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Ripe Bananas for Baking: How Ripe Should Bananas Be? |  |
Experienced bakers know that the best bananas for baking — you know, for banana muffins, banana bread, even banana cake — are very ripe bananas. But how dark, how ripe, should we let bananas go? In a happy accident, I've discovered what I call "black bananas". They streeeettttch the ripening time by many weeks and draw out even more of that luscious banana flavor that banana lovers crave. Bakers, prepare to exercise great, great patience before baking with bananas.
When Is a Ripe Banana Ripe Enough for Baking?
left/top ~ A "green banana" is an "unripe" banana. It may be tinged with green but is often yellow. A green banana makes for unremarkable banana-baking.
center ~ It's tempting to start baking with a banana once it starts to develop some brown spots. But patience, patience, that banana's not ready yet!
right/bottom ~ A banana must be really ripe — nearly all brown and even, if you want, well into "black" — to yield luscious banana flavor in banana bread, banana cake and banana cookies.
I've baked with bananas like those on the right for years, waiting patiently for the bananas to ripen and their skins to darken while sitting out on the counter. Once the bananas were fully dark and ripe, I moved them to the freezer to hold for baking later.
And then ...
But Wait!
Now There Are "Black Bananas"!
It happened by accident.
Back in 2010, I had a half dozen very ripe bananas on the counter but no time nor inclination to bake. Instead of freezing the bananas like usual, I slipped them into a container and left them in the refrigerator, hoping the cold temperature would "hold" the ripe bananas for baking some time soon.
Instead life happened. I got busy. Weeks passed. You know this goes, right?
Finally I opened the container, expecting to discard the bananas. The skins were completely black and had begun to shrink. One banana had split open, spilling a pool of banana-goo into the bowl.
Mustering courage, I tasted that banana-goo. MY GOODNESS! It was like a banana syrup, dark and oh so sweet and full of banana flavor.
Another couple of weeks passed. I finally made banana muffins, using three "black bananas" (in the photo, they're the darker bananas on the left side) and one "very very ripe" banana (it's the white banana on the right side). Those banana muffins? Oh so good. So banana-y. So moist.
Ever since, I intentionally move very ripe bananas into the refrigerator for slow-slow-slow ripening – I'm letting black bananas happen on purpose!
How to Ripen "Black Bananas" On Purpose
- Let your bananas ripen on the counter until the skins are no longer "spotted" with brown but completely brown. This can take two or three or even four weeks.
- Wash and dry the bananas. Separate individual bananas from the bunch, using a knife to avoid tearing open the skin.
- Place the bananas in a container, I use an inexpensive rectangular Pyrex casserole dish and some times loosely wrap each banana in wax paper. Cover and push it to a back corner of the refrigerator for eight or more weeks. During this time, there's no need to do anything.
- When you're ready to bake, do a "sniff" test in the container. If there's any "rotten" smell, uh oh, one or more of the bananas has gone bad and should be discarded. (This does happen but not often.) Because the bananas are separate (and possibly separated by wax paper), one could have gone bad, the others may be okay.
- Tear the skin off one banana, drop the flesh into a bowl. The flesh may be quite gooey and syrupy, this is the very best! But some times it will be dark and a little mealy, this is good too, just not quite as good. Give it another "sniff test". A delicate vinegar-y scent is okay, anything that smells "bad" too you should be thrown away. If you're using more than one banana, keep them separate until you know they're all good to eat.
- That's it! Now go bake!
My Favorite Recipes for Really Ripe Bananas
(hover with a mouse for a description; otherwise click a photo to view the recipe)
Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you try black bananas, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2010, 2014 & 2019
I routinely buy the "ripe" bananas now - they're so much cheaper (about half the price at my store!), and I mainly use them in my smoothies with other fruits, so that sweet banana-y-ness is welcome anyway. I usually pop them in the freezer when they get to a certain point - last weekend, I forgot, and found a bowl of "banana juice" - that was the first time that ever happened to me! - so I made a batch of mini-banana breads. What a difference!
