Is It A Good Idea To Use Your Air Fryer To Ripen Bananas?

Bananas make a tasty and nutritious snack, whether they are fresh, starchy, and stiff or ripe, sweet, and softened. However, for dishes that require this fruit like banana bread, banana ice cream, and banana pancakes, among other delicious things you can make with bananas, the riper the better. Not only do they add a natural sweetness and a more potent flavor, but they also are easier to mash up and integrate into a batter.

Though every banana reaches a perfect level of ripeness in due time, there may come situations when waiting it out is not an option. If you ever need an overripe version in a pinch, you can turn to some heat-based methods, like popping your bananas into a microwave or oven. One lesser-known method, but an effective one nonetheless, is using an air fryer. Since applying heat is a tried and true way to expedite the sweetening process, there is no reason an air fryer would not get the job done.

Air fryers are an excellent tool for sweetening bananas quickly. Similarly to a microwave or oven, the heat in the air fryer activates the latent sugar in an underripe banana, quickening the ripening process to a matter of minutes rather than multiple days.

Though an oven is a perfectly suitable heating appliance, air fryers speedily circulate hot air within their enclosed space, which is smaller than an oven. As a result, they take less time to pre-heat. The air fryer method is not necessarily more effective at sweetening bananas, but it is a quicker process overall since it cuts down on pre-heating time. 

To ripen bananas in an air fryer, you only need to heat the air fryer to 355 degrees Fahrenheit and toss the fruit in for six minutes. TikTok user @freshlysnapped demonstrates this simple yet magically effective process.

@freshlysnapped

Aint nobody got time for underipe bananas 🍌 #fyp #foodhack #bananahack #kitchenhack #cookinghack #airfryerhacks #foodhacks #bananas #foodtok

♬ original sound – Freshly Snapped

Though air frying is a viable method to ripen bananas for other recipes, this warmed fruit can make a simple treat on its own. For a quick and sweet dessert, you can slice it in half, sprinkle it with cinnamon and some sugar for an extra boost of sweetness, and pop the slices into the air fryer for eight minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The fragrance of the bananas and cinnamon will fill your kitchen and make your mouth water. 

The result ultimately will be a warm and gooey banana split, best served with a scoop of ice cream. User @cookwithskye shared this foolproof recipe on TikTok, garnering substantial attention for the simple process and irresistible-looking final product.

@cookwithskye

Airfryer banana 🍌 #airfryerrecipes #bananas #dessert

♬ original sound – Skye

You can also easily tailor this hack to your taste preferences, like throwing in some chocolate chips for a melty chocolate banana or adding some honey to the mix. Whatever your purpose for ripening your bananas, using an air fryer is definitely a good idea.