I can't find this ingredient ANYWHERE - Why is it so hard to find???

happysquidmuffin
happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
edited November 9 in Food and Nutrition
I really want to be able to make my own bananas & cream instant oatmeal packets - but one ingredient is just so damn hard to find: powdered banana or dried banana flakes.

The one or two websites I can find that actually have it in stock charge absolutely ridiculous shipping prices unless you order $50 at a time. I don't need 5+ pounds of this stuff! It might not even work the way I want it to, so I don't want to waste $50+ on an experiment that doesn't even work out.

Has anyone ever been able to find banana powder in a whole foods store? If so, where?

What ingredients have you had trouble finding or purchasing at a reasonable price?
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Replies

  • audsLDN
    audsLDN Posts: 22 Member
    Could you mill dried banana chips as they're pretty easy to find? (In the UK anyway)

    I go for easy recipes so don't usually need things that are hard to find :)
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
    I have seen banana powder in my local health food store, so I would assume you'd be able to find it at Whole Foods. I can't say for certain though - but did you ask someone there?
  • lauranelson779
    lauranelson779 Posts: 18 Member
    Could you put banana chips through a coffee grinder or food processer? I find almost everything but the basics impossible to find. I live in a rural northern area. It's an hour drive to a "city" (more of a town, but it does have 2 grocery stores and a walmart) and a 2hour drive to anything specialty in a real city. Needless to say I get creative
  • SamLD88
    SamLD88 Posts: 111 Member
    I ran into this problem with honey-mustard seasoning (I wanted to make chips) and I still haven't found a good answer. For packets though, why not add everything but the bananas and then just bring 1/2 banana to make it? Also, have you tried some of the crazy prepper places? They often have dried ingredients.
  • FitFroglet
    FitFroglet Posts: 219 Member
    it looks like you can get them from amazon http://www.amazon.com/Nana-Flakes-Natural-Banana-Powder/dp/B00HJUHR28 but I'd be more tempted to do what audinaries suggested and just by any dried banana and whizz it up in a food processor or coffee grinder...
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
    Banana Powder is not something that can be bought where i live. I learned to dehydrate food and then grind it to make interesting things like that.

    Be careful if you buy banana chips. The ones you get in stores that are crunchy are coated in honey and dried or deep fried. Yummy but a surprise if you want to make low cal or low sugar recipes.

    If you dehydrate banana, it turns brown and dries like a fruit leather unless you coat it. It tastes yummy but looks different than what most people are used to. Its great to slice, dry and then cut up with kitchen scissors.

    I buy a lot of things on amazon when i can't find it local.
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
    samdavis88 wrote: »
    I ran into this problem with honey-mustard seasoning (I wanted to make chips) and I still haven't found a good answer. For packets though, why not add everything but the bananas and then just bring 1/2 banana to make it? Also, have you tried some of the crazy prepper places? They often have dried ingredients.

    Hey now, not all preppers are crazy. I prep for periods of unemployment rather than apocalypse. Wait, i am a little crazy but not cuz i do that lol
  • happysquidmuffin
    happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
    The problem with grinding up banana chips is this: banana chips are processed with oil, and I want to avoid the added oils if possible. I don't find it necessary to add the extra fat, when I could use a natural dried powder product (IF I could find it). Also I don't drink coffee so I don't have a coffee grinder :) I've done creative things with my blender, but I don't think it'd work well on banana chips.
    Of course I could just mash a fresh banana into my oatmeal, but there are a few other uses for banana powder I want to try as well. And the point of "instant oatmeal packets" is that they are INSTANT and shelf-stable. But thanks for the comments so far.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Maybe get some freeze dried bananas to process. Try looking in camping sections.
    I saw some banana powder on Amazon so you might check there to see if the price suits you.
  • happysquidmuffin
    happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
    samdavis88 wrote: »
    I ran into this problem with honey-mustard seasoning (I wanted to make chips) and I still haven't found a good answer. For packets though, why not add everything but the bananas and then just bring 1/2 banana to make it? Also, have you tried some of the crazy prepper places? They often have dried ingredients.
    What do you mean by "crazy prepper places"? Is there an actual store called Crazy Prepper or can you clarify please?

