Bananas: Types, Storage, Ripening/Stages of Ripeness, Preferences

[cookaburra]

As bananas are not as cheap as they used to be here in Australia due to a cyclone ealier this year that knocked out most of the plantations,I thought I had found a bargin purchasing a bunch of green bananas.Two weeks later they are still green and hard.

I have not tried putting them in a brown paper bag with a ripe fruit as I figured they would ripen soon enough.

Does this sometimes happen to poor quality bananas?

PS.The price of bananas has finally begun to drop from the previous mark of $12/kg back down to about $5/kg. They used to be $2/kg before the cyclone.

[Reefpimp]

Mist them with a little bit of fresh water before putting them in the bag. 2-3 days they should be bright and sunny.

[NancyH]

I have also learned that temperature matters - if your flat is cold, put them in the warmest spot you can find.

[cookaburra]

They have been in a warm spot for two weeks.I think I'll have to try the paper bag trick

[GTO]

cookaburra - I've read many times also, that if you place an apple in the bag with the bananas, they it will speed up the process, since the apple gives off ethylene gas which ripens the bananas faster.

[srhcb]

Here's the technical dope on ripening bananas.

Notice that bananas that were picked before the green-mature stage and/or exposed to temps below 58 for even s short while may never ripen properly.

SB (likes the nice black ones for Banana Bread! )

[jmolinari]

i've found that if the bananas are too green when i buy them sometimes they seem to go right from green to brown spotted over ripe with no yellow stage in between.

[budrichard]

Are you sure you didn't purchase plantains?-Dick

[cookaburra]

Are you sure you didn't purchase plantains?-Dick

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Yes they are not plantains.I think they were picked too early and may have experienced some temperatures not agreeable to the ripening process prior to my purchase.

Thanks sb.I'll checkout the technical dope

[Bonnie Ruth]

I was told by a grocer at my organic foods grocery that organic bananas sometimes don't ripen because they have not been treated with some chemical that makes conventional bananas ripen.

[scubadoo97]

I grow bananas in my back yard and they are as organic as it gets. I don't do anything to them except throw some leaves at the base to mulch them. They ripen with no chemical additives. Never had a problem once they were cut from the tree. They even ripen on the tree if I forget to check on them.

Edited January 2, 2007 by scubadoo97 (log)

[Bonnie Ruth]

Wow! Where do you live that you can grow bananas in your back yard?

[k43]

Do the unthinkable and put them in your refrigerator. The skin turns brown, but the banana inside ripens overnight.

[Bonnie Ruth]

Speaking of putting bananas in the refrigerator, I learned a trick some years ago. If you put bananas in a WHITE plastic bag at the bottom of the refrigerator, they will keep without turning black (or at least without turning black so fast). I don't do this before they are ripe because it slows the ripening so much.

[Kent Wang]

http://www.bananabunker.com/

What I want to know is of the four colours available, why is yellow not one of them?

[prasantrin]

Ribbed for your pleasure!

I think yellow is taken care of with the clear one--the yellow of banana shows through making it look, well, yellow.

I prefer the banana guard, and they do seem to be catching on in Japan. The last time I was at Tokyu Hands, they were running low on them. Interestingly, I've never seen any of my students or anyone else bring a banana to school (other than me, that is), which makes me wonder who's buying them...

[SuzySushi]

I prefer the banana guard, and they do seem to be catching on in Japan.  The last time I was at Tokyu Hands, they were running low on them.  Interestingly, I've never seen any of my students or anyone else bring a banana to school (other than me, that is), which makes me wonder who's buying them...

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From the list of outlets on the website, it would appear bicyclists and golfers!

[Kim Shook]

Ok, I have the giggles now.

Yes, I am 8.

[jeniac42]

Even in this fast paced economy, these products create the possibility of eating fresh fruit whenever the consumer wishes.

Uh... huh.

*snicker*

Kim, I'm right there with you. I'm not sure I ever made it past age 7, though. Banana Bunker indeed.

[Kris]

Ok, I have the giggles now. 

Yes, I am 8.

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Then I must be 7.

[andiesenji]

There was a similar product mentioned on a thread here perhaps two years ago.

As I recall, it was not offerend in colors - just translucent plastic.

[DerekW]

Hmmm.

BananaGuard [or a close facsimile] is also available in 'glow in the dark'.

For when you really need to be able to find your banana in the dark, presumably.

[Domestic Goddess]

I guess I am 5 then. I rolling on the floor, dying with laughter...

[Syrah]

Hmmm.

BananaGuard [or a close facsimile] is also available in 'glow in the dark'.

For when you really need to be able to find your banana in the dark, presumably.

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I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe.

[Kim Shook]

Mr. Kim says that he would like to buy one, but they aren't big enough for his bananas !

You know this thread is going to be deleted, right?