing a banana whole in its peel.
This is the fastest way to freeze bananas. They do not need to be frozen first, as described in the previous paragraph. Therefore, if you have bananas lying around at home and you are worried that they will spoil, then freeze them whole. These bananas can then be used to make banana cakes, banana ricotta roll cake or banana cake.
Simply place washed and dried bananas in individual bags, seal them, and write the freezing date on the label.
Store for no more than 2 months, the temperature should be between minus 18 - minus 22 degrees.
After the freezer, the peel on the banana will darken greatly, but in the middle it will be an ordinary banana, only the flesh will become much softer. To clean it, you need to give it time to thaw at room temperature. When using such a banana for baking, you need to defrost it completely, and for cocktails or smoothies, such a banana can be mashed partially defrosted or without defrosting at all.
C. Freezing banana pieces.
Most often, sliced bananas are used to make cocktails, casseroles and other baked goods. Therefore, this freezing method is suitable for lovers of smoothies and shakes.
Cut the peeled banana into slices of arbitrary thickness. The optimal size would be 1.5-3 cm (more is possible).
Place the banana slices on a baking sheet or other flat object, first covering it with cling film or parchment paper.
The banana pieces should not touch each other, otherwise they will stick together.
Leave them in the freezer for 30 minutes - 1 hour. During this time they should freeze well.
Place frozen banana pieces in a container (or bowl) for food storage. Close the lid and sign the label indicating the date frozen and the weight of the contents. You can pack one or two bananas into a container, so that when defrosting it is easier to navigate the required amount of product.
Banana pieces are also stored well in thick plastic bags. Be sure to tie them tightly, releasing as much air as possible.
The shelf life of such bananas is 3 months, storage temperature is minus 18 degrees and below.
This form of preparation is suitable for making a cake with bananas and walnuts, as well as a milkshake with syrup and a smoothie with gooseberries, banana and poppy seeds.
For smoothies and cocktails, banana pieces can not be completely defrosted, but chopped in a blender, partially melted or without defrosting at all.
If you are preparing a cottage cheese casserole, pie or cupcake with banana slices, then you do not need to defrost them first.
D. Freezing mashed bananas.
Grind the bananas to a puree using any accessible and convenient method for you. I peeled the banana, put the pieces in a blender and turned the contents into a homogeneous mass. You can also grind the bananas through a sieve with large holes, or mash with a potato masher or fork.
You can add lemon juice to the puree to preserve color and even extend shelf life. Approximately 1 tbsp. for one glass (250 ml) of banana puree.
Place mashed bananas in ice cube freezer compartments.
Place the trays of banana puree in the freezer and allow them time to freeze completely before transferring them into storage bags. At minus 18 degrees, the puree cubes will freeze within an hour.
Remove frozen banana cubes from their compartments and place them in either bowls or bags. Close or tie tightly and write on the label.
For me, freezing mashed bananas in the form of small cubes is the most ideal option. This puree easily melts into hot porridge. Therefore, in the morning I always prepare porridge with banana for my baby, and in the evening I can offer a glass of milk with 1-2 cubes of banana puree. As a result, both the porridge and the drink turn out sweet and not so hot.
Banana puree can also be frozen in portions, in plastic or paper cups. I advise you to indicate on the label either the weight of the puree, or the number of bananas used for its preparation (1-2 bananas are convenient), in the future this will help you navigate the required amount of puree.
Place the banana puree into cups, almost filling them to the top, and cover well with cling film.
Store banana puree for no more than 3 months. The temperature should be between minus 18 minus - 22 degrees.
You can make banana puree
Bananas are a very popular delicacy today. They have a pleasant aroma, sweet taste, and also contain many useful substances; they are liked by both adults and children. The absence of allergens in these fruits allows them to be included even in the diet of babies under one year of age. But since the fruits are perishable, a reasonable question arises about how to store bananas at home.
Correct home storage conditions: let’s prevent the fruit from spoiling
The safety of bananas is influenced by several factors:
1. The most important condition is the optimal temperature and humidity level. Bananas are stored open at +13–14 °C. Indoor humidity levels should be between 85–90%.
2. It is necessary to prevent direct sunlight from hitting the fruit, otherwise they will quickly darken. For the same reason, do not place bananas near heating appliances or the stove. A suitable room for exotic fruits would be a basement or cellar.
3. Bananas should not be placed in plastic bags for a long time, as fumes accumulate in such packaging, which leads to rotting of the fruit.
4. The shelf life of bananas also depends on the integrity of their structure. You need to pay attention to this factor when purchasing.
Buy only bananas that do not have mold, cracks, dark spots or other damage. The peel should be elastic and hard. There may be small black dots on it. This is a good indicator; it indicates the high sugar content of the pulp.
5. Selecting quality fruits is not enough. To maintain their integrity, you need to follow some rules during transportation. Do not drop bananas or place heavy objects on top of them. Take the bunch not by the fruit, but by the node of the bunch, otherwise they may tear off at the base.
Bananas store well in a cool, dark place.
