# Strange Method of Buying Bananas.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446 "2011-01-05T02:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/41 "2016-05-16T22:54:48Z")
> [@Yorikke](#): > > do this with grapes. I do this with bread. I’ve never bought a heel piece in my life. ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/42 "2016-05-16T23:42:28Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > This thread is chock full of people who don’t realize that bananas are fiberous pus-filled skins of disgustingness. EXACTLY. The only good banana is an artificial banana, as in taffy or Popsicles with fake banana flavor. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/43 "2016-05-17T03:00:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I went grocery shopping today, and while in the produce section, I saw a lady buying bananas by the bag, rather than by the bunch. Kind of like picking out oranges from bulk section rather than the bagged section. > > That is, she was inspecting the banana bunches, finding the banana that best met her needs and put into a plastic bag. Lather, Rinse, and Repeat on the next bunch of bananas. That’s how I buy all my produce? I don’t buy bananas cause they are gross but if I wanted to eat sugar-filled slimey snot I’d probably use that method. Or possibly the poor woman has been pressured into making a ton of banana bread at some set date in the future and so she was carefully selecting all of the ripest bananas in hopes she could get enough to fulfill her needs? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/44 "2016-05-17T08:52:22Z")
Zombie bananas!😛 I’ll take the over ripe ones. I’m a baker, and squooshy bananas are the best for banana bread. They mash up more smoothly. We sell bananas and apples in the cafe, and if any of the bananas go off I put them in a bag in the freezer until enough are accumulated to make a good batch. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/45 "2016-05-17T10:34:05Z")
I saw a sign at a store recently saying “please don’t break apart our bunches of bananas”, so it must be annoying someone, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/46 "2016-05-17T10:49:07Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Green tip bananas are gross > [http://nfsmi.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20110822024414.pdf](http://nfsmi.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20110822024414.pdf) Sez you (and **BigT** )! My favorite is stage 4. 5 is acceptable, but after that I wait for them to overripen for banana bread. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/47 "2016-05-17T11:25:20Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Green tip bananas are gross > [http://nfsmi.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20110822024414.pdf](http://nfsmi.org/documentlibraryfiles/PDF/20110822024414.pdf) Wash bananas before serving? WTF? I’ve never washed a banana, nor any other food with skin removed prior to consumption.😕 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/48 "2016-05-17T11:42:28Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I saw a sign at a store recently saying “please don’t break apart our bunches of bananas”, so it must be annoying someone, somewhere. Most likely the store, as some people prefer ‘full’ bunches and others prefer to break off their bananas from the bunches, leaving discarded singles or small bunches which are harder to sell. Also the outer ones are sometimes discarded by banana bunch breakers, which the store was hoping to sell as part of the package deal of the whole bunch. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/49 "2016-05-17T16:13:11Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Most likely the store, as some people prefer ‘full’ bunches and others prefer to break off their bananas from the bunches, leaving discarded singles or small bunches which are harder to sell. Also the outer ones are sometimes discarded by banana bunch breakers, which the store was hoping to sell as part of the package deal of the whole bunch. Yeah, although IMO that’s not a reasonable expectation if they’re not pre-bagged. I mean, sometimes the stores put like 8-10 bananas in a bunch together. Even my family, with 2 small banana-fiend boys can’t eat that many bananas before they’re overripe. So I’ll usually break off a couple, or break it in half to have the proper number for us to eat. (well, my wife and kids, as I personally subscribe to the “pus-filled skins of disgustingness” school of thought) ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/50 "2016-05-17T16:58:47Z")
My name is CheshireKat and I am a banana and grape bunch breaker. They sell **by the pound** , not by the bunch so I have no qualms breaking off a smaller amount. I even open bagged up grapes and take only as many as I want. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/51 "2016-05-17T17:48:42Z")
> [@Yorikke](#): > > Shit, I do this with grapes. > > Joe Amateurs. I go through the bulk rice bin picking out the ones I want. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/52 "2016-05-18T04:48:40Z")
My first thought was that she was looking for the over ripe ones for baking. My grandmother does this. She sends me to the store and asks for a set number of bananas that are “a little too brown looking” or “ones that look too ripe for most people to eat”. As a side note, another store sells the single bananas that people break off and just sit there because no one wants them in 1/2 lb bags marked “baking bananas”. My grandmother doesn’t like these bananas. She says they aren’t “brown enough”. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446/53 "2016-05-18T11:21:12Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Which is kind of a problem if you live alone and like them within a certain range of ripeness–you wind up eating some of them greener than you like and some of them riper than you like. You can refrigerate bananas - the skin will turn an unappetizing shade of brown but the ripening will be slowed down considerably. And a very cold, ripe banana is delicious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-method-of-buying-bananas/566446.md?page=2)