Go to the Recipe: Pressure-Cooked Bananas
This technique seems so obvious now that you point it out. Thanks for pointing it out.
can i substitute water for rum 1 part for 1?
Yep! Sounds delicious! Might make your pressure cooker a little sticky, but if you don't mind the cleanup it should work great.
yup i was worrying about catching, since i would think rum would cook dry at a faster rate
Well, remember that in a pressure cooker the water can not escape if done properly. You can add equal parts alcohol replacer to water and if done properly, once finished cooking the liquid should be about the same and even still have all its alcohol present. Nothing should escape the pressure cooker besides a tiny bit on steam in the beginning.
- originally posted by Grant Lee Crilly
Can I use the finished product to make banana juice for the bon bons?
Pssssssh yeah David, that sounds awesome. Great idea
- originally posted by Nicholasgav
A friend just kindly advised us that replacing rum for water 1:1 will be too dangerous. Your pressure cooker will essentially pressurize with a high concentration of alcohol vapors instead of steam, and if it depressurizes anywhere near a heat source, the vapors will catch fire. Chris Young apparently learned this the hard way, and we don't want anyone else to do the same. Sorry for the error!
So, as soon as I brought this to full pressure, i started smelling a burnt smell, and had to douse the PC in water to stop the process. I did substitute brown sugar for the white sugar, could that have been it? The liquid mixture was completely burnt. *hangs head in shame*
Hey guys i tried this at home but my bananas kinda exploded and i ended up with banana rings after the first 15 minutes. At the same time they didn't caramelise to the extend shown in your video. They were still pretty yellow in color. My pressure cooker never passed the first ring, though i don't have a pressure gauge. too much pressure? What might have gone wrong?
If you only got to the first ring, that's part of the problem. The flavor and color-creating reactions take about four times as long when you run your cooker at a half bar of pressure rather than full pressure (the second ring). Exploded is odd, how did you open the pressure cooker? Did you rapidly cool it somehow and open the lid, or did you let it slowly cool first? Best to let it slowly cool. Finally, how ripe were your bananas to start?
Hi Chris, I didn't cool the pressure cooker rapidly (i.e. with water) but i dead release the steam over the pressure valve. Should I let it depressurise by just letting it cool down? The bananas were just ripe, not green anymore but no black or mushy spots.
When you depressed the pressure valve, you created a sitaution where the pressure (and therefore the boiling point of water) rapidly dropped. Suddenly, the internal temperature of the bananas was above the lower boiling point of water. As a result, the water inside the banana came to a boil. When water boils it expands in volume by a factor of 1680, and all of that steam had to go somewhere. The result: your bananas exploded. Let it cool slowly to avoid exploding banana chunks.
Too many bananas so had to find a solution, made the pressure cooked bananas. Turned out wonderfully per usual. Then I saw I had some left over hazelnuts from a fish sauce I made, so I put the bananas in my vitamix (next one I get will be a waring I think), blended, passed through a sieve and put in the fridge. Made a praline with the hazelnuts, combined with cold bananas in ice-cream attachment (didn't have time to run out for dry ice).....oh my! Such a wonderfully rich desert....or will be (it's in the freezer)! Thank you chefsteps!......However, I am wondering if I should use something to help stabilize the next time??
I can confirm that using 'ready-to-eat' bananas is not unripe enough. I produced a buttery sludge of bananas yesterday, they had lost all consistency. Also I pushed up the pressure on the cooker too fast the second time (I have a powerful induction unit at home), resulting in a thick black crust. so build up the pressure slowly!
These are amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and used a Cuisinart electric pressure cooker, they came out perfectly. I hope I can save some to make banana bread with...I'm tempted to just eat them as they are!!
We certainly like to eat them as they are.
Would you be able to do this without a pressure-cooker? It looks freaking delicious but I don't have a pressure cooker...
Great recipe. My Colombian wife added some freshly ground spices; anise, cinnamon and cloves to the mix before adding the bananas. It came out like an excellent version of a South American dessert called "platanos calados," which is usually done with plantains. It was nothing short of fantastic like this with bananas. Try it with a bit of those spices and you will be amazed. Serve with the best rum you can find.
Glad to hear that you are adapting your spin of flavors. These are all just staring points to get you moving. Pressure cooked pumpkin bread season is upon us!
I've been dreaming about pressure cooked pumpkin pie.
Will update with results
Would leaving the bananas whole have any adverse affects? I'm hoping to cook them this way, but leave them whole for a play on a traditional "banana split."
Done this before, just have to reiterate how guuuuuud it is!!!
I do not have a pressure cooker. How can I achieve the same result?
I wonder what I'm doing wrong but after only one period of 15 minutes the bananas are perfectly caramelized and nearly falling apart, I don't dare give it a second time...
Would this work with ripe plantains?
I have 2 pressure cookers, 8 and 4 L. The 4 L one is equally wide, but shallow and is a whole lot easier to shake. If I use this pan, with its lesser volume, how would it affect the cooking times?