  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
    happysquidmuffin wrote: »
    samdavis88 wrote: »
    I ran into this problem with honey-mustard seasoning (I wanted to make chips) and I still haven't found a good answer. For packets though, why not add everything but the bananas and then just bring 1/2 banana to make it? Also, have you tried some of the crazy prepper places? They often have dried ingredients.
    What do you mean by "crazy prepper places"? Is there an actual store called Crazy Prepper or can you clarify please?

    There are 1000's of stores online (and brick & mortar) that specialize in prepping supplies

    Most people view preppers as crazy. Probably because a majority of them are preparing for unlikely scenarios.
  • CarrieCans
    CarrieCans Posts: 381 Member
    Quick search found this...

    http://www.iherb.com/Nutri-Fruit-Banana-Powder-5-0-oz-142-g/42000?ds_e_ad_type=pla&gclid=CjwKEAiA5qOlBRDAn8K5qen65joSJADRvlbqAsRVRZUUsDVnIh7AnBaIRmDDcg4Q6A86NcFM03yUuxoC5Nrw_wcB

    and this

    http://shop.honeyville.com/freeze-dried-bananas.html?gclid=CjwKEAiA5qOlBRDAn8K5qen65joSJADRvlbqmBXFpLHKE6VWX5BRbd1i-eBVgBDIat58VtAGKWJcfRoCahTw_wcB
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    edited January 2015
    To the suggestions above, just be aware that the banana 'powder' is probably freeze dried banana rather than banana chips, which are dried by the normal dehydration method. You could grind banana chips up, but it wouldn't be the same - the moisture content in them would probably clog up a spice grinder.

    -Edit: In Australia they're pretty hard to find. It took me ages to get freeze dried raspberry powder; heaven forbid how long it would take to get banana powder. I wish we had Amazon Australia, instead of having to use the UK or US sites.
  • LAMCDylan
    LAMCDylan Posts: 1,218 Member
    If you had a dehydrator you could make your own.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    edited January 2015
    Gotta love prepper-marts. Spendy as hell, though I don't deny the convenience of their food. Order up a sample pack of goodies that includes banana powder and use the rest for those 'ugh what can I realistically bring to that' situations. Chances are, you'll run into enough of 'em to use it all by the time the stuff is no longer good.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Here's another source: http://edisongrainery.com/store/sweets/64-organic-banana-flakes.html

    When you are looking for strange ingredients, Google is your friend. You can usually find someone who is selling whatever it is. Amazon is also a good source. There are lots of Bob's Red Mill products, for example, that aren't regularly on the store shelves so we order them via Amazon.
  • Gwennie60
    Gwennie60 Posts: 19 Member
    http://www.wikihow.com/Dehydrate-Bananas This recipe is for dehydrating bananas in your oven in case you do not have a food dehydrator (which you can usually find for right around $35-50 for a 5 rack inexpensive dehydrator). If you make them crispy you can grind them in your food processor as long as you have a fine grind attachment (nutri bullet, ninja, vitamix should all be able to do this for you just fine) if you do not have a blender with a fine grind attachment, I would suggest getting a coffee grinder even though you do not drink coffee. The grinders are very inexpensive and you can likely find one at the second hand store but a local store should carry them (I have found them in the grocery store from time to time). OR you can order one on Amazon.com. They will run about $15 as you do not need anything fancy pants for grinding banana crisps.

    I hope this in some way helps. It's a big pain in the you-know-what when you can't find the ingredients you want but there is always a way to get creative. It's not convenient but it is do-able. Good luck!
  • Sdrotty
    Sdrotty Posts: 9 Member
    do you have a trader joes around you? they sell freeze dried bananas that you could easily pound into powder, or leave as in the oatmeal. worth a shot!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    mash banana, spread it thin and place in a dehydrator.

