Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:35:23 +0000 (UTC), "Francis C."
wrote:

Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Take them out of the plastic bag....like you have in the bowl in your
photo. Or buy nearly ripe bananas.

Black spots on the peel, indicate sugar sweetness. If the peel turns
black, made banana nut bread.

Oren wrote:
On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:35:23 +0000 (UTC), "Francis C."
wrote:

Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Take them out of the plastic bag....like you have in the bowl in your
photo. Or buy nearly ripe bananas.

Black spots on the peel, indicate sugar sweetness. If the peel turns
black, made banana nut bread.

Overripe bananas are great for smoothies too.

Peel and freeze them if too many go bad before you can use them.

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:35:23 PM UTC-6, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.

http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg



What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Put a couple of apples in with the bananas in the bag...will help somewhat.

Roy wrote:

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 7:35:23 PM UTC-6, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.

http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg



What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Put a couple of apples in with the bananas in the bag...will help somewhat.

Or avocados.

On Mar 24, 6:35*pm, "Francis C." wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
*http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

My experience with very green bananas.... they often "go bad" before
they ripen.

The ripen process involves the release & the action of ethylene gas.
I typically use a ripe banana to "force ripen" tomatoes.

You can do the same with bananas.
Put the unripe bananas in a brown paper bad along with a ripe apple.
The ethylene gas from the apple will help ripen the bananas.

The paper bag will help concentrate the ethylene gas but not retain
moisture which would encourage the bananas to mold.

cheers
Bob

DD_BobK wrote:
On Mar 24, 6:35 pm, "Francis C." wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

My experience with very green bananas.... they often "go bad" before
they ripen.

The ripen process involves the release & the action of ethylene gas.
I typically use a ripe banana to "force ripen" tomatoes.

You can do the same with bananas.
Put the unripe bananas in a brown paper bad along with a ripe apple.
The ethylene gas from the apple will help ripen the bananas.

The paper bag will help concentrate the ethylene gas but not retain
moisture which would encourage the bananas to mold.

cheers
Bob

I've had a problem with bananas not ripening. Don't know why. Not Costco
bananas though. Those things come loaded with so many fruit flies, I won't
ever buy them again.

On Mar 25, 1:35*am, "Francis C." wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
*http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

The trick is ethylene gas. Given off by (over)ripe fruit.
Put your green bananas in a closed container with other over ripe
fruit.
The ethylene gas given off by the over ripe fruit will ripen your
bananas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylen...fruits#Storage

In article , "Francis C."
wrote:

Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I remember once reading that if bananas are ever ever allowed to go
below 40°F, they will never ripen.

However, this article suggest even higher temperatures than 40°F
can/will permanently stall ripening. See the 'ripening' heading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana

Erik

Francis C. wrote:

Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg
What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I had immediately put a ripe banana and apple in the bags,
leaving one bag as a control.

Here is the current result, after three days:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12520377.jpg

I'd say, so far, it's a failure; but maybe time will tell.

Francis C.wrote:
Francis C. wrote:

Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg
What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?
I had immediately put a ripe banana and apple in the bags,
leaving one bag as a control.
Here is the current result, after three days:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12520377.jpg
I'd say, so far, it's a failure; but maybe time will tell.

Can take a lot longer than three days...
Costco doesn't grow bananas, they buy from the same wholesaler that
all the other area stores buy from... the larger stores like Costco
buy in large volume so get the freshest bananas... retail stores
prefer to buy greener bananas... if they ripen too much before they
can sell them they end up in the trash bin. Those plastic banana bags
have large holes punched in them (I can see the holes in your photo),
the ethylene gas produced by the apple and the bananas themselves is
escaping... using those leaky bags is almost like using no bag at all.
Bananas are purposely placed in ventilated bags so that they don't
ripen too quickly, it's difficult to sell overly ripe bananas. The
bananas in the bags with the apple do look slightly riper (more
yellowish) than the bag with no apple all way to the right. If you're
in a big hurry use bags that don't leak... but those bananas will
ripen on their own if left out on the counter with no bag and with no
help at all if you have patience... bananas are harvested very green
so they can survive shipping, you obviously chose the the greenest of
the green, was probably a just arrived shipment. Usually the produce
manager will put the older/riper bananas out first but often in stores
that sell bananas cheap they sell too fast for much in-store ripening.
Btw, most folks complain that bananas ripen too fast, consider
yourself fortunate.

