Sunday, August 19, 2012

KEEP BANANAS LASTING LONGER

I am so excited about sharing this tip with you!  

I have seen a couple of different tips on Pinterest about how to keep bananas from ripening so quickly.  

BP (Before Pinterest) I had heard of things to do that I admit I have tried.  You know...like hanging them from a rook on a stand and also ... storing them in the refrigerator in a paper sack.  At the time both seemed to work.  With the latter one, the banana peeling turns dark, but the banana won't be as ripe as you would think they would be because of the dark peeling.  I'll admit though that I haven't used either of these methods in a number of years.  I have just been letting them get dark and cooking with them anyway.

Well, I recently decided to try one of the methods that I had seen on Pinterest and I am here to prove (with photos) that it works.

Here is the tip:  When you purchase a bunch of bananas, separate them from each other.

I bought a bunch of bananas that were just slightly green last Monday.  (I am sorry to say I didn't take a picture of them when I got home and pulled them apart....I promise I will do better next time.)  I separated them and put them in a bowl in the cabinet where I store my dishes. (The tip on Pinterest didn't say to put them in a cabinet, I just wanted to get them out of the way.)

This first picture was taken on Wednesday:









I decided to try a new banana bread recipe today and this is how they looked this afternoon (Sunday 6 days after I bought them).




When I peeled a banana for the recipe, this is what it looked like. 








Can you believe it?  You better.  

Normally, after a week.....well one day short of a week....the bananas would be black and worse yet, when you would peel the banana it would be brown and have black sections in it because of overripening. 

The 3 bananas I used  for the recipe were still firm to mash with my fork.  And the new banana bread recipe is definitely a keeper....
don't worry I will share it tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. Patricia I also experimented with bananas last week I bought a bunch and took one off and put it in a gallon zip bag I got out as much air as I could and let it set on the counter with the rest and 6 days after I first bought them the banana in the zip bag looked just like it did the day I brought them home still had some green on it too. The rest of the bananas all had brown spots on them. I couldn't believe my eyes. I will try your experiment next week. thanks evelyn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's really interesting Evelyn. My husband does that when he buys peppers. He stores them in the refrigerator crisper but he says they last longer in the bag. Even when the banana peelings turn black the bananas will still have some firmness. Thanks for sharing your experience.

      Delete