Bananas will not turn brown or mushy after 15 days with ‘game-changing’ storage hack (Image: Getty)
Bananas are commonly in bowls or simply left with other fruits on kitchen counters. After a few days, they begin to ripen and by the end of the week, their skin can turn brown.
To prevent bananas from spoiling before you’ve had a chance to savour them, shared a for a simple trick to keep your bananas yellow and perfectly soft even on day 15.
The host, Mike, purchased two bunches of bananas from the same shelf in the same supermarket. He took them home and placed one bunch on his kitchen counter, and the other inside an airtight container on his kitchen counter.
Mike explained that as bananas ripen, they emit ethylene gas, primarily from the stem, which then permeates the rest of the fruit, aiding its ripening process.
A popular method of storing bananas is the clingfilm technique, where some people wrap the stem of a banana bunch with clingfilm to halt their ripening.
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A popular method of storing bananas is the clingfilm technique (Image: Getty)
However, Mike clarified that it’s more effective to wrap the stems of individual bananas to inhibit ripening rather than when they’re all attached. By individually wrapping the stem, there are fewer outlets for the ethylene gas to escape as the stems are more thoroughly covered.
However, Mike decided to experiment with a different method – ethylene absorption balls. Every day, he inspected the two bunches of bananas – one left out on the kitchen counter and the other stored in an airtight container with ethylene absorption balls – to observe their ripening process.
He observed that it was around the fifth and sixth days when a noticeable difference began to emerge.
He stated: “Day eight, I noticed the bananas not in the container were significantly softer than the ones in the container. So at that point, I decided to put those bananas in the refrigerator.”
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Mike explained that allowing the bananas to ripen on the kitchen counter before refrigerating them slows down the ripening of the banana’s interior, while the exterior “will continue to ripe and it will get quite dark”.
After approximately 10 days, Mike found the refrigerated bananas so soft that he opted to use them for baking banana bread.
And what about the bananas in the airtight container with the ethylene absorption balls? Mike revealed: “Day 12 we still had a little bit of green on the bananas.”
If you have bananas that are too soft use them for banana bread (Image: Getty)
He added: “Day 15 you’ll notice there’s still some green on the bananas not in the fridge in the container. When we cut it open you’ll notice there’s a little bit of bruising on the bottom, but that’s the weight of the bananas causing the bruising in the container. As you can see, these bananas are still quite edible.”
Commenting on the video, user @garyhill56 said: “I’ve been watching several videos on how to store bananas, and this is game-changing. Your video is the best hack I’ve found.”
Mike also revealed a clever tip for peeling bananas, advising: “[The] best way to peel a banana is from the bottom up the stem, not from the top”. This trick “eliminates those little strings”, making the process smoother.