How do you always keep bananas on hand?

Ours get eaten rapidly. But we do have 4 boys, including 2 teenagers.

Ripe bananas can be frozen and used in banana bread, though. Mmmm, banana bread...

You need to separate the bananas from each other and they will ripen at different rates - I've heard that it has to do with the gas they give off as they ripen. I buy 5-6 at a time and put them in different places around my kitchen. They still ripen on a similar time frame, but not as quickly. Worth a try!

I freeze mine. Peel them, split in half and I always have bananas for my smoothies. I also make a great banana bread with no sugar added. You can also try to buy a few smaller bunches at different levels of ripeness.

augustremulous wrote: »

I buy them and none are ripe. Then they all get ripe on the same day. And the day following they're all too ripe.

Has anyone ever come up with a solution to having good bananas regularly? I always just hang around waiting for them to ripen (I haaaaate unripe bananas) and then eat one banana on the day they are good. Then the rest get composted.

Don't compost them - freeze them. Place your over ripe bananas in a ziplock bag & freeze. You don't have to peel them first, but you may find it easier.

(Thawed) frozen bananas can be used in yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, and baked goods.

I don't have solution, so I generally buy only a couple at a time.

I shop once a week so buy 7 at a time and just get 4 of greenest ones I can for the end of the week and 3 of the more ripened ones for the beginning.

I buy smaller quantities more frequently. So I shop on the weekend and I'll get 3-4, then maybe go back Wednesday or Thursday and get another few. Rinse and repeat weekly. Or if they go bad, I make banana bread with them and eat an apple instead!

There's usually a 3-day window where a banana is perfectly sweet and ripe to eat. I find it odd that a single day is the difference between a perfectly fine and spoiled banana for you.

I suggest selecting bananas at different stages of ripeness when you're at the store.

Also, how you store them makes a difference. Putting them in a paper bag and storing them in the top shelf of a cupboard will result in faster ripening. Leaving them out on the counter in a cool environment will slow the ripening process down. You can play around with this depending on how your place is set up.

Freeze ripe bananas for smoothies or ice cream. Or just use the ripe bananas you have on hand for a smoothie if you have the calories for it. I buy 60 a week and use 5-6 a day in smoothies, the rest for pre/post workout snacks. I rarely have to resort to freezing bananas because I have the process locked down to a science.

i wrap the stems with plastic wrap. . . trick i saw on youtube. seems to keep them from going spotty longer.

ktekc wrote: »

i wrap the stems with plastic wrap. . . trick i saw on youtube. seems to keep them from going spotty longer.

I do something similar to this. I buy green bananas and use the plastic bag they come in to wrap around the stem.

lisaepell wrote: »

You need to separate the bananas from each other and they will ripen at different rates - I've heard that it has to do with the gas they give off as they ripen. I buy 5-6 at a time and put them in different places around my kitchen. They still ripen on a similar time frame, but not as quickly. Worth a try!

It is the ethylene that is released. That's why if you put them together in a closed bag they will ripen even faster - they release ethylene which causes them to ripen faster...which releases more ethylene....

Best to keep them apart or on a handing rack that allows the gas to dissipate...

And yes, freeze them if they are getting too ripe. The best part is as they ripen the gain more banana flavour...the best banana to make a banana cream pie is a black banana!