Banana bread is a great snack or dessert, and is a wonderful way to use bananas that
have become too ripe. However, figuring out exactly how ripe the bananas need to be can
be a challenge. You definitely don't want them to be rotten, but you need them to be
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
that have essentially turned black are still okay to use, and are actually preferred by
some bakers. When leaving bananas to ripen, they should be stored wrapped in wax paper to prevent
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
However, if your bananas have sat around this long, smell them before you bake to make sure
they haven't started to rot. If they have, they are officially too ripe and need to be discarded
Due to the wax paper, you will be able to separate them easily, so you only discard the
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
not ripe enough for banana bread. Let the bananas ripen at room temperature for at least
a few days. The darker the banana is, the better it is for baking
Most people probably don't plan their baking projects weeks in advance. To get around this
problem, you can keep some ripe bananas in the freezer. To do this, whenever you see a banana
on your counter that is too ripe to eat, store it in the freezer using a Ziploc bag. The banana
will turn dark brown or black in the freezer. That's normal. Prior to baking with frozen bananas
thaw them at room temperature. If you buy fresh bananas and keep some in your freezer
you will be covered for both spur-of-the-moment baking projects as well as planned ones
Remember, a banana can never be too ripe for banana bread, unless it started to rot, get
moldy, or is infested with fruit flies. Sometimes you have the opposite problem, and your bananas
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
a lot of sun. This method will ripen bananas within 24 hours to up to five days, depending
on how ripe the bananas were to start with. Bananas ripen more quickly in a bunch, so
if you can leave all of them together, it will speed up the process. Another method for
ripening bananas is to enclose them in a paper bag with the top folded down. If you have any
riper bananas or other ripe fruit, add that to the bag as well to speed up the process
Bananas are among many fruits that produce ethylene as they ripen, which increases the
speed of ripening, which is why other riper bananas or another ripe fruit will speed up
the process. The more ethylene in the bag, the quicker the bananas will ripen
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
Putting bananas in the oven can get them to where they need to be to bake banana bread
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
peel the bananas and mash them to have bananas that are banana bread ready
After all your work, you now have a delicious loaf of fresh-baked banana bread. However
it unfortunately doesn't last long before losing its freshness. To keep it fresh longer
keep it wrapped in plastic or foil. Refrigerating tightly wrapped banana bread can also extend the
shelf life for up to a week. If you want to keep it longer than that, your best bet is to freeze it
Store the banana bread in freezer wrap or a freezer bag, and it will keep for up to three
months. When you are ready to eat it, thaw it by simply leaving it out on the counter for
approximately two to four hours before you plan to eat it for a loaf, or at least 30 minutes for
a slice. Regardless of how you choose to store it, make sure the banana bread is completely
cooled before wrapping it to prevent condensation