i have had a bunch of green bananas for over a week sitting in a hanging metal fruit basket close to a window. they are as green as the day i bought them. what's up?

We've discovered that if you buy them too green that they might not ever ripen, just rot.

I think you got some good bananas that weren't "pre-ripened" in Ethylene. They actually taste decent when green. Give one a try.

-Tofer
p.s. Did you purchase them at a Whole Foods-type store?

tofer, yes, they are organic, communist bananas purchased from a socialist, help-the-world supermarket known as Wild Oats.

It may be too late to try this but bananas give off their own ethylene gas so if you put them in a closed paper bag that can speed up ripening. You do have to watch it, though, because they can "go bad" inside a sealed paper bag pretty quick once they begin to ripen. (You can use a plastic bag, but you need to punch some holes in it to keep moisture from building up which can lead to mold problems.) Putting in a few slices of cut ripe apple can speed up the process a bit (just about any ripened fruit or vegetable will give off ethylene gas).

Put them in a paper bag for a day with an apple, a peach or an orange.

Edit:

Beaten to it. Oh well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2007 10:42PM by MacMagus.

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mrbigstuff
tofer, yes, they are organic, communist bananas purchased from a socialist, help-the-world supermarket known as Wild Oats.

Ah...thought so. I suggest the paper bag trick Ted mentioned.

-Tofer
p.s. Do you know what you get when you eat too many green communist bananas? The trotskys.

This happened to me once. I bought a small bunch thinking that it would ripen over time and I would still have decent bananas in a few days, unlike when you buy them all yellow and they go brown in a few days.

Never turned. I even tried eating one, it was very hard and mostly inedible. I ended up throwing them away. Will have to remember the bag trick next time.

I think the best way to ripen bananas is to place them in a small box or brown paper bag and cover lightly with news paper... please never use plastic, you will not like the results.

In a dark covered place they should ripen nicely.

When in Hawaii I always waited for the first bananas to ripen on the tree before
harvesting. If buying them in a store try looking for a hand of bananas that has at least
1 or 2 bananas already turning yellow for best results

You will want to keep them someplace free from bugs and ants.
Aloha,
From the Philippines,
Rudie *(:>*

Maybe you bought plantains instead of bananas. Plantains start out green and once picked, they usually don't turn yellow like bananas [en.wikipedia.org]

They might be plantains and not bananas. You have to cook them. When I was in Panama they used them like we use potatoes.

Hi, haikuman!

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mrbigstuff
tofer, yes, they are organic, communist bananas purchased from a socialist, help-the-world supermarket known as Wild Oats.

Do they need batteries ?