WEBVTT

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Banana bread is a great snack or dessert,
and is a wonderful way to use bananas that

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have become too ripe. However, figuring out
exactly how ripe the bananas need to be can

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be a challenge. You definitely don't want
them to be rotten, but you need them to be

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ripe enough. How do you find the middle ground? When using them for
banana bread, bananas can be far riper than you might expect. Bananas

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that have essentially turned black are still
okay to use, and are actually preferred by

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some bakers. When leaving bananas to ripen, they
should be stored wrapped in wax paper to prevent

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them from sticking to each other as they get softer. To get black bananas,
they need to be left to their own devices for at least eight weeks

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However, if your bananas have sat around this
long, smell them before you bake to make sure

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they haven't started to rot. If they have, they
are officially too ripe and need to be discarded

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Due to the wax paper, you will be able to
separate them easily, so you only discard the

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rotten banana. When you remove the skin the banana may be syrupy This is okay as long as it still smells like banana If you
are in doubt though throw the banana away When you purchase bananas even if you buy the ripest ones available they are likely

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not ripe enough for banana bread. Let the
bananas ripen at room temperature for at least

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a few days. The darker the banana
is, the better it is for baking

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Most people probably don't plan their baking
projects weeks in advance. To get around this

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problem, you can keep some ripe bananas in the
freezer. To do this, whenever you see a banana

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on your counter that is too ripe to eat, store
it in the freezer using a Ziploc bag. The banana

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will turn dark brown or black in the freezer.
That's normal. Prior to baking with frozen bananas

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thaw them at room temperature. If you buy
fresh bananas and keep some in your freezer

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you will be covered for both spur-of-the-moment
baking projects as well as planned ones

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Remember, a banana can never be too ripe for
banana bread, unless it started to rot, get

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moldy, or is infested with fruit flies. Sometimes
you have the opposite problem, and your bananas

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aren quite ripe enough for banana bread Thankfully there are a couple of tricks to ripen bananas faster
One thing you can do is put the bananas in the warmest area in your home for example by a window that gets

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a lot of sun. This method will ripen bananas
within 24 hours to up to five days, depending

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on how ripe the bananas were to start with.
Bananas ripen more quickly in a bunch, so

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if you can leave all of them together, it
will speed up the process. Another method for

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ripening bananas is to enclose them in a paper
bag with the top folded down. If you have any

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riper bananas or other ripe fruit, add that
to the bag as well to speed up the process

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Bananas are among many fruits that produce
ethylene as they ripen, which increases the

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speed of ripening, which is why other riper
bananas or another ripe fruit will speed up

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the process. The more ethylene in the
bag, the quicker the bananas will ripen

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This method should ripen the bananas within one to two days. If you
knead the bananas right away, there is another method you can try

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Putting bananas in the oven can get them to
where they need to be to bake banana bread

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To do this heat the oven to 300 degrees then put the bananas with the peel still on on a baking sheet lined with foil Bake them for 15
to 20 minutes turning them over halfway through the baking time around the 8 to 10 mark The banana skins will turn black After they cool

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peel the bananas and mash them to have
bananas that are banana bread ready

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After all your work, you now have a delicious
loaf of fresh-baked banana bread. However

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it unfortunately doesn't last long before
losing its freshness. To keep it fresh longer

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keep it wrapped in plastic or foil. Refrigerating
tightly wrapped banana bread can also extend the

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shelf life for up to a week. If you want to keep
it longer than that, your best bet is to freeze it

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Store the banana bread in freezer wrap or a
freezer bag, and it will keep for up to three

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months. When you are ready to eat it, thaw it
by simply leaving it out on the counter for

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approximately two to four hours before you plan
to eat it for a loaf, or at least 30 minutes for

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a slice. Regardless of how you choose to store
it, make sure the banana bread is completely

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cooled before wrapping it to prevent condensation