This happened to me the first time and the two variables that caused this (for me) I think were:
Mine burned at the very lowest I could keep it to maintain pressure. Now I don't have a state of the art pressure cooker - just your average one with the weight on top. I also have an electric stove. I followed the directions to the letter and have burned, purple-ish bananas that had separated in the center. What bothers me most about this recipe is the addition of chemicals to the process. I understand why but there is a definite degradation in flavor. It is no longer a banana, it becomes something else. I guess I'm old school but I believe in concentration of natural flavors. Baking soda? not so much. Had to toss them.
Hi Ann, thanks so much for your message. It sounds like your pressure cooker may not have been completely sealed, causing water to evaporate and the bananas to burn. Chef Nick has experienced the same thing in the past so please let us know how these turn out if you try them again! Thanks also for your feedback on the ingredients.
Hi guys. Love the recipe and love your work.
Just wondering how best apply this technique to other fruits? Say pineapple for example?
How would you vary the amount of butter and liquid for different fruits and would the same method of stopping, de-pressurizing and turning be needed?
Also wondering if there is a rough guide about the amount of baking soda to use by weight of target ingredient.
Thanks!
yum yum yum yum yum yum yum. This was a salty sweet caramel flavored banana bomb! My only gripe is that I found it difficult to turn the pieces and because I only used 4 bananas, there was too much room in the pot and they fell over when I shook it to avoid burning. What else besides pumpkin would work and is baking soda always needed?
it won't if at pressure indicated in the recipe. Essentially the pressure is constant regardless of vessel then the cooking temperature is constant (as the pressure influences the cooking temperature).
sorry, just saw this. start with 100g butter, heat until brown, add 45g sugar to create caramel, add 500g sliced bananas and coat them. cook until caramelized (OR add rum or brandy -50ml, heat and flambe' let flames die), set aside until cook and puree if desired. Because of saute these will not hold shape as well as pressure cooked.
Just made this in my instapot, I subbed Brandy(I burned the alcohol off first) for water and cut the cooking time down a bit, I figured if I can do a chuck roast in 40min, bananas would be gone after 30. Turned out great, still warm with vanilla ice cream, coconut chips and peanut butter powder.
I have been making caramelized bananas ever since I saw the caramelized carrot soup recipe in modernist cuisine. I've experimented with this technique on many different things. bananas do a great job. I have had the very best results with very ripe bananas, showing many brown speckles. One of my favorite variations includes a little maple syrup, I don't really feel the recipe needs any sugar or other sweetener though.
I have used my centrifuge on the puree, resulting in absolutely fabulous banana water, which can be used on any desert that would benefit from a banana flavor. the really cool thing is there's no sign of any bananas when you've put a drop or two (that's all you need) of banana water onto let's say, some ice cream, or a piece of cake.
This month, i've been staying on a farm in florida with so many banana trees that I've had to figure out creative ways to go through lots of interesting artisan varieties of bananas. this caramelization recipe is a great way, indeed.
if you dipped into chocolate to create a gift or party snack, how long would they hold in the chocolate?
I wonder if this will work on Japanese Sweet Potato - firmer in texture and can be really sweet when caramelized.
cooking tips for instant pot???
Does anyone monitor this for answers to questions?
we do Frederick! we just got all set back up to answer questions, We are in Seattle WA and have had some stuff going on..... But we are on to try to respond m-f 9-4 pacific standard time
use the pressure cook setting at its highest pressure and follow the guide from there.
What does the baking soda do?
increases the pH so that you get more mailard reaction (browning -> flavour complexity)
I followed the recipe, could I reuse the cooking liquid for another 1 kg of banana to cook with?
Hello Jo, Not really recommending to use the liquid again. The baking soda has been reacted and will not react again. You would have to scale the liquid left and add the correct percentage of baking soda to use a second time.
In alternativa alla pentola a pressione cosa posso usare?
Just Great!.
ref:
-WMF Perfect 8 Qt pressure cooker
-Trivet inside the pressure cooker to raise the pan a little bit from the bottom of the cooker
-Stack n' Cook Stackable Steamer Insert Pans. I use the smaller one with the steamer lid (the one with holes) that also I use to drainage all the liquid after done.
- After done and liquid gone I leave the bananas in the pan and use the solid lid to keep them in the fridge.
This is what I did
1. The recipe exactly the same
2. I cut the bananas and place them inside the "small pan" of the Stack n' Cook
3. I warm the batter, sugar etc in a small pan and after well mixed I drop it into the "small pan" where the bananas are, I just moved them a little bit so the liquid goes well around all of them
4. I add 1 cup of water outside the pan that goes under the trivet. (may not be needed but it will no hurt)
5. Heat fast to 15 psi then decrease burner heat enough to keep it at 15 psi and barely allow water vapor escape
6. Cook for 30 minutes
7. Turn off the heat and allow Natural Release Pressure (= wait until pressure drops to zero before opening the cooker (it takes some time) Thanks to Chris Young for the nice explanation.
I think this type of PIP (pot in pan) cooking makes it a little simple, but I want to thank ChefSteps for this great recipe. In my case I ordered 7 bananas from Walmart and I end up with 32, so I did not what to do with them, until...ChefSteps save me.
How would you do this in an Instant Pot?