    Take it out once fully dried.
    Grind it in a spice/coffee mill

    Use the resulting banana powder.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    Maybe get some freeze dried bananas to process. Try looking in camping sections.
    I saw some banana powder on Amazon so you might check there to see if the price suits you.

    (*)
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    happysquidmuffin wrote: »
    samdavis88 wrote: »
    I ran into this problem with honey-mustard seasoning (I wanted to make chips) and I still haven't found a good answer. For packets though, why not add everything but the bananas and then just bring 1/2 banana to make it? Also, have you tried some of the crazy prepper places? They often have dried ingredients.
    What do you mean by "crazy prepper places"? Is there an actual store called Crazy Prepper or can you clarify please?

    Honestly, I think "Crazy Prepper" would be an awesome name for a store. Hilarious! My mom would shop there and she'd probably be amused by the name, too. (*)
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    You can order it from Amazon, no problem.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    happysquidmuffin wrote: »
    I really want to be able to make my own bananas & cream instant oatmeal packets - but one ingredient is just so damn hard to find: powdered banana or dried banana flakes.

    T[bT]he one or two websites I can find that actually have it in stock charge absolutely ridiculous shipping prices unless you order $50 at a time. I don't need 5+ pounds of this stuff! It might not even work the way I want it to, so I don't want to waste $50+ on an experiment that doesn't even work out.[/b]

    Has anyone ever been able to find banana powder in a whole foods store? If so, where?

    What ingredients have you had trouble finding or purchasing at a reasonable price?

    Something I noticed when Googling to see what else I might be able to find for you is that it's being used for make up products now. Banana powder to make your own makeup and other beauty products, which might be the reason for the high cost?
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    You can order it from Amazon, no problem.
    happysquidmuffin wrote: »
    The one or two websites I can find that actually have it in stock charge absolutely ridiculous shipping prices unless you order $50 at a time. I don't need 5+ pounds of this stuff! It might not even work the way I want it to, so I don't want to waste $50+ on an experiment that doesn't even work out.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited January 2015
    Amazon says its about $5 for standard delivery in the US.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    sarahtude wrote: »
    do you have a trader joes around you? they sell freeze dried bananas that you could easily pound into powder, or leave as in the oatmeal. worth a shot!

    This is just what I was going to say - TJs has freeze-dried fruit. They have bananas and other options too, so you could vary your packets (blueberries, strawberries, and mango I think).
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    I'm just going to say, if you don't mash them before you dry them, and ensure the dried mass is very thin, you may have the surprise opportunity to buy a new food processor.
  • pscarolina
    pscarolina Posts: 133 Member
    haha I am a buyer for a spice/seasoning company & look for this stuff every day (in bulk though...like pallet quantities of dried raspberry) It is quite a challenge to find & I'm thinking you may find the banana powder has fillers like sipernat or flo-gard in it to keep it from clumping. I'd attempt making my own if I needed a small quantity.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    I found banana powder on amazon- $20 plus $5 shipping for 1 lb. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00HDS8BWQ/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all&sr=1-1&qid=1420557553

    Alternately, there are other ways. You can make the oatmeal in a large batch using real banana and then individually portion and freeze servings of it. All you would have to do to prepare is thaw on the counter/in the fridge and/or microwave.

    This blogger uses dehydrated banana slices:
    http://amomknowsbest.com/2011/06/make-your-own-instant-oatmeal-packets/

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    pscarolina wrote: »
    haha I am a buyer for a spice/seasoning company & look for this stuff every day (in bulk though...like pallet quantities of dried raspberry) It is quite a challenge to find & I'm thinking you may find the banana powder has fillers like sipernat or flo-gard in it to keep it from clumping. I'd attempt making my own if I needed a small quantity.

    Can I be your friend? I'd like to have a contact at a spice company... ;)
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