Keep bananas 'fresh and firm' with expert storage techniques

Busting the common fridge myth, it turns out bananas can benefit from a bit of cold. Sure, they may lose their vibrant yellow colour, but Linda Tyler, a culinary expert with her own cookbook and the popular Gracious Vegan website, advises not to judge these brown bananas too quickly.

She's sliced through the confusion, suggesting that refrigerating ripe bananas can actually slow down their race to overripeness , despite a change in skin color. Linda explained: "If you can bring yourself to peeling that brown skin in the week following, you'll find the banana inside to be firmer than its brothers and sisters left at room temperature, and its taste will be just fine."

Expanding on her fruit storage advice , she also said: "In other words, if you like 'medium' bananas, you should consider refrigerating them just after they lose their green cast." But this trick doesn't work for all. Green bananas and fridges don't mix well, reports the Express .

• 'One simple' product removes 14 years of grease from oven glass in just 30 minutes

• Get rid of rats from your garden 'forever' with expert's cheap natural solution

Linda recounted a failed experiment: "I tried refrigerating a couple of green bananas. The good news is that the peel didn't turn brown." Yet, she disclosed the less positive results: "But the bad news is that the banana inside didn't start to ripen, so it wasn't sweet or tasty it just kind of stalled in the pre-ripened state."

Rather than storing your bananas with other fruits, keep them separate on a kitchen counter until they ripen and turn yellow; then, refrigerate them to extend their shelf life by up to a week. Although it may seem counterintuitive, keeping bananas in a fruit bowl can actually cause them to spoil more quickly than if you stored them elsewhere.

Bananas and other fruits produce a growth hormone, ethylene gas, as they ripen - this not only helps ripen the fruit but also causes nearby fruits to ripen faster. When you store many ethylene-producing fruits together, they all ripen more swiftly. So, to keep bananas fresh, it helps to store them away from the rest of your fruits.

If you'd still like to keep your bananas in a fruit bowl, consider wrapping the stem in cling film, which stops the banana from producing ethylene gas. Alternatively, hang your bananas on a hook above your fruit bowl, as this allows greater air circulation and prevents ethylene gas from spoiling your fruit.

• Chef shares 'correct' way to make fried eggs - and you don't need to flip them

• Discover how you can boost your garden's health this summer with simple trick

For all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletters here .

If your bananas are too ripe to save, chop them up and freeze them for a future smoothie or banana bread.

As Linda advises, "If you have soft, sweet, very ripe bananas, you're looking at great candidates for smoothies and ice cream. Just peel and slice the bananas, spread the slices out in plastic bags, and freeze the bags in a flat position so the slices don't clump together."

"When you're ready to make your smoothie or ice cream, your frozen banana slices are waiting for you!."

For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .