Getty Images / Vlad Serbanescu
Key Takeaways
Every baker has a favoritebanana bread recipeup their sleeve . Whether you prefer yoursclassicor loaded with unexpected ingredient likepeanut butter and jellyor evenWorcestershire sauce(yes , really ) , they all have one thing in common : utterly ripened bananas . But if you ’re not quite ready to get baking when you get home from the food market store , you might be inquire if there are any way to keep bananas freshly longer .
Kristy Baumann , RDN , possessor ofMarathon Nutritionistin Minneapolis - St. Paul , Minnesota
3 Ways to Keep Bananas Fresher for Longer
To find out , we tap Kristy Baumann , RDN , owner ofMarathon Nutritionistin Minneapolis - St. Paul , Minnesota . Here are three footfall she recommends follow to keep banana refreshed for as long as possible .
Choose the Right Bananas
First things first , it ’s important to look for the right banana at the grocery store . When bribe bananas , Baumann suppose to select them based on their ripeness and when you contrive to apply them . “ Green bananas will ripen at household while yellow bananas with tiny brown spots are quick to be eat up correctly away , ” she says . “ A banana is more often than not deliberate ripe when it ’s brightly yellow with brown specks . ” If you ’re wanting to eat them immediately , await for chicken banana that have some small browned post on their surface . If you design to waitress a few days to makeyour preferred banana tree bread , however , you ’ll want to choose for bananas that are n’t quite as advanced yet . That aver , make indisputable not to let your bananas mature past the point of no take — signs of spoiling admit brown or black sphere , a soupy texture , fluid escape , or a tangy , fermented smell .
Once you ’ve bring your banana tree home , you ’ll desire to make sureyou’re storing them properly . for slow down ripening , Baumann enunciate it ’s good to keep bananas in a coolheaded , dark position — the idealistic temperature is 54 ° F . If possible , hang bananas from a crotchet can forbid wound and slow up down ripening , and you should alsostore them separately from sure fruits . “ Keep bananas aside from fruits like orchard apple tree , Pyrus communis , and avocados if you do n’t want them to mature quick , ” Baumann says . “ These fruits naturally give off ethene gas , which makes banana tree ripen faster . ”
banana tree will keep at room temperature anywhere from 2 to 6 days , but you may also store them in the refrigerator or freezer to widen their shelf lifetime — just verify they ’re ripe first . “ It ’s best if the bananas are ripe before storing in the fridge as the cool environment stops the mature process , ” Baumann says . Ifstoring banana in the deep-freeze , make certain to peel them first . Baumann also recommends cutting banana into slices or pureeing them before freeze , make them sluttish to throw intosmoothiesdown the line .
Credit:Getty Images / Vlad Serbanescu
Wrap Banana Stems in Plastic
Occasionally , you might notice that the bananas you see at the grocery memory board are wrapped in plastic at the stem . This is because banana , like many other fruit , relinquish ethene petrol . Wrapping the root word in formative traps the ethene gas and prevents it from spreading to the rest of the fruit , slow down the ripening cognitive operation . If the banana tree you brought home from the store are n’t already wrapped in plastic , you may easily replicate this technique at home — just recrudesce off a piece of plastic wrapper and enfold it tightly around the stem of each banana tree .
