Smoked Bananas for Scale.

A while back I was asked if I could smoke a Banana, "for science."

I figured, why the heck not, I’m either smoking BBQ at home or at work nearly every day.

I had kind of forgotten about it for a while, till we got onto the subjects of bananas at work, and the idea reignited. I ran over to the local grocery store and picked up a bundle of bananas.

Once back to work I had to come up with a game plan on how I wanted to proceed.
I finally decided I would rub one with brown sugar and a bit of salt, while leaving another one plain for comparison. After prepping them, they were ready to be smoked. I loaded the smoker with a new batch of oak wood and locked them in for ten minutes. The time passes and I check on them; they look alright, but decide another five minutes won’t hurt them. The final time passes and I pull them out.

Everyone at work is giving me a hard time and making jokes. But this kind of stuff is what gets us through the stressful days, like this morning had bee.

I look over them and check their appearance, and then I smell the funky aroma drifting off them. Can definitely smell the bananas and oak smoke, with a bit of the brown sugar lingering.

NOW FOR THE TASTE:

• The first one I try is the brown sugar glazed one:

My first impression was that I put a tad too much kosher salt on it. After the saltiness dissipated, you could finally taste the banana, smoke and after taste of sweet brown sugar. Unfortunately the smoke was a tad over powering.

• Second I tried the plain one:

This one was better, but mostly because there was no salt to bother your taste buds. It was definitely smoky; no doubt about it, then it would finish off with a warm banana flavor.  As the banana slid down your throat it left a lingering smokiness trialing up your nostrils.  


-The General Manager was the only other person to try it. My reaction peaked his interest. He came to the same conclusion as me: ODD, was the general word thrown around.


CONCULISION: Was neither good nor really bad, odd, but could be greatly improved upon and has potential.  

My next plan is to: Rub with just the brown sugar. Smoke it with a lighter & sweeter wood and for a shorter period of time. Then we will slice them up and create a bananas foster. The smokiness and brown sugar glaze should pair well with the caramel, rum and vanilla ice cream.

Keep an eye out for this next culinary adventure.

And if you have an idea, please share, I am always looking to try new and different things.