Ripen Bananas Quickly

Sometimes you just need a ripe banana - whether it's for a particular recipe, or just because you're craving a ripe banana's sweet, creamy goodness. Whatever the reason, there are a couple of ways you can speed up the ripening process, quickly and easily. The paper bag method is best for bananas you wish to eat, whereas the oven method is perfect for bananas used in recipes. Read on to find out how to do both!

Steps

In a Paper Bag

  1. Gather a brown paper bag, the bananas you wish to ripen and an apple or tomato. By placing the bananas in a brown paper bag with another fruit, you will maximize the amount of ethylene gas released. Ethylene gas is the substance fruit produces as it ripens. This will help to substantially speed up the ripening process, giving you smooth, creamy bananas.
  2. Place bananas at the bottom of the bag.
  3. Place the tomato and/or apple next to the bananas. Make sure the tomato is not overripe so it doesn't burst or mold in the paper bag. If you don't have an apple or tomato, a pear will also do the trick.
  4. Seal the bag. Roll down or fold the top of the paper bag to seal in the ethylene gas produced by the fruit.
  5. Place the paper bag containing the fruit in a warm spot. Higher temperatures cause fruits to release more ethylene gas, which will speed up the ripening process even further.
  6. Leave the bananas overnight. Leave the bananas and other fruit in the paper bag overnight. Check the bananas in the morning to see if they have reached the desired level of ripeness. If not, roll the bag up again and check the bananas every 12 hours until they become ripe enough.
    • You should be able to ripen green bananas using the paper bag method to the point where they have yellow skins, or yellow skins speckled with brown spots, within 24 hours.

In the Oven

  1. Preheat your oven to {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}. If your oven has a light, turn it on so you can keep a close eye on your bananas.
  2. Place the bananas you wish to ripen on a baking sheet. Don't overcrowd them, three or four bananas to a baking sheet is usually enough. Note that this method will not work for completely green bananas, they will need to be almost ripe (yellow in color) for best results.
  3. Cook the bananas in the oven. How long you need to leave the bananas in the oven will depend on what you intend to use them for.
  4. If you want to use the bananas in a recipe, leave them to cook for an hour. If you leave the bananas in the oven for an hour, the skins will turn completely black and the fruit will be perfect for using in smoothies and baking recipes, such as banana bread.
  5. If you want to eat the bananas on their own, take them out after 20 minutes. If you leave the bananas in the oven just long enough for the skins to turn a darker yellow, without any dark spots forming, you will be able to eat them on their own. This should take about 20 minutes, but make sure to watch them closely in oven so you can take them out at exactly the right time.
    • Once you have removed the bananas from the oven, place them in the refrigerator to cool down and halt the ripening process. Eat once completely cool.

Tips

  • Bananas in bunches will ripen more quickly than individual bananas.
  • Hang bananas from a hook to simulate hanging from a tree to allow your bananas to ripen more slowly over 2 to 3 days if you do not need them ripe right away.
  • Place bananas in the refrigerator to halt the ripening process.

Warnings

  • Don't place unripe bananas in the refrigerator if you want them to continue ripening later. The cold temperature disrupts the ripening process, and after you remove them from the refrigerator, the bananas may not resume ripening.
  • Although some people prefer their bananas green or with green tips, unripe bananas can be more difficult to digest, due to their high starch content.

Things You'll Need

  • Unripe bananas
  • Paper bag
  • Ripe tomato
  • Ripe apple
  • Baking sheet

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Sources and Citations

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