Bananas

How to Choose the Best

Bananas can be consumed at varying levels of ripeness. Very ripe bananas should have even yellow coloring, though the tips may show a bit of green. Less ripe bananas will have more tinges of green along the skin. Avoid bananas that are overly soft or mushy, or ones that have black spots.

Shelf Life and Storage

If purchased while still green, bananas will last for about a week until they become fully ripe. After that, a banana will continue to ripen past the point of palatability if eaten raw. However, overripe bananas have a few applications in cooking. Store bananas at room temperature.

Freezing

Bananas can either be frozen whole or peeled and placed into the proper container.

Preparation Suggestions

Bananas are delicious to eat on their own. Overripe bananas can be used to make breads, muffins and pancakes or frozen for later use. Ripe bananas can also be sliced into fruit salads or used in desserts like bananas Foster. A banana blended into a smoothie complements most other fruits.