Community Chat

[sidsmom]

My raw foodies live on bananas, so I take their answers like gospel.

Not ripening: picked too early, missed the ethylene gas chamber, exposed to cold during transit...also not removing them from their plastic bags during transit can cause them to rot & not ripen.

Stop ripening: if buying a bunch, cover the end (were they connect) with plastic wrap; if buying a bunch, separate them & place each away from each other; freezing is an option if ripening too fast (for smoothies).

Buy organic bananas if you can budget....there's a big difference..very sweet & creamy compared to the Dole @ the generic supermarket.

BTW: if you by "ripe" bananas @ the store, to get them at the proper ripe stage @ their sweetest, add on another week after you buy...they'll look funky & brown, but they are the sweetest. The Produce Manager might have discounted bananas for $.25-$.35/pound that are "too ripe" , but that's when my food budget is stretched....I can get a mountain of naners of a couple bucks...they are PERFECT at that stage!

[Lion]

I buy them green-ish and only leave them on the counter for 24 hrs. Then they go into the refrigerator. They last a good two weeks. They last 3 wks if you don't mind them getting a little bit soft at that point.

The outside will darken but the inside is just fine. I try to grocery shop only every 2 weeks or so. This has solved the banana problem for me.

[clemintine]

I have a theory that runs through my head EVERY time I buy fruit or produce. The stores are soooo cold that things stall, but we take them to our warm cozy home and they jump start to ripe!

I buy green bananas, get maybe 3 days of good eating. Soooo, I buy 3 or 4 at a time. It's a given that I will at least be in a small market or convenience store in the next few days and can replenish. I eat one every day. ARE THEY NOW SAYING BANANAS CONTRIBUTE TO BELLY FAT? Did I see that?

[hennypenny]

there used to be a banana farm near our house. The town (la conchita) had a terrible landslide and the farm closed down shortly after. The bananas were wonderful!

[BellaPaprika]

On 3/31/2014 sophiamarie said:

We all know that bananas go through a lot of processes before they hit our table. They are picked, cleaned, disinfected, sorted, sent to our stores, etc......

Soooooo, how come when i buy a bunch of GREEN (and I mean GREEN) bananas, in two days, they are ready to be thrown away???? They are all soft and mushy.

Does anyone know how I can keep bananas longer than a few days??? I tried the paper bag trick but that just makes them look okay on the outside but still mushy on the inside. TIA

This may just be a Florida thing - I don't know. Or, it could be where I keep them on the counter. Too much light???

OP, you do know that the "paper bag trick" is to speed up the ripening don't you?

[CouponQueen]

On 3/31/2014 BlueCollarBabe said:

On 3/31/2014 sophiamarie said:

We all know that bananas go through a lot of processes before they hit our table. They are picked, cleaned, disinfected, sorted, sent to our stores, etc......

Soooooo, how come when i buy a bunch of GREEN (and I mean GREEN) bananas, in two days, they are ready to be thrown away???? They are all soft and mushy.

Does anyone know how I can keep bananas longer than a few days??? I tried the paper bag trick but that just makes them look okay on the outside but still mushy on the inside. TIA

This may just be a Florida thing - I don't know. Or, it could be where I keep them on the counter. Too much light???

OP, you do know that the "paper bag trick" is to speed up the ripening don't you?

That is what I thought..when I read her post I was thinking to myself "uh oh..I have been doing it wrong????" lol

[terrier3]

I notice that this happens at certain times of the year.

Right now we are experiencing the green one day, brown the next problem.

I wonder if this has to do with bananas and their harvest seasons????

[redtabby]

I peel and freeze any that are getting too ripe, they are perfect in smoothies.

[sidsmom]

On 3/31/2014 terrier3 said:

I notice that this happens at certain times of the year.

Right now we are experiencing the green one day, brown the next problem.

I wonder if this has to do with bananas and their harvest seasons????

terrier...I believe you're up in the Northeast correct? With your crazy weather coldwarmcoldwarmcold this winter, I bet you didn't have a nice crop of naners, yes? Might be the reason they're green one day, brown the next.

[lulu2]

On 3/31/2014 LImom said: When you get them home, immediately separate them from the bunch. They will stop ripening, and last longer. I swear this works. Try it. My grandmother taught me this when I was a kid.

Interesting. I see all those poor, single, over ripen bananas at the grocery store looking so unwanted until a baker comes along.