The Strange Method For Freezing Bananas You Need To Try

Betty White's Golden Girls character, Rose, famously quipped, "My mother always used to say: 'The older you get, the better you get, unless you're a banana.'" True. Ripe bananas don't get better the longer they set on your countertops or hang from your banana hammock. The good news is bananas can be frozen and used at a later date to make your breakfast smoothie or favorite banana bread. According to the U.S. government's Food Safety site, bananas retain their quality when frozen for between 2 and 3 months. But you definitely want to wait until your bananas are ripe before you freeze them. This will ensure they are at their sweetest (via PopSugar).

According to The Kitchn, there are plenty of ways to freeze bananas. Luckily for us, they tried out five popular freezing methods – sliced bananas on a tray; sliced, whole, and mashed bananas in a bag, and bananas torn into strips – and shared the results. To keep things consistent, they bought all their bananas at the same store on the same day and prepped and froze the bananas at the same time. Then they defrosted the bananas after 24 hours and made a smoothie and some cookies. What did their science experiment reveal? Some freezing methods are better than others, and one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The Kitchn found none of the freezing techniques altered the quality of the banana. Translation: they all worked. So they compared prep time, storage ease, and blending or thawing time. Tearing bananas into strips and freezing them won hands-down, receiving an overall rating of 9 out of 10. The Kitchn found this technique in The Smoothie Project book, which calls for the bananas to be peeled and torn, not cut – this is important. They should be baton-shaped pieces. You want to freeze your banana batons on a parchment paper-lined tray. Once they freeze, you can put them in zip-top bags or plastic storage containers. PopSugar notes that the storage container needs to be airtight so the bananas don't dry out. That will help them maintain their flavor after thawing. 

This frozen strips method ultimately produced a creamier, better-blended smoothie than the other techniques they tested. Why did this way work best? The Kitchn suggested it might have something to do with the baton shape of the torn bananas along with the not using a knife, which helped to produce less starchy bananas for cooking. So the next time you need to freeze bananas, you know what to do.