How to keep bananas from turning brown when making pie (2024)

FAQs

How to keep bananas from turning brown when making pie? ›

To keep mashed banana from turning brown, you can add a tablespoon of lemon juice (or other citrus fruit) or 1/2 teaspoon of scorbutic acid. There may be a way I don't know of, but you could simply withhold putting the bananas and cream on until the pie is going to be served. Prepare and add last, of course.

* Treat the bananas with citrus juice: Lemon, orange or pineapple juice will prevent browning. To avoid changing the flavor of the pie, you want to use as little as possible. Brush it lightly on the slices, or place the juice in a spray bottle and spritz them.

Wrap the stems with plastic wrap to keep the bananas ripe for longer or to stop them from becoming overripe too quickly. This method slows down the release of ethylene gas, which is responsible for ripening fruits. Prevent sliced bananas from browning by dipping them in lemon juice or orange juice.

In addition to lemon juice, vinegar will also work. So would sulfuric acid, for that matter, but you probably don't want to eat it afterwards.

Peel the bananas and cut into uniform slices, either crosswise or lengthwise. Soak the banana pieces in the lemon solution for approx. 5 minutes.

After thawing and peeling a banana frozen in its peel, it will come out of the peel in an essentially mashed texture. Freezing bananas in their peels causes them to turn a brown (or even black!) color, which can be off-putting, but they're perfectly safe and delicious for that next loaf of banana bread.

Cover the stem ends of each banana with plastic wrap or aluminium foil to reduce the release of ethylene gas. Bananas release high amounts of ethylene gas, which accelerates the proces of browning. Thus, to slow it down, separate the bananas from the bunch and then store them.

There are a few cautionary points to keep in mind when refrigerating your bananas. Bananas are very temperature sensitive, so the cold temperature of the fridge will cause the skin of the bananas to darken after a few days, at which point they should be discarded.

Don't use over ripe bananas.

You want your bananas ripe, but not browning too much (like you'd look for in banana bread). Choose bananas that are slightly ripe; yellow with little brown specks.

Over time, the appearance changes with the emergence of brown or black spots on the yellow skin, a result of heightened ethylene production in the fruit. This natural transformation is known as enzymatic browning. Contrary to popular belief, the appearance of black spots on bananas is not an indicator of spoilage.

How to get bananas to last longer? ›

Wrap banana stems in plastic wrap

Wrapping those stems with plastic wrap or aluminum foil slows down the ripening process. Some grocery stores sell bunches of bananas with plastic wrap already on the stems. For best results, take your bananas apart when you get home and wrap the stems individually.

Covering sliced bananas with layers of pastry cream helps prevent the fruit from browning. Refrigerating the assembled pie until it's thoroughly chilled infuses the pastry cream with banana flavor and ensures clean slices.

Acid. Fruit gets brown because it oxidizes. Acid will stop that. Rubbing a cut lemon or dunking them in water with some lemon juice should do the trick.