Low Temperatures: Should You or Shouldn't Store Bananas in the Refrigerator?
Why do they turn black
It is not recommended to place bananas in the refrigerator. At temperatures below +10–12 °C, dark brown spots begin to form on their peel. The use of a refrigerator is usually recommended if the fruits have already turned black. However, this does not mean that they are unsuitable for consumption. The presence of dark areas on the fruit only indicates the disintegration of skin pigmentation. To preserve the pulp longer, the fruits should still be placed in the refrigerator. This allows you to slow down the circulation of ethylene (a gas that accelerates the ripening of fruits) and delay overripening and rotting of the product.
In the refrigerator, bananas are placed in the warmest place: on the door or middle shelf. Here the temperature is about 2 °C higher than in other areas of the chamber. Such bananas lose their visual appeal. They cannot be used as a treat for guests, but these fruits are useful for making cocktails, sauces, and smoothies. Bananas with blackened peels are also used as a topping for baked goods, as an addition to ice cream or yoghurt.
Ripe bananas keep well in the refrigerator, although they lose their attractive appearance.
Shall we freeze?
Freezing will help maximize the shelf life of bananas. The fruits will not lose their taste, vitamins and mineral elements. But after defrosting, the pulp will become too soft and can only be used for making desserts or cocktails. This is the only drawback of this method.
1. Before freezing, place the fruit in plastic containers with lids. This will limit the flow of air to the fruit and will contribute to long-term preservation.
Cellophane bags are also used for this purpose.
2. You can freeze both peeled and peeled fruits. At temperatures of –18°C and below, bananas can be stored for 2–3 months. As a result of this procedure, the peel will inevitably turn black, but the fruit will remain edible.
Keep in mind that defrosting bananas that are frozen with the peel on is much more difficult.
3. Thaw bananas at room temperature. The flesh may darken.
To avoid such consequences, sprinkle it with pineapple, grapefruit, orange or lemon juice.
Video: how to freeze bananas
What other nuances are worth knowing?
One option for storing bananas is to hang the bunches in a dark and cool place, such as a separate cabinet or pantry. But the fruits can also be placed on a regular plate.
There are special vases and stands on sale that allow you to store bananas hanging
If you need to slow down the ripening process, wrap the stem of each fruit with cling film. This will reduce the release of ethylene gas.
Wrapping the tear area is the most effective way to store
Do not place bananas near other fruits or vegetables. They also produce ethylene and thereby shorten the shelf life of bananas.
Important! Browned bananas should not be stored next to fresh fruit, as this can lead to spoilage of quality products.
Overripe fruits cannot be stored at room temperature. But if it is not possible to eat them immediately, it is better to use the freezing method. Puree the pulp, place it in a container, which you then place in the freezer.
How to ripen green bananas
Bananas for export are picked unripe. This is done for several reasons. The shelf life of ripe fruits is several days. And picking green fruits allows you to increase the sales period to 35–40 days. In addition, ripe fruits are damaged during loading and transportation. Their peel turns black, the flesh becomes mushy, and the taste properties are lost. In addition, there is an opinion that bananas that are ripe when picked are sweeter and more aromatic.
Unripe bananas are stored in a brown paper bag
Also, early harvest helps prevent rodents from invading banana plantations and destroying the crop. They are attracted by the smell of ripe fruit.
For these reasons, you can often see green fruits on store shelves. In this case, the question arises of how to speed up their maturation. The answer is simple: to do this, put bananas in a paper bag, where you can also place 2-3 ripe pears, apples or avocados. Ethylene released by ripe fruit will aid the ripening process.
Do not tear the banana bunches. Keep the bag with fruits in a dark place at a temperature from +18 °C to +20 °C. After 4 days, the green fruits will become ripe, their peel will turn yellow, and the pulp will acquire a sweet taste and pronounced aroma.
Important! After ripening, remove the bananas to a cool room with a temperature of +13–14 °C.
Video: how to store bananas at home
To maximize the shelf life of bananas, you need to maintain a certain level of temperature and humidity. Ripe and unripe fruits should be kept in different conditions. Due to the ability of these fruits to retain their taste properties after freezing, their shelf life can be extended to 3 months.
Why freeze bananas when you can easily buy them in a store or market all year round? What is the best way to freeze bananas? Where can such a blank be used? You can find answers to these questions below.
Total cooking time – 2 hours 30 minutes
Active cooking time – 1 hour 0 minute
Cost - very economical
Calorie content per 100 g - 95 kcal
Number of servings – 6 servings
Ingredients:
Banana - 1 kg or any amount
Lemon juice - optional
Preparation:
Sometimes, there may be bananas in a fruit basket and their shelf life is measured not in days, but in hours. These bananas need to be eaten immediately or frozen. Freezing is a convenient way to preserve fruit without losing its taste.
It is better to use ripe or slightly overripe bananas for freezing. Unripe bananas are not suitable for freezing.