On Mar 27, 7:52*am, Brooklyn1 wrote:
BIG SNIP

Those plastic banana bags
have large holes punched in them (I can see the holes in your photo),
the ethylene gas produced by the apple and the bananas themselves is
escaping... using those leaky bags is almost like using no bag at
all.
Bananas are purposely placed in ventilated bags so that they don't
ripen too quickly, it's difficult to sell overly ripe bananas. The
bananas in the bags with the apple do look slightly riper (more
yellowish) than the bag with no apple all way to the right. If
you're
in a big hurry use bags that don't leak... but those bananas will
ripen on their own if left out on the counter with no bag and with no
help at all if you have patience... bananas are harvested very green
so they can survive shipping, you obviously chose the the greenest of
the green, was probably a just arrived shipment.

+1 ...I missed the holes in the plastic bags, good catch.

DD_BobK wrote:

+1 ...I missed the holes in the plastic bags, good catch.

I will switch to clear un-holed plastic bags.

This isn't the first time I've had the Costco bananas not ripen,
but, maybe I just didn't wait long enough.

There was no way NOT to get green bananas, as that's all they
had when I bought them. Must have been a fresh shipment.

On Mar 27, 4:40*pm, "Francis C." wrote:
DD_BobK wrote:
+1 ...I missed the holes in the plastic bags, good catch.

I will switch to clear un-holed plastic bags.

This isn't the first time I've had the Costco bananas not ripen,
but, maybe I just didn't wait long enough.

There was no way NOT to get green bananas, as that's all they
had when I bought them. Must have been a fresh shipment.

If you want to extend the experiment,
keep a bag with holes

& switch to plastic bag w/o holes
but.....
my experience that I shared was with a paper bag (specifically size 8,
oversized lunch bag)

plastic w/o holes may be too mositure tight, rot before ripen?

On Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:40:21 +0000 (UTC), "Francis C."
wrote:

DD_BobK wrote:

+1 ...I missed the holes in the plastic bags, good catch.

I will switch to clear un-holed plastic bags.


I'd use a paper bag. Plastic bags tend to allow the fruit to go moldy
long before paper.


This isn't the first time I've had the Costco bananas not ripen,
but, maybe I just didn't wait long enough.

There was no way NOT to get green bananas, as that's all they
had when I bought them. Must have been a fresh shipment.

Supermarkets have ripening rooms and they control how the banana
reaches the selling floor. Maybe Costco does not do it well.
http://www.ripeningrooms.com/home.aspx
http://abullseyeview.com/infographic...ipening-rooms/

Brooklyn1 wrote on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:52:33 -0400:

Why would a "paper" bag be any different than a plastic bag for
ripening fruits?

On Mar 27, 4:46*pm, andrew s wrote:

Why would a "paper" bag be any different than a plastic bag for
ripening fruits?

I'm not sure, I was told (or read) to use a paper bag...like a lunch
sized bag.

My guess

closed bag is to increase the concentration of ethylene gas, paper bag
to allow bananas to "breath".
Thus preventing rot by not allowing liquid water (condensation) to
accumulate.

Don't know "why" for sure but in my experience paper bags just work.
YMMV

cheers
Bob

On Mar 27, 6:02*am, "Francis C." wrote:
Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
*http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg
What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I had immediately put a ripe banana and apple in the bags,
leaving one bag as a control.

Here is the current result, after three days:
*http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12520377.jpg

I'd say, so far, it's a failure; but maybe time will tell.

Two comments...


1) Paper bag was suggested (I have never attempted to ripen fruit in
a plastic bag...only paper)
2) Perhaps there is truth to "the less than 40F exposure prevents
ripening" ?
3) Create additoonal condition

On Mar 24, 9:35*pm, "Francis C." wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
*http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Wish I had that problem. I buy three at a time and they ripen very
fast. My market sells Chiquitas by bulk.

I let em sit in an open wooden bowl.

Kalmia wrote:
On Mar 24, 9:35 pm, "Francis C." wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Wish I had that problem. I buy three at a time and they ripen very
fast. My market sells Chiquitas by bulk.

I let em sit in an open wooden bowl.

I buy a bag of bananas when my grocery offers the bag O discount. 12-14
bananas for cheap. I guess they are past sell point or something. They are
not bad by any means. I just have to think banana ! Still got a bunch right
now that I bought last Friday, still good.

Greg

gregz wrote:
Kalmia wrote:
On Mar 24, 9:35 pm, "Francis C." wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

Wish I had that problem. I buy three at a time and they ripen very
fast. My market sells Chiquitas by bulk.

I let em sit in an open wooden bowl.

