How to Turn a Banana Brown

Making homemade banana bread requires using ripe bananas for optimal flavor. Most bananas purchased in the grocery store are either green or yellow. Before you use the bananas in your favorite banana bread recipe, you must ripen them until they are brown. This is the point where the sugar releases from the fruit and the flavor really comes out. Turning a banana brown quickly involves a little help from another fruit.

Things You'll Need

• Brown paper bag
• Apple or tomato

Instructions

1. Place the bananas in a brown paper bag. Leave the bananas connected in a bunch for quicker browning unless you only need one banana. The bag should be twice as large as the banana bunch or single banana for proper air circulation.

2. Place an apple or a tomato in the paper bag with the bananas. Bananas, apples and tomatoes emit ethylene gas, which speeds up the ripening process. Only place an apple or a tomato in the bag -- not both.

3. Roll the top of the paper bag closed, leaving space for the gas to circulate inside the bag. Place the bag in a dry area.

4. Open the bag in 12 hours to check the ripeness of the bananas. The skins should be brown and not black. Depending upon the original skin color of the banana, the ripening process might take 12 to 36 hours.

5. Close the bag if the bananas are not brown and reopen in another 12 hours. Use ripe brown bananas quickly or store in the refrigerator.

Tips & Warnings

• Throw out the tomato if you placed one in the bag. You can eat the apple within two days.

References

• University of Hawaii Extension: Helpful Hints Fast Fruit Tips
• University of Illinois Extension: Don't Put Fruits in the Refrigerator Until They Are Ripe
• University of Nebraska Extension: Storing Fruits and Vegetables