How to freeze bananas after Cyclone Yasi decimated banana crops

Don't want to miss out on eating bananas when they're prohibitively expensive? Read on for tips on how to buy bananas now and store them for use over the coming weeks and even months.

First there was Cyclone Larry in 2006. Now, Cyclone Yasi has again decimated the banana crops in Innisfail in far north Queensland. After Larry, the price of bananas skyrocketed to $15.99 a kilo, and a visitor to Australia could have been forgiven for thinking they were gold-plated! We all know a little about economics and about how we should support the recovery of the banana industry, and of course, we want to support our local growers more than anything. But unfortunately, household economics usually forbid paying beyond $8/kg for bananas, and even then it's a stretch. When we see these absurdly high prices, it usually means that we're seeing imported bananas, most likely The Philippines.

Families with small children NEED bananas. They are such a kid-friendly food with their creamy texture and sweet flavour. Who wasn't fed mashed bananas as a baby? But hey, even grownups love their 'nanas and it's a shame to go without for a long time.

How to freeze bananas
Bananas are every bit as tasty if they've been frozen and they can be used in a variety of different ways.

• Method 1: To freeze bananas, you can even put the whole, unpeeled fruit in the freezer. The skin will turn brown but the inside will be as delicious as ever. Make sure they have ripened to the point where you would eat them, and then the freezer will suspend them in that condition until you're ready. You can also peel the bananas and freeze them in bags.
• Method 2: Freeze sliced bananas in Tupperware containers or snap-lock bags, in quantities suitable for recipes. You might like to add a little lemon juice to keep them from discolouring. I find the easiest way is to dilute some lemon juice in water and add it to a spray bottle then spritz the slices before freezing.
• Method 3: Freeze mashed bananas in recipe quantities. If your banana cake calls for two mashed bananas, then simply mash two and freeze in bags or containers. The Best Ever Banana Cake recipe is here!

What to do with frozen bananas
There are so many things you can do with frozen bananas. You can eat them whole like an ice block (simply insert a 'paddle pop stick' before freezing) or you can process them in a number of different ways.

• Whole frozen bananas - Wait until they thaw then use in recipes that call for mashed banana. OR, for a fat-free, no added sugar, no preservative banana sorbet, simply process through the Compact Juicer. It really is that simple. Feed the frozen bananas through the hopper and out comes delicious, healthy banana sorbet like you've never tasted before! Or, process the frozen bananas in your blender to make a healthy banana smoothie. Add wheatgerm, psyllium husk or oat bran for texture. Add other fruits too such as frozen strawberries, blueberries or raspberries. Try adding mango! You can even spoon in some natural, vanilla or fruit yoghurt or even ice cream for variety.
• Mashed frozen bananas - Stir in to banana cake recipes, or use in banana muffins, banana pudding, banana custard or banana cream pie. Thawed mashed bananas are perfect for baby food too.
• Sliced frozen bananas - Thaw and decorate pavlovas, banana cakes, puddings and pies. Use in sandwiches.

Banana nutrition

Bananas are a great source of potassium (the 'good mood' mineral) and contain very little sodium or fat. Bananas are a healthy and nutritious food choice because they contain zero cholesterol (as is the case with all fruit and vegetables) and they are a fantastic source of fibre.

Eat a banana after a strength or cardio workout to replace the potassium lost through sweat.

Bananas are also an excellent source of:

• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin C
• Manganese
• Folate

Bananas also contain trace amounts of calcium, zinc, copper, iron, vitamin E, and selenium. And one more benefit; bananas also contain a resistant starch known as fructo-oligosaccharide, which acts as a prebiotic. Prebiotics promote a healthy gut and assist the body to more easily absorb the nutrients in the foods we eat.

Banana facts

• Over 100 billion bananas are consumed in the world every year. That makes bananas the fourth biggest agricultural crop on the planet after wheat, rice and corn!
• Bananas contain up to 3 times more complex carbohydrates than any other fruit. That's why they're such a good source of energy and why marathon runners and tennis players for example, eat bananas 15 to 20 minutes before competing.
• There are about 100 calories - and 500mg of potassium - in an average sized banana.
• Bananas are known as the 'good mood food' and rightly so since they contain the amino acid tryptophan (also found in roast turkey!) and Vitamin B6. Together, these elements help with the body's production of seratonin, the natural chemical that alleviates depression.
• On average, Australians eat around 15kgs of bananas per year! Laid end to end, that would be an incredible 27 metres of bananas per person!
• Bananas are named after the Arab word for finger, 'banan'. Did you know that a bunch of bananas is actually called a hand?
• Bananas are actually not a fruit, but a herb.

Cyclone Yasi effect on bananas
Australia produces much of the 20 million boxes of bananas it consumes. But after the 2006 cyclone (Cyclone Larry), noted the analysts, Australia turned to the Philippines for imports. Banana pricing surged to A$15 kg). If Yasi has a similar impact on the crop, imports from the Philippines or elsewhere in the region may divert fruit from other Asian markets such as Japan, South Korea and Iran and “further tighten the global market.” Source: MarketWatch

Far north Queensland supplies 90% of Australia's banana production.

Learn how to make your own Banana Rollups / Fruit Leathers and Banana Chips.