I buy a bag of bananas when my grocery offers the bag O discount. 12-14
bananas for cheap. I guess they are past sell point or something. They are
not bad by any means. I just have to think banana ! Still got a bunch right
now that I bought last Friday, still good.

Greg

Other than my paper sack with handle sale, i never saw plastic bagged
bananas.

Greg

gregz wrote:

i never saw plastic bagged bananas.

Costco clearly plastic bags them (DelMonte)
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

"Francis C." wrote:
gregz wrote:

i never saw plastic bagged bananas.

Costco clearly plastic bags them (DelMonte)
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

I see them !!!!

I bought a big paper bag of half price yellow bananas last week, been
eating them, and I think they are still good. I've bought green bananas
that did not last that long.
I now store my bananas away from that heater vent below the counter. I
switched to the cool side of the kitchen.

Greg

Francis C. wrote:

Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

UPDATE: 2 weeks later

a. I bought 4 DelMonte banana plastic bags at Costco (Sunday 3/30)
b. I put a ripe apple in two & a yellow banana in one.
c. One of the apple banana bags ripened (and has subsequently been eaten)
d. I added MORE APPLES to the one bag (including the magic apple)
e. I removed the now-wholly-brown ripening banana (which had failed)
f. Now it's exactly two weeks later

March 29th:
http://www4.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12636337.jpg

April 1st:
http://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12636339.jpg

April 7th:
http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/...g/12636338.jpg

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 6:35:23 PM UTC-7, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.

http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg



What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I found this thread looking for what the heck happened to my costco bananas!
Bought them green - left them in the bag - today they all looked nicely ripe. I picked up the bag and water poured out - I thought someone spilled something on them - but NO - they were really - not brown and totally mush - like they had been frozen and then microwaved or something!

On Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:49:51 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

I found this thread looking for what the heck happened to my costco bananas!

You didn't buy Chiquita® Bananas.

http://raingardenart.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/chiquita-banana.jpg

I noticed that too. I dont buy bananas from there anymore

wrote in message
...
I noticed that too. I dont buy bananas from there anymore

I am leery of much of Costco fruit.

On Thursday, July 3, 2014 4:10:33 PM UTC-7, Pico Rico wrote:
wrote in message

...

I noticed that too. I dont buy bananas from there anymore



I am leery of much of Costco fruit.

I'm a devoted Trader Joe shopper, but I did get tired of their produce, so now I buy at our Co-op. Expensive (all organic, which I don't always require) but SO
fresh and good!

We also have 4 farmer's markets in town - Wednesday, Saturday (2) and Sunday.
Again, not cheap, but guaranteed to be grown and sold by farmer -- no middlemen.

Where I do NOT buy is Whole Foods. Expensive, Yuppy style. How fresh is produce one doesn't know. And now they've been caught with their pants down, charging for the container when weighing out purchase, where it's supposed to automatically deduct weight of container. Huge scandal.

HB

On 7/3/2014 7:10 PM, Pico Rico wrote:
wrote in message
...
I noticed that too. I dont buy bananas from there anymore

I am leery of much of Costco fruit.


I'm leery of any supermarket produce. Much is now picked too soon so it
ships with minimal damage, but also has minimal flavor. It is
artificially ripened and never truly matures. That is the consequence
of wanting watermelon in January.

My generation is going to be the last one to know what a peach or tomato
is supposed to taste like.

wrote:
I noticed that too. I dont buy bananas from there anymore

Hi,
They were never picked when ripe but green.
We only buy organic bananas, easy on the stomach taste better.
If it is too green, we leave it in the sun room for couple days.

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 6:35:23 PM UTC-7, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I have same experience. It took three weeks for the bananas to become soft, not ripe. I put them in garage where the temp is usually 80 in the afternoon. it does not work. I am guessing some chemicals or fertilizer is the cause.

On 7/30/2016 2:18 PM, wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 6:35:23 PM UTC-7, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I have same experience. It took three weeks for the bananas to become soft, not ripe. I put them in garage where the temp is usually 80 in the afternoon. it does not work. I am guessing some chemicals or fertilizer is the cause.


Try putting them in a paper bag. It concentrates the ethylene gas.

Many supermarkets have ripening rooms to process them to various stages.

On Sat, 30 Jul 2016 15:32:40 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

Try putting them in a paper bag. It concentrates the ethylene gas.

Same brown bags used for tomatoes. Often put in a kitchen cabinet.

Less sunlight.

wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 6:35:23 PM UTC-7, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I have same experience. It took three weeks for the bananas to become soft, not ripe. I put them in garage where the temp is usually 80 in the afternoon. it does not work. I am guessing some chemicals or fertilizer is the cause.

