Banana bread would be the perfect thing to bake tonight; but it happens to be the one time that you don’t have any overly ripe bananas on hand. You need to know…
… what is a quick way to ripen bananas? Bake them in a preheated, 250°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Higher temperatures or longer times may liquify the fruit, making it messy and hard to work with.
That’s the quick answer, but read on for more information and a few unexpected words of caution!
Preparing Bananas for Heat-Ripening
Always wash bananas before using them. Banana peels can carry diseases, parasites, and pesticides. While heating may kill the first two, it might actually concentrate pesticide, or turn it into breathable vapor.
Besides, you’ll also want to pierce your bananas, to prevent them from popping open and making a mess. If the bananas have any filth on the skin, you will drive it into the fruit, when you pierce it.
This happened to me once, with cantaloupe. I didn’t bother to wash it, because I’m not eating the outside, right? Yet, I cut it open with a knife, transferring illness-causing microbes from the melon’s skin, directly into the fruit. I ended up having a 3-day bellyache, and was not well enough to go out for dinner on my birthday.
Inside Info on Why to Wash Bananas
If my experience doesn’t convince you, consider that of others, as shown in the Dear Abby column of the Chicago Tribune:
Dear Abby: As a youngster in New York City, I remember fruit vendors opening cartons of bananas that had just been unloaded from the ships. It was common to see “banana rats” nursing their young among the bananas.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
Dear Abby: Having knowledge of the primitive conditions workers endure in the tropics-no toilet facilities and no running water for hygiene-the bananas couldn’t be clean enough to eat unwashed. Customers would be foolish not to wash them.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
Ripening Bananas in the Microwave
Microwaving is another way to “ripen” bananas. As with the oven method, be sure to wash and pierce them first. If your bananas decide to go off in the microwave, the result myth be a tad more vigorous than in a conventional oven.
This is because bananas are radioactive. It’s true! A physicist at the University of Illinois describes the reason why this may happen with no visible warning:
The positrons do pretty quickly annihilate with electrons. However, the energy released is ~500keV per particle, so the resulting gamma rays are far from the visible range.”
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Physics Staff
In other words, the potassium, some of which is radioactive, will interact with the microwaves.
Don’t worry that your bananas may nuke you – You’d have to eat a whole bunch of bananas every day for a month, in order to consume as much radiation as is generated by a dental X-ray.
Steps After Heat-Ripening Bananas
Cool your bananas on a wire rack. Be sure they are cool enough in the center not to curdle the eggs in your recipe.
Did you know that your banana bread can be even better, without any fancy ingredients or weird flavors, just by improved technique? Before you start your baking, read my article on how to up your banana bread game (read here).
Once you’re ready to bake, use good quality pans for the best cooking results. In thin, cheap pans, banana bread tends to get leathery and scorched before the middle is fully cooked. These American-made pans are the ones I use (view here).
Resources for Further Exploration
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