How To Ripen Bananas

How to ripen bananas is something that many people do not think about when they purchase this fruit at the grocery store.  However, if you purchase bananas and they are not completely ripe you may be in a hurry to use them.  If this is the case, you may be wondering how you can ripen the bananas quickly so they can be consumed.  This article will explain briefly several different ways that you can ripen bananas.

The first thing to remember is that there are several degrees of ripeness when it comes to a banana.  The Chaquita banana company actually looks at seven different stages.  This is interesting to know if you are purchasing a banana and it looks good to you.  It may not actually be ripe.  Anyways, if you purchase the banana that is still green and you want to use it for baking purposes, it is going to take approximately one and a half days to ripen to the point that you can use it.  You can take a tomato or an apple and place them into a paper bag with the banana.  This is done to speed up the process of ripening because the tomato and the apple release gases that help this process along.  Keep an eye on your banana and in approximately 24 hours you should be able to cook with it.

Another tip for how to ripen bananas recommends that you take a cloth and dampen it.  You might want to use a dishtowel that is large enough to cover all of the bananas (if you have a bunch of them that are green).   You will then place all of this into a brown paper bag and seal it up.  The reason that the brown paper bag is recommended so much is because it traps the gases in the bag, causing the ripening to happen faster.  Using a plastic bag is not usually as effective because the gases can seep out of the bag.

If you are wondering how to ripen bananas that you are not going to need for a few days, you can simply leave them on your counter or hang them from a hook.  The bananas will ripen themselves; it is just much slower this way.  This may be the best way to do it if you are not going to need the bananas for a few days.  Hanging them is very similar to the banana hanging on the tree.  When they are on the tree they take several days to ripen to the point that consumers are ready to cook with them or eat them.  That is why they are usually still green when we purchase them.  The producers must take them off the trees at some point so that they can be shipped and sold.

Here is a tip on how to slow the ripening process down.  You would do this by placing the bananas in the refrigerator.  The cold temperatures will slow down the ripening process of the fruit.  If you have ever done this in the past you may have noticed that the peel of the banana becomes very black.  That is to be expected and it does not mean that your fruit is rotten.  Upon peeling, you will find that it is perfect and ready to eat.

You are always able to spend time looking around for the bananas that are ripe enough to use.  However, if you are not able to take the time to do this or you are ok with a green banana for a few days, you can follow these simple steps to speed up the process.  It does not take much to get a brown bag and an apple or tomato to prepare your fruit for use.