Talked to a baker at the farmer's market who changed how I use overripe bananas

I was at the downtown farmer's market last Saturday grabbing some apples and this older lady running a pastry stall saw me eyeing a sad bunch of bananas. She goes "you know those aren't for eating right now, they're for your freezer." I told her I usually just mash them straight into banana bread and she laughed and said no, freeze them whole first then thaw. Apparently the ice crystals break down the cell walls and they release way more natural sugar and moisture. Tried it this morning with a loaf and it came out way softer and sweeter without adding extra sugar. Anyone else got a weird trick like that from a random convo?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia3989d ago

Wait wait wait she said to freeze them WHOLE? Like just toss a whole banana in the freezer with the peel on? I've been peeling and mashing them like a fool for years and never once thought about doing it that way. That's honestly wild to me because I always thought freezing them would just turn them into a rock hard mess but I guess the science makes sense with the ice crystals and all. I'm literally going to try this tomorrow morning with my sad bananas on the counter right now.

tylerj229d ago

Freezing them whole is the only way my friend does it and she swears by it. She used to peel and slice them too until she forgot about a bunch and they went brown. Now she just chucks them in the freezer as is and pulls them out when she wants banana bread or smoothies. She says the peel turns black and looks nasty but the inside stays perfect. One time she tried to peel a frozen one with her bare hands and learned real quick to let it sit for a minute first. @olivia398 you are going to be kicking yourself for all that extra work you have been doing.

phoenixb349d ago

Haha I'm over here peeling them like a chump while the smart people laugh at me.