How do you keep bananas fresher longer?

[Disney8704]

Everytime we buy bananas they last for maybe 3-4 days and then they turn brown and get all mushy. How do you keep bananas to last longer? I keep reading online that putting them in the fridge after they have ripen will make them last for a couple more days. Has anyone tried that? Does it work?

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

I do put them in the fridge...usually I put a few in our "fruit bowl" on the table that will be used in the next couple of days, and the rest in the fridge. In the fridge, they turn REALLY brown & ugly, but the inside stays ripe. I haven't figured out how to keep them ripe on the inside and not brown on the outside, though....ideas?

 

[Nancyg56]

You can put them in the fridge but remember that the peel will turn brown. The banana will be fine, it just will not be pretty. I will use them for smoothies or baking, but I find that I cannot eat them.

The only "trick" that I have is to buy some green so that they are not all ripening at the same time.

 

[Par8hed]

I'm Chiquita Banana, and I've come to say
Bananas have to ripen in a certain way.
And when they are flecked with brown
and have a golden hue,
Bananas taste the best, and are the best for you.
You can put them in a salad. You can put
them in a pie - aye.
Anyway you want to eat them it's
impossible to beat them.
But bananas like the climate of the very,
very tropical equator.
So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator.

 

[ChrisFL]

I've heard putting them into a brown paper bag works

 

[KikiFan]

A banana tree really helps. It's a little stand with a hook that you hang the bananas on. Not having them laying down seems to slow the ripening process.

 

[merekc]

My mom recently bought some of the green vegetable bags and she is loving them. She says they really are making her fruits and veggies last longer.

 

[drivencrazy]

I thought that it was bad to put them in the frig... like they could make you sick?

We have a banana tree that we hang ours on and they do seem to last a bit longer... but my kids don't mind if they go a bit brown since they then turn into banana bread!

 

[hercamore]

I read somewhere that keeping each banana separate from each other helps keep them fresher. I've been dong that lately, and they do seem to last longer.


herc.

 

[DixieDolphin]

I've heard putting them into a brown paper bag works

Nonono! This will make them ripen /faster/!

Bananas give off ethylene gas (a plant hormone) as they ripen, which acts to stimulate /further/ ripening. If you trap them in an enclosed space (like a paper bag), the gas will accumulate and speed the ripening process.

You can use this to your advantage to help ripen things like tomatoes... when I pick near-ripe tomatoes off my plants, I generally toss them in a paper sack with a banana.. they ripen much faster!

But that won't help /slow/ the ripening process.

Your best bet is to buy a banana hanger (... not a speedo! ) and keep them in a well ventilated area to ensure that the ripening gases don't built up around them. And don't stick them in a pile of other fruit, as the gas will speed the other fruit's ripening up and will quickly cause it to spoil.

By the way, if you peel & wrap them tightly once full ripe.. you can also freeze them for later!

And you /can/ put them in the fridge (only if fully ripe, though!)... they WILL get ugly, but will still be edible. The cold will slow the ripening process some, but will encourage the 'blackening' enzymes in the skin.

=)

Edit: I can't believe I forgot to add this...

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

I was going to mention that about freezing bananas. I use them that way in smoothies (I have found that using frozen fruit eliminates the need to add ice). My FIL slices his and freezes them and eats them frozen. They are good that way. Like little cold pieces of candy.

 

[DoeWDW]

I agree with the banana tree. Any parts of the bananas that lay on a hard surface seem to ripen faster. A banana tree keeps that from happening.

 

[minniecarousel]

We've just recently started using the "green bags". They keep the bananas from ripening too soon. They seem to be working with cucumbers too. I took those out of the plastic wrap and put them in the green bag and back into the 'fridge.

 

[mmcguire]

We have been putting ours in the fridge for YEARS and it works great. They don't make you sick; trust me.

I buy them bright yellow w/a little green on the ends (no spots - blech!) and put them in the fridge right away. The cold puts them into "suspended animation" (they don't seem to get any riper).

Like earlier posters mentioned, they turn revolting and black on the outside, but when you peel them, ta-da!!! They are deliciously perfect on the inside. We cut up our previously-chilled 'nanners on cereal, sandwiches, in fruit salad -- whatever we'd do before they went into the fridge.

 

[dolphindan1]

I was going to mention that about freezing bananas. I use them that way in smoothies (I have found that using frozen fruit eliminates the need to add ice). My FIL slices his and freezes them and eats them frozen. They are good that way. Like little cold pieces of candy.

Freeze them and use them for some good banana pudding.....

 

[Ohiodislover]

Ha anyone tried those green bags for produce? I wonder if they work

As for bananas, they usually don't last long enough to spoil at our house. I tend to buy them at Sam's club--and they are quite green when I buy. I think everyone at our house eats at least one a day. If they do get too ripe. I just peel and freeze them for smoothies, pudding, and banana bread.

 

[Straitlover]

Green bags!!! My mother bought them from QVC, but I think theya re the same thing as the Debbie Meyer ones you can get at Bed Bath & Beyond or any store that sells the As Seen on TV stuff. Normally I can't buy more than 3 bananas at a time because I don't like them w/ any brown spots at all. W/ the green bags, I can buy a bunch and they will last for at least a week.