baking a loaf of perfect banana bread is
an
art as well as science and it often
needs some trial and error to get that
perfect look
and texture if you have retrieved your
banana bread from the oven
and it is too gummy tense mushy or
sunken in the middle there is not much
you can do now
but luckily most of these problems have
an easy solution
and with some simple changes and
adjustments you will get
perfect banana bread next time so
let's look at some of the most common
banana bread problems
and what may have caused them your
banana bread
is half raw and undercooked in the
middle
the first thing to do is to adjust the
oven temperature
or the cooking time if the loaf is
already golden brown
outside and still undercooked inside
then try lowering your oven temperature
by 50 degrees fahrenheit
or 10 degrees celsius some ovens just
run hot but this can also happen if the
temperature stated in your recipe
was meant for a gas oven but you are
using
an electric fan assisted oven when using
fan assisted ovens
cooking temperatures should generally be
reduced by around
50 to 68 degrees fahrenheit or 10 to 20
degrees celsius
this is because the fan in the oven
circulates hot air around the loaf
ensuring a more even temperature and
baking your bread
faster if you notice that your loaf is
browning before it is cooked in the
middle
loosely covering it with foil will
protect the surface from the direct heat
and allows more even baking throughout
to make sure your loaf is cooked inside
test your banana bread
by inserting a wooden toothpick or knife
into the middle
if it comes out clean and free of batter
it is done
if not leave it in the oven checking it
every 5 to 10 minutes
your banana bread is chewy and gummy
the bottom of the bread just doesn't
have that light fluffy texture
rather it is thick chewy and sticky
in most cases it could be that your loaf
was just not baked long enough
and could have used an extra 10 minutes
in the oven
however if that was not the case then
here are a few other things you could
consider
for example the ratio of liquid is too
much for the flour you used
the solution is to add more flour try
adding one tablespoon at a time
the batter texture should be a little
thicker than pancake batter
also the recipe may need you to add more
baking soda and baking powder
it gives the banana bread a light
texture and causes it to rise
and puff up a good rule is
1 teaspoon baking powder to 1 cup of
flour one
quarter teaspoon of baking soda to one
cup of flour
of course you don't want to use too much
of them either which could cause some
other problems which i will cover
shortly what also can cause your banana
bread to turn out
chewy or gummy is using frozen or
overly ripe bananas which can make your
loaf too
moist and gooey make sure to drain the
excess liquid from the mashed banana
too much liquid will give it that wet
gooey texture in the middle
your banana bread is dense and rubbery
this is always disappointing when your
loaf doesn't rise properly
and seems to be thick and heavy it could
still taste
okay but let's look at what went wrong
don't over
mix the cake batter it is more important
than you think
if you over mix the batter this can
create a very dense
loaf you want to gently fold in the dry
ingredients
try not to use an electric mixer or a
food processor
when over mixed it causes the gluten to
start developing
overdeveloped gluten will cause the
bread to have a chewy and rubbery
texture
your banana bread is flat or sunken in
the middle
very often this is down to incorrectly
measured ingredients
your batter might not have enough of the
dry ingredients
or too many wet ingredients when the
batter has more moisture content than it
should
and it lacks structural ingredients like
flour
that is the main cause of the cake to
rise and then collapse
also don't check on your banana bread
too early the reason is that the
temperature
needs to stay consistent when you let
the cooler air into the oven
it can mess with the bread's even
cooking making it sink
to solve this keep the door closed until
it seems
almost done then it's time to check also
too much baking soda or baking powder
could cause your loaf to collapse
you need to add them in proportion to
the other ingredients
in your recipe too little or too much
baking powder or baking soda
will lead to too little or too much gas
forming in your banana bread which will
make it not rise enough
or rise way too quickly and cause the
loaf to sink
the loaf completely collapsing in the
middle is due to the air
escaping from the still raw batter and
the middle part of the loaf
sinks back down if the problem you are
having with your banana bread was not
covered in this video
don't worry follow the link in the
description below this video
to my complete list of banana bread
troubleshooting
and solutions check it out now