Tips to ripen bananas quickly without using chemicals

Sometimes you need a ripe banana for a recipe, or you just crave the sweet, creamy taste of ripe bananas. Whatever the reason, there are many simple and quick ways to ripen bananas without using chemicals.

Using a paper bag is the best way to ripen bananas for eating, while using a microwave is the best way to ripen bananas for cooking.

Here's how to ripen bananas quickly using both of these methods, according toWikiHow.

1. Incubate bananas in paper bags

Step 1: Prepare a brown paper bag, a banana to be ripened and an apple or tomato.

Step 2: Put the bananas in the bag first, then add the tomatoes and/or apples with the bananas.

Make sure the tomatoes are not too ripe or they will burst or bruise in the paper bag. If you don't have apples or tomatoes, you can use pears instead.

Step 3: Close the bag tightly and place in a warm place.

Roll or fold the bag to prevent the ethylene gas released by the fruit from escaping. At the same time, high temperatures will help the fruit release more ethylene gas, thereby speeding up the ripening process.

Step 5: Leave the bananas overnight

Leave the bananas and other fruit in the paper bag overnight. Check the next morning to see if they have reached the desired ripeness. If not, roll the bag back up and continue checking every 12 hours until the bananas are ripe enough.

Green bananas ripened in paper bags should have yellow skin or yellow skin with brown spots within 24 hours.

2. Incubate in oven

Step 1: Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius

If your oven has a light, turn it on so you can monitor the banana fermentation process.

Step 2: Place the bananas in a baking tray and bake.

Oven baking time depends on how you intend to use the bananas.

Step 3: If using bananas to cook, roast for about 1 hour

After 1 hour, the banana peel will turn completely black and the banana will be perfectly ripe for smoothies or baked goods like banana bread or banana crepes.

Step 4: If you want to eat the banana, roast it for about 20 minutes.

Leave the bananas in the oven long enough for the skins to become a deeper yellow color without any dark spots, and they are ready to eat. This usually takes about 20 minutes, but keep a close eye on them and take them out at the right time. Once you take them out of the oven, put them in the refrigerator to cool and stop them from ripening further. Once they are completely cool, they are ready to eat.

Note

Bananas in whole bunches will ripen faster.

If you don't want to ripen the bananas right away, use a hanger to hang the bunch of bananas to create the feeling of bananas hanging from a tree, this way the bananas will ripen 2-3 days slower.

If you want bananas to continue ripening, you should not put green bananas in the refrigerator. The cold temperature will interrupt the ripening process and after taking them out of the refrigerator, the bananas will not ripen anymore.

Although many people enjoy eating green bananas or green tips, unripe bananas are often difficult to digest because of their high starch content.