Probably ungassed, they ripen slower.

On 7/31/2016 12:27 AM, F Murtz wrote:
wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 6:35:23 PM UTC-7, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I have same experience. It took three weeks for the bananas to become
soft, not ripe. I put them in garage where the temp is usually 80 in
the afternoon. it does not work. I am guessing some chemicals or
fertilizer is the cause.

Probably ungassed, they ripen slower.

Sadly, most of the fresh fruits and veggies in supermarkets really are
under-ripe flavorless things picked to be able to ship thousands of
miles without damage.

Some of the strawberries are big and red and sure look pretty, but they
have no flavor. Peaches may or may not be edible when they finally
ripen. Sometimes they are mealy. Seedless watermelons have half the
flavor of the old long seeded ones we grew up with.

This time of year you can skip the suprmarket and head to the local
farmer's market and get real fresh food, just picked, full of flavor.

| Sadly, most of the fresh fruits and veggies in supermarkets really are
| under-ripe flavorless things picked to be able to ship thousands of
| miles without damage.
|
| Some of the strawberries are big and red and sure look pretty, but they
| have no flavor. Peaches may or may not be edible when they finally
| ripen. Sometimes they are mealy. Seedless watermelons have half the
| flavor of the old long seeded ones we grew up with.
|
| This time of year you can skip the suprmarket and head to the local
| farmer's market and get real fresh food, just picked, full of flavor.

Or at least not go to Costco! Whole Foods has
organic bananas at a reasonable price. I've been
getting good, organic peaches at WF lately. I've
also been getting some things at local farmers
markets, but there's not much fruit in yet.
But one has to do research and try each batch,
even at Whole Foods. They've gone corporate and
can't be trusted. (I can't count how many times
I've pointed out wrong country-of-origin signs on
produce to clerks who couldn't care less.) What's
good this week at WF may not be good next week.
And even WF is turning into a factory food outlet,
while also driving small natural food stores out of
business. Next to the current crop of organic peaches
(on sale!) are organic grapes from Anthony's. Sounds
good? Anthony's is using fracking water that may be
tainted with heavy metals to get through the California
drought. (The organic law doesn't cover the topic of
sourcing water.) I've been buying the surprisingly good,
and non-bloated, non-organic grapes.
WF also carries Driscoll's berries, which
have their own hybrids and operate like the Perdue of
produce -- getting smaller farmers to act as subcontractors,
forcing them to grow the Driscoll's hybrids using Driscoll's
methods. I wouldn't touch a Driscoll's product, for both
moral and health reasons. This week I walked into a WF
and was met by a young, attractive woman who wanted
to give me a coupon for Stonyfield Farms yogurt. SF
was bought years ago by Dannon (Danone). It's factory
scale yogurt. I once saw that they buy "organic"
strawberries from China! Meanwhile I can get a few
brands of local, organic yogurt.
So all of that is happening within just a few limited
categories at Whole Foods. People who shop at mainstream
chain stores have far less chance of buying truly edible
food. People who shop around still need to educate
themselves.... and at least pay attention enough to
realize that a tart, crunchy plum or a mealy peach is not
an edible foodstuff.

On 07/31/2016 07:51 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
This time of year you can skip the suprmarket and head to the local
farmer's market and get real fresh food, just picked, full of flavor.

I'm somewhat cynical about the local farmers' market. Much of the
produce isn't in season and if there are that many truck gardens in town
they certainly are well hidden.

On 7/31/2016 1:47 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 07/31/2016 07:51 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
This time of year you can skip the suprmarket and head to the local
farmer's market and get real fresh food, just picked, full of flavor.

I'm somewhat cynical about the local farmers' market. Much of the
produce isn't in season and if there are that many truck gardens in town
they certainly are well hidden.



The farmer's market in town here twice a week is certified by the state.
If you did not grow it, make it, or raise it, you cannot sell it.
Most of the regulars also sell out of their farm locations too.

There are some farm stands that do sell stuff they get from wholesalers,
but they are not much different than the supermarket.

wrote:
On Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 6:35:23 PM UTC-7, Francis C. wrote:
Whenever I buy Costco bananas, they never seem to ripen to yellow.
http://www.use.com/images/s_2/22214d...ae589dfc_1.jpg

What's the trick to ripening green bananas at home?

I have same experience. It took three weeks for the bananas to become
soft, not ripe. I put them in garage where the temp is usually 80 in the
afternoon. it does not work. I am guessing some chemicals or fertilizer is the cause.

Never saw bagged bananas in my groceries.

Greg