The "Hack" Test: Banana Hacks

"30 Amazing Kitchen Hacks!"
"Amazing Life Hacks You Can't Do Without!"
"You'll Feel Stupid If You Don't Do These Hacks Right Now!"

We've all seen the articles popping up in our newsfeed or over our e-mails.  Way too often.  You read through them go, "Huh, I wonder if that works" and proceed to forget that you ever read the article or you keep meaning to try it and see if it works at some point but never get around to it.

Well, I decided one of the things I could do around here is to try some of these "hacks" and put them to the test to see if they actually work or are not worth the effort to do.  I mean if some of these things work, they'll definitely have the potential to save you money in the long run, so I wanted to put some of these to the test for me as much as for anyone else.

So, today, I'm putting to test a hack I saw online a few weeks ago and also one that I read about a while ago.  So, you get two hacks for the price of one!

The first hack is...

1.  If you wrap the ends of bananas tightly in plastic wrap they won't ripen as quickly.

And

2.  If you separate out bananas from the bunch they won't ripen as quickly.

So, I got some bananas at the store and figured I'd put those theories to the test (when bananas get over ripe I just make banana bread or something out of them, so no harm no foul).  The bananas, very ripe, are seen above.

The results?

I used part of my bunch of bananas as the "control" group to compare how other bananas did.  I put them in the same temp zones but in different locations so that ethylene gas wasn't going to interrupt their want to ripen too quickly.

The banana I separated out from the bunch and let sit solitary didn't seem to do much for it.  It seemed to ripen and over ripen right along with the regular bananas I had done nothing to.  So, if there is time gained from separating the bananas from the bunch, I didn't see it.  The banana seen above was actually near rotting by the time I took this picture.

Now, wrapping the ends in plastic wrap?  That actually did work.

Not as well as they promoted online.  I did not get an additional week out of my bananas.  More like two or three days, but the difference in the ripening rate was noticeable to me.  So, I would say that trick does work.  When I took this picture, while the solitary banana was near rotting, the bunch of bananas (while starting to look brown) were actually still firm and lasted three more days before I had to make them into banana bread.

But, there's a downside too.  Every time you go and get a banana off the bunch you have to re-wrap the ends in plastic wrap, so it can be a bit cumbersome.  But, if you are looking to get a couple more days out of your bananas, well it is probably worth the effort.

So, there you are folks.  As hack tests go:  Wrapping your banana ends in plastic wrap, win.  Removing bananas from bunch, fail.  Do with those results what you will.