My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
8am and the picnic at 8pm.

It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.

How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
dipping in lemon juice will work.

--
Yours,
Dan S.
There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
can't.

DanS. added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
8/3/2010 in writing
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a fresh
> fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I seem to
> recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice - 8am and the
> picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng just
> before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my bananas for me
> as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure dipping
> in lemon juice will work.

Perhaps I could freeze them and have them mixed in just before serving.
I wonder if they have a freezer there. (I know I'm answering my own
post - sorry). Thoughts welcome.

--
Yours,
Dan S.
There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
can't.

"DanS." wrote:
>
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.

You might check the "fruit fresh" product, but that's basically just
citric acid I believe.

Really, you need to protect the sliced bananas from oxygen and there are
only two ways I can think of to do it.

1. Purge the container holding the banana slices with an inert gas.

2. Vacuum the air out of the container holding the banana slices.

I did an experiment with banana slices once, two containers, one with
the acidulated water, and one with a dry nitrogen purge. After a day,
both were still white, but the acidulated water ones were mushy. I
didn't test the vacuum method.

Presuming the vacuum method will be more workable for you, you could put
the banana slices in one of the Foodsaver "marinating" containers and
vacuum the air out. This should theoretically work about as well as the
nitrogen purge, and use equipment you're more likely to have.

On Aug 3, 10:32*am, DanS.
> wrote:


First, make sure the banannas you use are not really very ripe. You
don't want to use ones whose skins are still green,
but you certainly want to use ones that are 'almost' green. The
riper the bananna, the musher it will be.

Cut the banannas and keep them seperate in a bit of fruit fresh before
adding them a the last minute.

On Aug 3, 12:38*pm, DanS.
> wrote:
> DanS. added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
> 8/3/2010 in writing
>
> > My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. *I want to make a fresh
> > fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." *Last year, I seem to
> > recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice - 8am and the
> > picnic at 8pm.
>
> > It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng just
> > before serving. *I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my bananas for me
> > as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> > How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? *Not sure dipping
> > in lemon juice will work.
>
> Perhaps I could freeze them and have them mixed in just before serving.
> *I wonder if they have a freezer there. (I know I'm answering my own
> post - sorry). *Thoughts welcome.
>
> --
> Yours,
> Dan S.
> There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
> can't.

Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.

N.

Nancy2 wrote on Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:05:03 -0700 (PDT):

> On Aug 3, 12:38 pm, DanS.
> > wrote:
>> DanS. added the following to the totality of all human wisdom
>> on 8/3/2010 in writing
>>
> >> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want
> >> to make a fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned
> >> "fruit." Last year, I seem to recall the bananas got mushy
> >> between the start of practice - 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
> >> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with
> >> peach pie fillng just before serving. I'm sure the
> >> attendants won't want to cut my bananas for me as there
> >> will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
> >> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long?
> >> Not sure dipping in lemon juice will work.
>>
>> Perhaps I could freeze them and have them mixed in just
>> before serving. I wonder if they have a freezer there. (I
>> know I'm answering my own post - sorry). Thoughts welcome.
>>
>> --
>> Yours,
>> Dan S.
>> There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and
>> those who can't.

> Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet
> super- ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually,
> if you mix them with the other fruits, they shouldn't
> discolor.

You can keep bananas in the *refrigerator* and add them to your fruit
salad at the last moment. I know that the skins of bananas will become
brown in the fridge but the fruit does not ripen quickly. When I have
too many bananas I often keep them in the fridge since I don't like
fully ripe ones.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS.
> wrote:

>My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
>It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
>How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>dipping in lemon juice will work.

To keep sliced bananas from discoloring over 12 hours I'd coat them
with fresh lemon juice and also freeze them... but to be perfectly
honest your choice of a cut up fruit dish for 1000 people at a picnic
is absolutely idiotic. At a picnic one serves whole fruit. For 1000
people that is NOT a picnic, that's a MOB!

DanS. wrote:
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice - 8am
> and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>


I wouldn't use bananas at all in that situation.

Melon balls (various types), blueberries, strawberries, raspberries,
mango, peaches, plums are all in season. The peach pie finning sounds a
bit odd, too. I'd use simple syrup with mint, but I know there are
people who don't like mint.

gloria p

Nancy2 wrote:
>
> Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
> them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.

I think crushing up some vitamin C pills, soaking
them in water, then passing through a coffee filter
would give you a more effective oxidation inhibitor
than lemon juice. Both vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
and citric acid are potent antioxidants, but I think
vitamin C would do a better job.

brooklyn1 added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
8/3/2010 in writing
> On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS.
> > wrote:
>
>> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
>> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
>> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>
> To keep sliced bananas from discoloring over 12 hours I'd coat them
> with fresh lemon juice and also freeze them... but to be perfectly
> honest your choice of a cut up fruit dish for 1000 people at a picnic
> is absolutely idiotic. At a picnic one serves whole fruit. For 1000
> people that is NOT a picnic, that's a MOB!

It won't be the only fruit up there. They suggested whole fruit, but I
like to do stuff, so I don't mind.

--
Yours,
Dan S.
There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
can't.

