How to Slow Banana Ripening

We buy a lot of bananas. I don’t eat many of them, but my husband eats them like there’s no tomorrow. Keeping them fresh has always been an issue and I often end up with a lot of them in the freezer. So for me…I either make banana bread or a lot of banana “pretend” ice cream. It’s really pretty good, so I’m not complaining!

I recently ran across a simple trick that works for keeping bananas fresh longer. Wrap the stems in plastic wrap. Really. Why does this work? The gas that they release that enhances ripening of fruit is released through the stems. So wrapping the stems tightly in plastic wrap slows the release of the gas and allows the fruit to stay fresh longer! Simple and easy.

You could wrap the stems of a bunch of bananas together, which works fairly well. However, in this case it’s really hard to make it tight because of the gaps between the bananas at the bottom of the stems.

It’s much more effective to separate the bananas and wrap each stem individually. The seal is much tighter and hence, more effective. The bananas are in a “grab-and-go” state, so they will keep longer and be ready for you when you want them. No they won’t keep forever, but they will certainly last longer then if the stems were not wrapped.

Try it!!! It REALLY works!

Judi

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