Help!, my banana bread always is soft in the middle!?

Question

I bake in a gas oven, a glass meatloaf pan with a bettycrocker receipte. It is always very raw in the middle, and burns the outside. Help. Once I just let it go, and the middle finally started to cook, and the outside was char. Ingrediate issues, pans, heat? I am almost giving up!

Answer 1

Your problem may be the recipe and/or the pan you're using. Here's a foolprof (almost) recipe that I use, but there are many, many recipes available, most indistinguishable from one another.

"Dry" Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans (optional)

"Wet" Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas, soft, darkly speckled, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
2 tbs rum (optional)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

PROCEDURE
1. Place oven rack in middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a regular metal loaf pan with butter and dust with flour.

2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and optional nuts together in large bowl; set aside.

3. Mix mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with wooden spoon in medium bowl. Fold banana mixture into dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is still thick and chunky. DO NOT OVERMIX. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan; bake until loaf is golden brown and wood skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove and transfer to wire rack.

Answer 2

You could put the banana bread in a pan filled with about an inch of water in the oven. This protects the bottom from burning and cooks the inside. youtube it. some chef recommended this. Turn your oven down to 325 instead of 350. Use baking pans that are light coloured metal instead of dark metal.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

Whenever you use a glass pan, turn your heat down 10º because the glass transmits the heat faster to the sides and top and that's why it's burning on the outside and not done on the inside.

Also, if you find that the outside is too done and there's no way you can cook any longer without burning the outside, then put the banana bread, in it's glass pan, in the microwave and zap it on high for 1-2 minutes. That will finish cooking the center without darkening the outside any further.


(I haven't had it burn before but I have had the center not done when the outside is a dark brown - the microwave worked for me.) Don't cook it in the microwave, just finish off the center. But the best bet with glass pans is to turn down the heat 10 degrees.

Answer 5

Also, try using a square cake pan rather than a loaf pan. I also get better results when I put the banana in a blender with about a fourth cup of mayo or sour cream - it keeps the cake moist and ensures that the banana it mixed in really well, which made a big difference in the texture which made a difference in the way it cooked. But the cake pan was the real trick.

Answer 6

It's a heat issue. In this case, the outside is cooking so fast that the inside doesn't have enough of a chance to warm up.

try lowering the heat about 25 degrees and increasing the bake time by 5-15 minutes. Use a toothpick to test doneness every 5 minutes. If you still have that problem, lower the temperature another 25 degrees and test every 5 minutes.

Answer 7

I would switch to foil bake pans. I use them and they bake a great banana loaf everytime. I was going to suggest that perhaps your oven was malfunctioning, but since you have a problem with the banana bread, I feel it might be the glass pan!

Answer 8

I would try not using a glass pan and use a regular metal pan (walmart stells them cheap) the glass must not be letting the heat in.

Answer 9

I'd change the shape & type of pan, make it shallower.
You also need to control the amount of flour so it's dryer.