In article >,
Mr. Bill > wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:05:03 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> > wrote:
>
> >Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> >ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice.
>
> I like to use orange juice instead of lemon juice. OJ makes the
> bananas taste sweeter...got that hint from Rose Beranbaum Pie and
> Pastry Bible. She uses that for her Banana Crème Pie and the results
> are amazing. Beautiful bananas and the orange overtones of the juice.
>
When I make fruit salad, I cut some oranges into wedges. I cut the
fruit off the rind and then cut the fruit into pieces. That leaves a
little orange flesh still on the rind. I squeeze those into the
finished fruit salad and carefully toss. That keeps the other fruit
from browning.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

"DanS." wrote:
>
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>


You could just leave the bananas out entirely. If there's a nice mix of
fruit, no one will notice anyway. Keep apples/pears out of the mix too,
if you aren't adding citrus juice. They will also turn brown.

Otherwise, less ripe bananas won't mush out. Let them soak in citrus
juice or a bit of citric acid.

On Aug 3, 10:32*am, DanS.
> wrote:
> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. *I want to make a
> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." *Last year, I
> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
> just before serving. *I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? *Not sure
> dipping in lemon juice will work.

To seal the bananas from the air, make banana-stuffed Jello, and have
the attendants add a scoop to each serving.

Else use dried banana slices.

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> Nancy2 wrote:
> >
> > Freezing will make them mushy. Just buy ones that aren't yet super-
> > ripe and douse with a spritz of lemon juice. Actually, if you mix
> > them with the other fruits, they shouldn't discolor.
>
> I think crushing up some vitamin C pills, soaking
> them in water, then passing through a coffee filter
> would give you a more effective oxidation inhibitor
> than lemon juice. Both vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
> and citric acid are potent antioxidants, but I think
> vitamin C would do a better job.

If you're going to do that, just go to the health food store and buy a
bottle of crystalline powder ascorbic acid. There might be some legal
issues with doing that to serve to others though. I'd suggest that
oxygen removal / displacement is a safer route.

>"DanS." wrote:
>>
>> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
>> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
>> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>> dipping in lemon juice will work.


A THOUSAND people and a THOUSAND bananas... make everyone bend over so
you can shove those Chiquitas up their culos. Nanananan anana,
nanananannanana... ahahahahhahahahaha. . . . ****in' moroon!

"Pete C." > wrote in message
ster.com...

>
> If you're going to do that, just go to the health food store and buy a
> bottle of crystalline powder ascorbic acid. There might be some legal
> issues with doing that to serve to others though. I'd suggest that
> oxygen removal / displacement is a safer route.

I was kind of thinking that the addition of any vitamin supplement might
need to be disclosed to those eating it, but just eating fruit is also
introducing the natural form of the powdered supplement. But I wonder if
more is added as a preservative that some people might need to know it's
there?

Cheryl wrote:
>
> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> ster.com...
>
> >
> > If you're going to do that, just go to the health food store and buy a
> > bottle of crystalline powder ascorbic acid. There might be some legal
> > issues with doing that to serve to others though. I'd suggest that
> > oxygen removal / displacement is a safer route.
>
> I was kind of thinking that the addition of any vitamin supplement might
> need to be disclosed to those eating it, but just eating fruit is also
> introducing the natural form of the powdered supplement. But I wonder if
> more is added as a preservative that some people might need to know it's
> there?
>

In the commercial food world I think it would be an "undeclared
ingredient" as seen in many FDA recall notices.

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS.
> wrote:

>My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>
>It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>
>How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>dipping in lemon juice will work.

Were it me, I'd mix the sliced bananas with the peach pie filling then
add the rest of the fruit before serving. I don't think the bananas
would get mushy in that amount of time and coating them with the
filling would protect them from oxidizing.

koko
--

There is no love more sincere than the love of food
George Bernard Shaw

www.kokoscornerblog.com
updated 08/02/10
Watkins natural spices
www.apinchofspices.com

koko added the following to the totality of all human wisdom on
8/4/2010 in writing
> On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:32:04 -0400, DanS.
> > wrote:
>
>> My daughter's marching band's picnic is Saturday. I want to make a
>> fresh fruit salad - as her section is assigned "fruit." Last year, I
>> seem to recall the bananas got mushy between the start of practice -
>> 8am and the picnic at 8pm.
>>
>> It's just a bunch of fresh fruit cut up and mixed with peach pie fillng
>> just before serving. I'm sure the attendants won't want to cut my
>> bananas for me as there will be over 1000 people at the picnic.
>>
>> How can I keep the bananas white and not mushy that long? Not sure
>> dipping in lemon juice will work.
>
> Were it me, I'd mix the sliced bananas with the peach pie filling then
> add the rest of the fruit before serving. I don't think the bananas
> would get mushy in that amount of time and coating them with the
> filling would protect them from oxidizing.
>
> koko

This seems to be my favorite idea so far. Also, must admit, it's at
6pm. I mistyped. But 10 hrs/12 hrs, no difference.

--
Yours,
Dan S.
There are 10 kinds of people, those who can read binary and those who
can't.

On Tue, 3 Aug 2010 21:53:17 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:51:45 -0400, brooklyn1 wrote:
>
>> A THOUSAND people and a THOUSAND bananas... make everyone bend over so
>> you can shove those Chiquitas up their culos. Nanananan anana,
>> nanananannanana... ahahahahhahahahaha. . . . ****in' moroon!
>
> Sheldon's post-Crystal Palace and Hawaiian Punch posts are always
> good for a good roll of the eyes.
>
> -sw

that's when he hankers for anal antics.

your pal,
blake