Be sure to wash bananas before freezing. It sounds strange, but peeling a banana without touching its pulp is almost impossible. And if you take into account the duration of transportation and the number of hands that touched the banana while it reached store shelves, then it becomes obvious and quite a reasonable decision to wash the bananas well. Let the washed fruit dry thoroughly.
Bananas can be frozen in any way you like: whole with or without peel, cut into cubes or slices, or as a puree. Each method has its advantages, and I will try to talk about it in detail.
A. Freezing the whole banana without the peel.
Bananas store well in the freezer, both with and without the peel. But the shelf life of such bananas will be different. Without a peel, a banana can last 1 month longer than with a peel. Therefore, if you want to make banana baked goods that use whole bananas, such as banana cake with chocolate mousse, then this method of freezing a peeled whole banana will be quite convenient.
Peel the washed banana.
To prevent bananas from sticking together during freezing, they must be frozen first. To do this, take a flat tray, baking sheet, dish or board and cover the selected item with foil, or parchment paper, or cling film or a plastic bag. Arrange the bananas so that they are not touching each other.
Place the bananas in the freezer and let them freeze. This will take about an hour at minus 18 or minus 22 degrees. The temperature should not be higher than the specified values.
Place already frozen bananas in thick plastic bags. Remove the air (it is advisable to squeeze it out of the bag as much as possible), close tightly and label the label. Be sure to mark the date so you know the shelf life of the product. By the way, such bananas can be stored for no more than 3 months, the temperature is minus 18 degrees and below.
B. Freezing a banana whole in its peel.
This is the fastest way to freeze bananas. They do not need to be frozen first, as described in the previous paragraph. Therefore, if you have bananas lying around at home and you are worried that they will spoil, then freeze them whole. These bananas can then be used to make banana cakes, banana ricotta roll cake or banana cake.
Simply place washed and dried bananas in individual bags, seal them, and write the freezing date on the label.
Store for no more than 2 months, the temperature should be between minus 18 - minus 22 degrees.
After the freezer, the peel on the banana will darken greatly, but in the middle it will be an ordinary banana, only the flesh will become much softer. To clean it, you need to give it time to thaw at room temperature. When using such a banana for baking, you need to defrost it completely, and for cocktails or smoothies, such a banana can be mashed partially defrosted or without defrosting at all.
C. Freezing banana pieces.
Most often, sliced bananas are used to make cocktails, casseroles and other baked goods. Therefore, this freezing method is suitable for lovers of smoothies and shakes.
Cut the peeled banana into slices of arbitrary thickness. The optimal size would be 1.5-3 cm (more is possible).
Place the banana slices on a baking sheet or other flat object, first covering it with cling film or parchment paper.
The banana pieces should not touch each other, otherwise they will stick together.
Leave them in the freezer for 30 minutes - 1 hour. During this time they should freeze well.
Place frozen banana pieces in a container (or bowl) for food storage. Close the lid and sign the label indicating the date frozen and the weight of the contents. You can pack one or two bananas into a container, so that when defrosting it is easier to navigate the required amount of product.
Banana pieces are also stored well in thick plastic bags. Be sure to tie them tightly, releasing as much air as possible.
The shelf life of such bananas is 3 months, storage temperature is minus 18 degrees and below.
This form of preparation is suitable for making a cake with bananas and walnuts, as well as a milkshake with syrup and a smoothie with gooseberries, banana and poppy seeds.
For smoothies and cocktails, banana pieces can not be completely defrosted, but chopped in a blender, partially melted or without defrosting at all.
If you are preparing a cottage cheese casserole, pie or cupcake with banana slices, then you do not need to defrost them first.
D. Freezing mashed bananas.
Grind the bananas to a puree using any accessible and convenient method for you. I peeled the banana, put the pieces in a blender and turned the contents into a homogeneous mass. You can also grind the bananas through a sieve with large holes, or mash with a potato masher or fork.
You can add lemon juice to the puree to preserve color and even extend shelf life. Approximately 1 tbsp. for one glass (250 ml) of banana puree.
Place mashed bananas in ice cube freezer compartments.
Place the trays of banana puree in the freezer and allow them time to freeze completely before transferring them into storage bags. At minus 18 degrees, the puree cubes will freeze within an hour.
Remove frozen banana cubes from their compartments and place them in either bowls or bags. Close or tie tightly and write on the label.
For me, freezing mashed bananas in the form of small cubes is the most ideal option. This puree easily melts into hot porridge. Therefore, in the morning I always prepare porridge with banana for my baby, and in the evening I can offer a glass of milk with 1-2 cubes of banana puree. As a result, both the porridge and the drink turn out sweet and not so hot.
Banana puree can also be frozen in portions, in plastic or paper cups. I advise you to indicate on the label either the weight of the puree, or the number of bananas used for its preparation (1-2 bananas are convenient), in the future this will help you navigate the required amount of puree.
Place the banana puree into cups, almost filling them to the top, and cover well with cling film.
Store banana puree for no more than 3 months. The temperature should be between minus 18 minus - 22 degrees.
You can make banana puree