Kitchen hacks: Simple tips to ripen those bananas quickly

Banana is one of the simplest fruits to eat; peel and enjoy the goodness of the humble food. This amazing fruit is not only deliciously sweet, but also offers many health benefits. An instant energy booster, bananas have various essential nutrients like potassium, which is essential for maintaining blood pressure. It also has fibre that makes it a great snack and is known to be an exceptional natural antacid that protects the stomach from ulcers.
 

Raw bananas have an equally special place for most delicacies; they are used to make chips, kebabs, pakodas, and some of the famous curries like avial and kalan from south India. Basically, bananas are versatile and superheroes of your fruit basket.
 

Ripened bananas are used to make breads and muffins, smoothies and milkshakes, pancakes, cookies and ice cream. You heard us! We can do so much using ripened bananas. If you are planning to make one of these and waiting for the bananas to go ripe, then we have ways to ripen a banana quickly. Here's how to ripen bananas in quick and easy ways.

Use a paper bag: Paper bag creates an incubator effect around the banana, trapping the gases it usually lets off as it ripens, thereby speeding up the process. Basically, you have to produce ethylene gas naturally to ripen it, which is why you will need to add other fruits to the paper bag. The other fruits that release this gas are apples, pears, avocados, kiwi or apricots. Make sure these fruits are already ripe, so they release more of this gas.

Put the banana in the oven: Place the raw bananas on a lined baking sheet in the oven and heat them for about 15 to 30 minutes till they turn black. Make sure the temperature isn't too high. Do not put more than three bananas in one go, as you will need the warm air to circulate freely. Once the banana peels turn black, you will know they have softened and become ripened. Let them cool before peeling them off.

Use warm places: If you don't want to use an oven, use other warm sources like the top of the refrigerator, which is generally heated. This will help ripen bananas quickly; however, keep checking the fruits every once in a while.

Keep them together: Get a bunch of bananas and let them stay and ripen together and wrap them in a foil. This way, they will ripen in about 24 hours if not quickly. Basically, more consolidation means more ethylene emitted in one area.

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