The Trick to Keeping Your Bananas Fresh Longer
Image credit: Mashed on Youtube
It is an unpopular fact that many fruits and vegetables can be adequately stored in the refrigerator to help extend their shelf life. Produce like apples, berries, melons, and citrus keeps very well in the fridge. For other items like avocadoes, they should ripen on the countertop first before preparing them for preservation. Basically, there are many tips and tricks available for storing produce that isn’t ultimately used. For this blog, I will be sharing with you Mashed’s trick to keep your bananas fresh longer so that we can eat and use them fresh every time.
Bananas ripen because they produce ethylene gas, which is primarily in the stem and spreads to the rest of the fruit to help it ripen.
Materials:
- Bananas
- Freezer-safe bag
- Plastic wrap
- Knife
Directions:
Wrap the stems of a bunch of bananas with plastic wrap to slow their ripening.
However, it is better to wrap the stems of individual bananas in paper to keep them longer.
By wrapping it individually, there are fewer places for the ethylene gas to leak and ripen the bananas.
Frozen bananas can be kept for up to six months. One method of freezing the bananas is by flash freezing them after preparing them. First, peel the bananas and cut them into slices. Second, place the slices on a lined baking tray with baking sheets in a single layer.
Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a few hours. Once the slices have frozen, transfer them into a freezer-safe bag.
You can also simply peel the bananas, place them in a freezer-safe bag, and put them in the freezer.
Whatever way you decide to preserve them, it is best to make the most of your bananas by freezing them when they are just starting to get brown spots on the peels to maximize their sweetness.
