When Is a Banana Perfectly Ripe? A Debate Is Raging on Instagram
Where do you stand?
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How firm or mushy do you like your bananas? Is the ideal eating point when they are still a tad green or when they are starting to develop brown spots? Or do you like them some other place on the ripeness trajectory between quite green and almost complete brown?
You may think there is one clear answer to when a banana is perfect to eat, but the response to an Instagram post on the topic has revealed that not everyone sees ideal banana ripeness the same way.
The post, which has generated nearly 13,000 likes and counting in five days, includes an image of bananas arranged in a circle and numbered — sort of like a clock with extra hours or a flower with an ombre petal array — from “1” (fairly green) to 15 (pretty darn brown).
A banner atop the image reads “Which number is the perfect banana?” And a question alongside it asks “What do you think?” (With a banana emoji, of course.)
Nearly 5,000 commenters have provided their answers. And they range.
There are, for instance, a fair number of people who say they prefer their bananas in the “4 or 5” ripeness categories.
“5 or 6 I like mine kinda green. Squishy fruit freaks me out,” wrote one firm fruit lover.
At least two commenters wrote, “1.”
Then there are people clear on the other side of the spectrum.
“If there is 20 like I will choose that one …” one mushy-banana fan shared.
A perusal of the comments indicates that most people sit somewhere in the middle.
“7 is the only winner. Too ripe at 8, a tad underripe at 6,” one moderately ripe banana lover said.
Others say they make decisions based on the circumstances.
“To eat 8-10, for bananashake 11-15,” said one commenter who fell into that camp.
“8 9 10 to eat,” another shared. “11 to 15 for banana bread.”
Those favoring bananas at the high end of the scale found those to be “sweet” and the lower degree of banana ripeness “bland.” Those who preferred bananas categorized by lower numbers of ripeness derided the higher ones as too soft and sugary.
And then there were those who cast a wide banana net: “something between 1 and 15,” one such banana fan wrote.
Who knew bananas could spark such controversy?
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