Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Works-For-Me Wednesday ~ Bananas

bananas 2bananas 1


 

**This post is updated below with my solution to the problem.**

I have got a banana dilemma and a theory. For the "Works-For-Me Wednesday" group I'm posing a question to my readers, and it might be a tough one. I am the only one at my house who eats bananas because Rich won't touch fruit unless it has been juiced or comes in a bottle and called a smoothie. I'd like to eat them just about every day. The problem is if I buy a bunch of 5 bananas, they ripen too quickly before I can ever eat all of them.

So my theory is (because I've thought long and hard about this) the bunch ripens even more quickly as bananas are pulled from the stem. Has anyone noticed this or know it to be a fact? I am not one to pull bananas from a bunch in the produce department, but I know other shoppers do because I've seen one or two lonely bananas lying there. Alone. Helpless. No one choosing them because they look too forlorn, having been separated from their bunch. I believe bananas were meant to travel in their bunch. It's like a buddy system to make their way from the tree to my kitchen counter. But I digress... These are pictures I took of my bunch of 5, which I bought last Thursday. Five days later this is what they look like, and I'm not going to eat them. If you do the math, that means I only got to eat 2.

Anyway, whether or not you pull your bananas off the bunch in the produce department because you want to pick and choose the perfect ones, I want to know how to slow down the ripening process. I want to buy a bunch of 5 bananas and be able to EAT 5 bananas before they turn to mush. Can you help me? What works for you?

**I have taken the suggestion of one of my readers and put my bananas into a zip bag.  It will keep them fresh for a week.  If you want to read another post on this update go here.

7 comments:

  1. well, I've got a gremlin who eats a banana a day, so presently, we don't have this problem. Hope you get some good answers!

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  2. You can put them in the fridge. The peel will darken BUT the fruit part will stay firm. :)

    Also you can just put them in the freezer, unpeel them and stick in the freezer whole...then you can make smoothies with them or melt some chocolate and dip your frozen banana in the chocolate for a delightful treat! :)

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  3. I wonder the same thing! I've heard the unpeeling and sticking them in the freezer thing, but i never end up doing it.

    I'll be checking back to see what other good advice you get!

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  4. also...

    do you notice if it matters WHERE you put them? I have these weird bamboo placemats and one time my bananas were on there and I swear they ripened faster!

    Is it just me?

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  5. I sorta wonder about WHERE you place them, too. If they are on top of the microwave, they definitely ripen faster. Placing them near heat sources seems to be a factor.

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  6. http://www.greenbags.com/

    Absolutely wonderful!!! You will thank me :)

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  7. Oh, I know it's been months but I'm glad you asked this question. Until a few weeks ago, I would have said 'green bags'. But then I read that bananas actually ripen faster ON the bunch because, when one starts the process, it generates gases that travel banana to banana, speeding up the process. So I tried it. Break the bananas apart the minute you buy them. Store them at room temperature. What what happens. I was amazed that my last banana was just as good as the first....firm and perfect.

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