While bananas on the shelf are notoriously short-lived, they can last you an incredibly long time when frozen. But can frozen bananas make you sick?
Here’s a quick answer:
Frozen bananas stored at or below 0°F (-17.8 °C) are safe to eat and won’t make you sick. You can add frozen bananas to smoothies without worrying about a nasty bout of food poisoning. However, frozen bananas past the 3-month mark will start to taste less than fantastic.
Not even the world’s best freezer can keep bananas in tip-top shape forever, so even though you get plenty of mileage out of frozen bananas, these yellow fruits aren’t going to be pleasant to eat after the 90-day mark.
Can Frozen Bananas Go Bad and Make You Sick?
Yes, bananas can go bad in the freezer. Frozen bananas that are stored at a constant temperature are safe for consumption.
The longer bananas stay in the freezer, the higher the chance of air leaking and causing freezer burn. When frozen bananas spol and go bad, it is usually because of prolonged freezer storage.
How To Tell If A Frozen Banana Is Bad?
If you store bananas in the freezer for a longer time, they may lose their quality and become unhealthy to eat.
A clear sign that a banana has gone bad is when it starts to blacken on the inside and has a bad smell.
The Best Method to Safely Freeze Bananas
When bananas aren’t frozen properly, it will shorten their life span. Freezing bananas in the right way will also help you avoid getting sick.
Pick A Ripe Banana For Freezing
It’s important to pick ripe bananas because they retain their natural flavor and consistency for a long time.
Peel and Cut Bananas
Peel the bananas and cut them into small pieces for added convenience.
Put Bananas in a Ziploc bag
Placing bananas in an airtight bag before freezing will ensure freshness. P
Freeze Bananas Separately
Lastly, freeze bananas separately from the other foods to prevent your bananas from absorbing other smells. This is a very helpful hack, especially when you intend to use frozen bananas for some delicate recipes.
How To Freeze Bananas: Three Ways
Are Frozen Bananas Healthy?
Flash freezing can help retain all nutrients and keep bananas fresh. Magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium, copper, and manganese are essential vitamins and minerals that frozen bananas offer. Freezing doesn’t take away any of these nutrients, making frozen bananas a healthy choice.
How Long Do Frozen Bananas Last?
We all know that freezing foods improve their life span, and so are frozen bananas. Freezing bananas prevents the growth of the microorganisms responsible for food spoilage.
Frozen bananas will usually last for a longer period. However, if you want frozen bananas to have a fresh taste, consume them within 90-days of freezing.
Can Thawed Bananas Go Bad?
If freezing bananas protects them from harmful microbes, thawing them reintroduces that risk. Thawed bananas are susceptible to spoiled, and harmful microbes can make bananas go bad if left at room temperature longer than necessary. If you don’t want to use the bananas that same day, I recommend keeping them in the fridge and letting them defrost overnight. Compared to the kitchen counter, the fridge’s cooler environment will help slow down the food’s spoiling process and prolong the life of your produce.
You made a mistake and left a frozen banana on the counter for a couple of nights. Because it’s already gone through the thawing process, it may be tricky to determine whether or not it’s spoiled.
Generally, when it comes to the risk of eating potentially spoiled food, I recommend being cautious and throwing it away. However, if you want to give the banana a fair chance, we recommend doing the smell test: chuck it if it smells musty or overly fermented.
How to Quickly Defrost Frozen Bananas?
You can defrost bananas in the same bag you used to freeze them. Simply submerge the bag of bananas in a bowl of warm water for about ten minutes.
Why Does My Frozen Banana Turn Brown?
Most fruits, including bananas, turn brown when exposed to air via a process known as oxidation. Freezing bananas help slow down the oxidation process. While the oxidation process may continue to occur slowly, it’s not a threat at all and won’t make your bananas toxic.
But who would want to eat a brown or black banana anyway? The best thing you can do is use brown bananas to make tasty banana bread. Here’s my favorite recipe.
How To Prevent Bananas From Turning Brown?
To prevent bananas from turning brown, add lemon juice to your peeled bananas as it helps retain their freshness and quality.
The citrus helps slow down the oxidation process, which will prevent your bananas from turning brown.
Why Do Frozen Bananas Turn Black?
When you freeze unpeeled whole bananas, you’ll find that the skin rapidly changes color from yellow to black. This process also occurs when you refrigerate bananas but is accelerated when you put them in the freezer. And why is that?
Frozen bananas turn black because the water content in the fruit transforms into ice crystals. These ice crystals expand and cause cell rupture in a banana skin. Cell rupturing releases polyphenols, which help speed up the blackening process.
As with the peeled, pre-sliced banana slices, a color change is nothing to worry about, and your banana remains perfectly safe to eat.
Freezing Whole Bananas Vs. Pre-Sliced – What’s the Difference?
When it comes to freezing whole or pre-sliced bananas, one noticeable difference is their post-thaw state. Compared to pre-sliced banana pieces, you’ll notice that whole thawed bananas are soft and mushy. The thawed banana is soft because ice crystals ruptured cell walls within the banana. As a frozen banana defrosts, these ice crystals turn back to the water, and those broken cell walls collapse, leaving you with a mushy end product.
That mushy goodness is ideal for baking. When you cut open your defrosted whole banana, make sure you also include the oozing liquid in your recipe! That sweet, liquid goodness adds flavor to your banana bread or muffins.
Overripe Vs. Ripe Bananas – What’s Better for Freezing?
You can freeze both ripe and overripe bananas that are ripe or overripe. This depends on what you’ll be using them for.
Ripe Bananas
Ripe bananas have a yellowish color. If the banana is still green, give it a couple of more days to become fully ripe before freezing it.
While the banana will continue to ripe in the freezer, it will not become sweeter. So if you want a sweeter flavor, consider ripening the banana before throwing in the freezer.
Over-ripe Bananas
If you want bananas for baking, it’s good to let them overripen first. Brown bananas have a sweeter flavor, perfect for baking goods and smoothies.
Can Black Bananas Make You Sick?
Even if your bananas turn black, they aren’t unsafe to eat because the oxidation process is harmless and doesn’t affect the nutrient quality of your fruit.
Final Thoughts: Can Freezing Bananas Make You Sick?
This short guide has answered your question on whether frozen bananas can make you sick. As highlighted in the article, frozen bananas can’t make you sick if stored at the correct temperature.
Make sure to freeze bananas correctly to prevent them from going bad. Freezing bananas won’t affect the nutrient content of your banana, so they’ll remain tasty and nutritious.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to use the liquid from frozen bananas?
Yes, it’s safe to use the liquid from frozen bananas because it’s flavorful and will make your banana bread tasty and moist.
Should I dehydrate frozen bananas?
Yes, dehydrating bananas is a great way of storing them for a longer time.
