# Banana hanger **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993 "2018-11-05T05:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/1 "2018-11-05T05:37:31Z")
I recently “inherited” a wire stand for hanging bananas on. It’s great; the only flaw is you can’t actually hang bananas on it, because when the bananas are just right, they start self-peeling under their own weight. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/2 "2018-11-05T05:46:24Z")
It’s a feature, not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/3 "2018-11-05T06:58:21Z")
Buy mini bananas. They weigh less:) ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/4 "2018-11-05T09:18:08Z")
This is how you know you’re not eating them fast enough. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/5 "2018-11-05T10:54:52Z")
This is how you know it’s time to make banana bread (or muffins). ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/6 "2018-11-05T11:22:27Z")
Ocassionally, often on foreign beaches you see a man sporting a sort of thong style swim suit. You may be surprised to learn that this is humerously referred to as a ‘banana hammock’. I was prepared for a very different discussion! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/7 "2018-11-05T12:27:37Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I recently “inherited” a wire stand for hanging bananas on. I’m sorry for your loss. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/8 "2018-11-05T14:28:25Z")
[Sensible people eat a 4.5-5 banana.](https://www.cde.state.co.us/nutrition/osnffvpproduceinfosheetsbananas) If you’re letting it get to 7 that’s just gross. Bananas generate heat when they ripen, which speeds up the ripening process. The hanger should allow for even ripening of the “hand” as it allows air movement all around. Also, don’t keep apples next to bananas. Apples emit ethylene gas which jump starts the ripening process. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/9 "2018-11-05T14:38:55Z")
My store sells a fruit bowl with a “banana hammock” on it. Every time a customer buys one, I have to keep from laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/10 "2018-11-05T17:26:48Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > [Sensible people eat a 4.5-5 banana.](https://www.cde.state.co.us/nutrition/osnffvpproduceinfosheetsbananas) If you’re letting it get to 7 that’s just gross. That picture guide seems pretty off balance. Do they really think the banana they label as a 7 has gone as far as a banana can go? It barely has spots. This is a more realistic [picture guide](http://www.dietoflife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1-2.jpg). The banana they show as a 7 actually has some significant browning. I feel this [picture guide](https://www.hidoctor.ir/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Bananas-759x419.jpg) goes too far in the other direction. In this guide the banana they label as a 4 has more spots than the banana the first guide labeled as a 7. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/11 "2018-11-05T19:20:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That picture guide seems pretty off balance. Do they really think the banana they label as a 7 has gone as far as a banana can go? It barely has spots. > > This is a more realistic [picture guide](http://www.dietoflife.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1-2.jpg). The banana they show as a 7 actually has some significant browning. > > I feel this [picture guide](https://www.hidoctor.ir/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Bananas-759x419.jpg) goes too far in the other direction. In this guide the banana they label as a 4 has more spots than the banana the first guide labeled as a 7. Interesting. My family’s business was banana ripening rooms and the color chart I linked to was the one we used. I just looked at [Chiquita’s web page](https://www.chiquita.com/our-fruits/our-bananas) and they list 5: Green Yellow with Green Tips Yellow Yellow with Brown Flecks Brown Chiquita was one of our biggest clients. Nevertheless, I like bananas that are a little more starchy. People that are different than me are gross!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/12 "2018-11-05T19:58:13Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > Interesting. My family’s business was banana ripening rooms How often did you encounter big-ass spiders from those? ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/13 "2018-11-05T20:18:44Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I was prepared for a very different discussion! Yep. I keep seeing “banana hammock” as well. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/14 "2018-11-05T20:21:56Z")
Not much. We didn’t operate distribution centers, we made pressurized ripening rooms. A truck full of green bananas (40,000 lbs) would show up at a distribution center, and immediately moved into one of the rooms (one semi load of bananas per room), then the oxygen was displaced and the temperature was controlled. When it was time to ripen the bananas they would be gassed with ethylene and the temperature brought up. Five days later the bananas would be shipped to grocery stores, all of them the same color. Each store had their own requirements for color. By the time a box was opened any spiders were dead from lack of oxygen. The only time they would be alive was if there was a shortage of bananas. Then the boxes would be gassed and shipped immediately to the grocery. But even then the few spiders were pretty slow from being trapped without food for a week or more. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/15 "2018-11-05T20:50:07Z")
The traditional way to store a bunch of bananas is to suspend it upside-down from the ceiling of the storage room using a short loop of rope yarn hitched around the stalk; this should end up hanging around shoulder-high. Displacing all the oxygen from the room should indeed put a damper on pests. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/16 "2018-11-05T20:50:35Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Ocassionally, often on foreign beaches you see a man sporting a sort of thong style swim suit. > > You may be surprised to learn that this is humerously referred to as a ‘banana hammock’. > > I was prepared for a very different discussion! Those also peel off when things are just right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/17 "2018-11-06T06:38:12Z")
The ever popular graph of banana ripeness: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/18 "2018-11-06T07:48:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I’m sorry for your loss. Luckily not; I just moved into a new place, and Previous Guy left a few things behind. That’s why “inherited” and not actually inherited. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/19 "2018-11-06T07:52:43Z")
> [@Kelevra](#): > > [Sensible people eat a 4.5-5 banana.](https://www.cde.state.co.us/nutrition/osnffvpproduceinfosheetsbananas) If you’re letting it get to 7 that’s just gross. > > Bananas generate heat when they ripen, which speeds up the ripening process. The hanger should allow for even ripening of the “hand” as it allows air movement all around. Also, don’t keep apples next to bananas. Apples emit ethylene gas which jump starts the ripening process. I strongly dislike any banana that’s less than a 6 on your chart. I’ll eat them on 6, but 7 and 8 are the best according to your chart. (Yes, I realize your chart stops at 7.) 9 is where I draw the line. Oh, I read more closely - your work was before the bananas arrive in the store. That makes sense of your chart being so strongly skewed to green and unripe. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banana-hanger/823993/20 "2018-11-07T01:39:23Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I strongly dislike any banana that’s less than a 6 on your chart. I’ll eat them on 6, but 7 and 8 are the best according to your chart. (Yes, I realize your chart stops at 7.) 9 is where I draw the line. > > Oh, I read more closely - your work was before the bananas arrive in the store. That makes sense of your chart being so strongly skewed to green and unripe. I agree - juuust this side of rotten is how I like ‘em.