ReplyDeleteI just made Banana Avocado Bread- with my black bananas- check it out if you want.. http://sweetebakes.blogspot.com! I discovered the sweet intense flavor that the very very dark bananas have a while back and now that's the only way I use 'em when baking! Glad you're not letting your super ripe bananas go to waste :)
ReplyDeleteOur store bags about 12 to 15 ripe bananas and sells them for 15 cents a pound, so I usually come home with a bag or two when the offer that deal. They are usually just starting to blacken around the edges and are nice and sweet. The boys like them in smoothies, pancakes, ice cream, and of course baked goodies.
ReplyDeleteThose bananas look just like mine do when they come out of the freezer-I must wait until the right moment before "remembering" to pop them in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteThis week for Teacher Appreciation I made 2 double batches of whole wheat banana PB choc chip muffins (from that Muffins cookbook made by classmates of our mothers, tweaking the recipe by subbing mini choc chips for the chopped peanuts and following your advice to halve the sugar). My kids gave bags of muffins to many specialists and aides and we got several compliments.
The classroom teachers got chocolate toffee Bundt cakes-my oven was humming by 5:30am many days this week.
I only use very ripe bananas for baking. When I leave them out too long, then see them on the counter, I think, oh goody, time to make banana bread. Or cake. Or muffins...
ReplyDeleteBut at what point at they rotten? Seriously, if I had a banana that turned to banana goo in my fridge I'd be afraid of food poisoning!
ReplyDeleteToy Lady ~ my main grocery stopped selling 'ripe' bananas at a lower price, darn. Glad you've seen the difference in 'banana goo' -- it's worth striving for!
ReplyDeleteEvan B ~ Good for you!
Andrea ~ Lucky you! But I'd let them ripen quite a lot (a LOT) longer, then you'll really see the power of 'black' bananas.
Kirsten ~ I think I'm going to skip the freezer from now on. The black bananas are so much better, still, that it's hard to have too many. Your kids and their teachers are very very lucky!
Stephanie ~ If you let them get this 'black', you won't want them on the counter. They LOOK seriously bad, but TASTE seriously good.
Marie ~ I've started putting individual bananas into small freezer bags into the banana container for the fridge. I DID have one go bad, it was really obvious from the smell. If the 'goo' tastes good, I just can't think you'd need to worry. Or if you do, well, maybe 'brown bananas' are your personal choice. :-)
I've been meaning to read this post. I tend to get scared if they get to the point of turning into goo, I'm afraid they get fermented? I'm going to try this and see if I can make some better banana stuff! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if the flavor is quite a intense, but I definitely achieve the goo consistency by peeling brown bananas, chunking them up into a bag, and freezing them for a few days. The ice crystals that form inside help to break down the cell walls (Thank you, Alton Brown.) so that when it's thawed out, it's nice and creamy.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if it's as good as black bananas, but it's certainly less time consuming.
I don't know if the flavor is quite a intense, but I definitely achieve the goo consistency by peeling brown bananas, chunking them up into a bag, and freezing them for a few days. The ice crystals that form inside help to break down the cell walls (Thank you, Alton Brown.) so that when it's thawed out, it's nice and creamy.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if it's as good as black bananas, but it's certainly less time consuming.
Do you mean that you use the skins in your fridge-ripened bananas??
ReplyDeleteDebbie ~ A time or two, the bananas have definitely "turned" and just the taste/smell tell me that they've gone too far. THOSE get thrown away, instantly. But mostly, the "goo" is just sweet and syrupy, definitely banana-y.
ReplyDeleteRobin ~ Great tip, thanks for passing it along!
Anonymous ~ Oh no, the skins remain leathery and inedible. Once you'll try the black bananas, you'll see what I mean, you won't be tempted to eat them!
Bananas are really for cooking when they are leaking juice. When the bananas become too "brownish" to eat, I just unpeel them and pop them in a zip bag and wait until they start leaking juice and then I put them in the freezer. Good stuff for baking later.
ReplyDeleteA friend gave me three large bunches of very ripe (black) baby bananas. I don't smell any foul odors but several of them have begun to grow mold on the outside. I'm a little hesitant to taste them. What do you think? Anyone eaten moldy bananas?
ReplyDeleteVicky
Vicky ~ Mold only on the skins? So long as it hasn’t worked its way inside (and honestly, from my experience I’d think you’d know, I have had an occasional one go bad in the fridge) I think you’d be okay.
ReplyDeleteBut if you’re worried, really, is it worth it? Bananas are cheap, buy some new ones!
I know that over-ripe bananas are great for cakes but i've noticed with the last couple of batches of bananas when the skins go black the banana flesh is really mushy inside as well as being very brown - this is after i've left them in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Do you think they are OK to use when they are mushy?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI have a few bananas on my counter that are beginning to blacken. I just peeled one and put it in a ziploc bag for freezing, and the inside has spots of really dark brown, which in the past I've always associated with being overly ripe and bad to eat. Should I throw that part away or is that part of the "black banana" that you are raving about it? Also, should I try to get out all the air in the bag before freezing?
Thank you!
-CK
Matilda ~ Hey, you still out there? Yikes, your question went unanswered, please accept my apology. re the “mushy” bananas, yes “black” bananas get really soft, almost syrupy. I use the “smell test” -- if they smell good, they’re good. If they don’t (and I have had this happen on occasion), they’re not.
ReplyDeleteCK ~ If your bananas are just beginning to blacken on the counter, they’re not even close to what I call “black bananas” -- this only happens with a very slow sweetening that happens in the cold of the refrigerator. If there are “spots” of brown, that’s likely bruising and yes, will spoil so I’d cut those pieces off. And yes, if you are peeling the bananas (I don’t, but then again, I’m not freezing them either) yes, you’ll want to remove all the air from the freezer bag and if it were me, I’d even double-bag them to prevent freezer burn. Good luck!
Alas, I cannot smell much of anything, even the very bad things, so can't go by smell unless I ask someone else, whose "smellers" are still good. I've got some VERY ripe bananas, & would like to use them, just need to borrow a "smeller"!
ReplyDeleteLinnie Marie
I'm in the same boat as far as a sense of smell. I have zero. 😻
DeleteThank you Thank you! For all your info. Will be baking some banana bread tomorrow with my black bananas. Can't wait. (:
ReplyDeleteI used overripe black bananas to bake muffins...the outside had a strong smell but the inside smelled okay to bake with... I hope we're okay cause they started to mold...but not the inside... will we be okay??
ReplyDeleteCarolyn ~ Sorry, I’ve been away from the office since before New Years, just now able to answer your question. Any time there’s mold, I’d think twice before baking with it. Maybe a bit on the skin is okay but I’d probably bake something else and just get some more bananas to put into the fridge.
ReplyDeleteIn details,Why are ripe and unripe banana not suitable for baking?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous ~ That’s such a great question. Here’s what I think ... would love others to chime in as well. At least here in the U.S., bananas are shipped green, they hold and travel better. And besides, I think that many of us prefer not green but mostly unripe bananas for eating. But for baking? The riper the banana, the better. That’s because the sugars are converted, the fruit simply has more flavor. We know this to be true for tomatoes, pears, strawberries and so many other fruits. Why not bananas too, simply because they’re encased in a thick skin? Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI used ripen bananas to make muffins where when I had baked them,the muffins tasted really good and you can really taste the banana flavor but then I had made about a 100 of these cinnamon banana muffins and stored them overnight to be used the next day.Sadly,when eaten the next day,the muffins had a very strong baking powder or soda taste and all the sweetness was gone.It wasn't sweet at all which made no sense as they were perfect the day before.I would be really grateful if you could shed some light on how this could have happened?Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI left my bananas in the hot sun and they turned black....Are these also ok for baking if there is no smell??
ReplyDelete-Vida
We get fruit flies or gnats even with mildly ripe bananas. So leaving them to brown further is not an option. Any ideas about that?
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to correct the terminology people use when referring to groups of bananas. I grew up on a banana plantation. People here are referring to bunches of bananas in these recipes and comments. A bunch of bananas is the whole collection of bananas attached to one stalk which is cut from the banana stool before the stool is cut down to rot on the ground. The bananas are arranged in "hands" on the bunch. What people buy at the supermarkets are "hands" of bananas, not bunches.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I so appreciate your educating us on the proper terminology. The grandkids/nieces are going to love knowing about "hands"!
Delete