# Do you de-string a banana? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720 "2016-01-20T23:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/21 "2016-01-21T09:10:07Z")
I remove the strings and then cut out any bruised spots with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/22 "2016-01-21T09:22:56Z")
There’s a missing option … “I eat the strings and throw the rest away”. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/23 "2016-01-21T11:40:15Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I eat the entire peel. I put the whole thing, unpeeled, into a blender to make a banana smoothie. Are you serious? If so, does the drink taste any different than if you peel the banana first (and discard the peel)? ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/24 "2016-01-21T13:27:58Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Bananas aren’t edible until speckled. Does this have anything to do with the peels leaving fewer strings? I really never seem to find the stringy parts any more when I eat a nanner. Preach! ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/25 "2016-01-21T18:35:08Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Other. > > Any strings that start to come off when I peel it, I pull off. Otherwise, I don’t worry about them. This. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/26 "2016-01-21T18:48:29Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Why has the last choice started a “The Call Me Mellow Yellow” earworm on me? 🙂 I’m getting the “Chiquita Banana” jingle as an earworm, myself. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/27 "2016-01-21T19:20:30Z")
I always unzip things before eating them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/28 "2016-01-21T22:28:19Z")
Always. Neatness counts. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/29 "2016-01-21T23:11:55Z")
Life, as they say, is too short to de-string a banana. Unless this is all some sort of euphemism, in which case all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/30 "2016-01-21T23:12:13Z")
Yes, and I also destring my oranges, mandarins and the like. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/31 "2016-01-22T01:01:15Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > There’s a missing option … “I eat the strings and throw the rest away”. This. The strings are the best part. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/32 "2016-01-22T05:18:36Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > **Supposedly when you peel a banana the lifehack way (from the side opposite the stem; use the stem as a handle)** it’s supposed to be string-free though when I’ve done it I haven’t found that exactly to be the case. Though I think it might in fact be less stringy than otherwise. Huh? Do you mean to imply that there are other people (including you?) who peel a banana from the stem end? I’ve never heard of, or even imagined, anyone doing that! What’s a stem good for, if not to be used as a handle? Anyway, yes, peeling a banana from the distal end toward the stem, there _are_ strings. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/33 "2016-01-22T07:09:55Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Huh? Do you mean to imply that there are other people (including you?) who peel a banana from the stem end? I’ve never heard of, or even imagined, anyone doing that! What’s a stem good for, if not to be used as a handle? Anyway, yes, peeling a banana from the distal end toward the stem, there _are_ strings. Pretty much everyone peels a banana from the stem, probably since that’s where it peels most easily (hell sometimes when breaking one off of a bunch, it splits enough to expose the inside just from that). Lifehack recommends doing the opposite end for the aforementioned handle reason, and because that’s how monkeys in the wild supposedly do it (and who knows bananas better than they?). I agree that it still results in strings either way, though it’s possibly less stringy doing it from the non-stem end. Possibly. They even mentioned it recently in the new comedy series _Superstore_, in a scene where all the characters make fun of the protagonist for doing it the lifehack way. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/34 "2016-01-22T15:52:39Z")
By the way, those string have a name. They as re called “phloem”. Pronounced with two syllables, not like ‘phlegm’. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/35 "2016-01-22T15:54:58Z")
I always de-string; strings are disgusting. In fact, I would hazard a guess that people who hates bananas do so because they had the misfortune of eating a string and now think they hate the texture of the entire banana. Also, I tried opening a banana from the butt end and all I got was banana covered hands. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/36 "2016-01-22T16:21:57Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I always de-string; strings are disgusting. In fact, I would hazard a guess that people who hates bananas do so because they had the misfortune of eating a string and now think they hate the texture of the entire banana. Who hates bananas? That’s like the legendary person who hates pizza. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/37 "2016-01-22T16:56:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Who hates bananas? That’s like the legendary person who hates pizza. I’ve heard lots of people say they hate bananas. These people are clearly deficient, but they do exist. And what they usually say is “I don’t mind the flavor - I like other banana flavored things-, but I can’t get past the texture”. It’s the strings I tells ya. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/38 "2016-01-22T17:09:10Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I’ve heard lots of people say they hate bananas. These people are clearly deficient, but they do exist. And what they usually say is “I don’t mind the flavor - I like other banana flavored things-, but I can’t get past the texture”. It’s the strings I tells ya. Well that does make some sense. But no one hates pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/39 "2016-01-22T17:16:15Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Who hates bananas? That’s like the legendary person who hates pizza. I hate bananas; once you skin them and throw the bone away, there’s nothing left to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720/40 "2016-01-22T17:29:34Z")
I was taking a break once with a coworker who was eating a banana. She pulled a string off… **then ate it!** \* I almost gagged. \*the string, I mean. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-de-string-a-banana/743720.md?page=3)