Sure, bananas are good for us, but they can be frustrating, too. You're ready to mash a couple to make banana muffins or throw pieces in a blender for a smoothie, but there they sit on the kitchen counter: bitter, hard, and green. If only there was a way to figure out how to ripen bananas fast so they're ready when you are.
There is! We consulted a produce expert who shared how to ripen bananas overnight. If you have more time, she also tells us how to ripen them in 1 to 2 days or, if you're in a hurry, in mere hours. If you have the opposite problem, we offer tips for the best way to store a ripe banana to slow down its ripening process, and one may surprise you!
Produce expert Lori Taylor is the founder and CEO of The Produce Moms, an online community committed to getting more fruits and vegetables on every table.
Ripening in 1 to 2 Days
If you need ripe or overripe bananas in a day or two, but going natural won't get you there, Taylor suggests you brown-bag them. She explains that, as bananas mature, they emit ethylene, a gaseous hormone that accelerates ripening. When stored in a paper bag—like a brown paper lunch bag or paper grocery bag—ethylene concentrations increase, so the ripening process goes quicker. Paper also allows oxygen to enter, which is another requirement for ripening.
"What about a plastic bag?" you ask. You might assume a plastic bag would have the same effect as a paper one, but you'd be wrong. Storing bananas in plastic slows down the ripening process because it inhibits oxygen circulation, which you now know is vital in the ripening process.
Overnight Ripening
If the 2-day ripening technique is too slow, you can speed up the process by adding a different piece of fruit—namely an apple, apricot, avocado, or pear—to the bag. These fruits emit high levels of ethylene gas, so storing them with bananas hastens their ripening process. Other fruits in this high-ethylene category are cantaloupe,mangoes, prunes, papaya, plums, and tomatoes.
All fruits are not equally effective when it comes to emitting ethylene gas. It won't speed up ripening if you add citrus, blueberries, watermelons, grapes, strawberries, cherries, or raspberries to your banana-filled brown bag because those fruits produce minimal amounts of ethylene gas.
Ripening in 1 to 2 Hours
If you're going to bake with bananas—or need a mushy, sweet one for any other reason—and can't wait a day, Taylor shared an even quicker method for ripening a banana. She suggests placing whole, unpeeled bananas on a sheet pan and baking them at 300°F for 1 hour. Since the bananas may leak, line the baking pan with parchment or silicone for easy cleanup.
This fast banana ripening technique turns the peel black, but the inside comes out soft, sweet, and delicious. Cool the very ripe bananas in the refrigerator, peel them, and then add them to your banana bread batter or smoothie.
Stages of Ripeness
At which stage is banana ripeness ideal? You're probably thinking about a fruit with perfectly yellow skin, not too firm and not too mushy, to simply peel and eat. But perfect banana ripeness depends on one's personal preferences, dietary needs, and culinary intentions:
- An underripe or green banana has less sugar and more fiber than a ripe one, so anyone looking to lower their blood sugar or increase their fiber intake may opt for one short of perfectly ripe. Also, if you intend to fry or sauté bananas, the firmer ones hold up better to heat.
- An overripe or brown banana has a sweeter taste and moister texture, so they're best for mashing or blending into dishes as a natural sweetener. Besides their higher sugar content, they're also easier to digest and deliver more antioxidants than less-ripe bananas.
How to Slow Down Banana Ripening
If you have a banana at near-perfect ripeness but are not ready to deal with it yet, Taylor says the most effective way to slow down the ripening process is to place it in a brown bag and store it in the refrigerator. The peel may brown but the fruit will ripen at a much slower pace and maintain its current stage of ripeness for up to one week.
Don't throw out thosebanana peels! They're perfect for fertilizing roses. Just flatten a peel and bury it under 1 inch of soil at the base of a rose bush. The peel's potassium feeds the plant and helps it resist disease.
Here are some other tricks for storing bananas that slow down ripening, albeit not as slow as refrigeration:
- Leave the stems of the bunch intact, and cover the top 2 to 3inches in plastic wrap.This slows ripening by preventing ethylene from traveling down the banana.
- Hang your bananas on a banana hanger.Those cute hangers keep bananas from taking up valuable kitchen counter space, but, more importantly, they promote air circulation, enabling ethylene gas to move away from the bananas so they ripen more slowly.
- Keep bananas 2 to 3 feet away from other ethylene-emitting fruits such as apples, apricots, avocados, cantaloupe,mangoes, prunes, papaya, pears, plums, and tomatoes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you freeze bananas?
Yes, bananas freeze nicely at any range of ripeness. Taylor recommends peeling bananas, sealing them in a plastic bag or airtight container—whole or in chunks—and then storing them in the freezer for up to 2 months (for best results).
Note that if you freeze unripe bananas, they will not continue their ripening process once they're defrosted.
Learn More:Can You Freeze Bananas?
Can you speed up the banana ripening process using the microwave?
No, a microwave is not effective for ripening a banana. The microwave can soften a too-hard banana, but it doesn't accelerate the ripening process—the conversion from starches to sugars—the way an oven does because an oven uses consistent, dry heat. Microwaves heat bananas too fast for ripening to take place.
However, a microwave may be suitable for defrosting frozen bananas. Use the DEFROST setting for no longer than 4 minutes. (Short intervals are recommended.) The bananas may become runny, so use a suitable container to avoid a messy microwave.
Why do you brown bag bananas to accelerate ripening and also brown bag them to decelerate ripening in the fridge?
A brown bag, or other "breathable" container, serves different functions at room temperature and in cold temperatures. At room temperature, the bag traps ethylene gas to ripen bananas faster. In cold temperatures, the ripening process stops, so ethylene is no longer viable. In this case, the bag insulates bananas from the extreme cold.
