I personally prefer a 9 or 10, and would rather an 11 than an 8

I personally prefer a 9 or 10, and would rather an 11 than an 8

I think they're a bit tangy when green and don't like them that way. I prefer full on yellow, perhaps with a smidge of browning.
I get that. I like the tang, they're a bit too sweet for me when they're too ripe.
I prefer mine with freckles.
Love a 50/50 green yellow banana. When they have a good snap and that green taste? Yummm
Between no Green and no brown. So that narrows it down to about 15 minutes. I prefer a bit of brown to a bit of Green
Yellow with freckles. Green is too starchy and weird tasting to me. I like a ripe banana.
Firm, slightly green still.
Yellow, fully ripe bananas, are high in fructans which for me and many others, cause digestion issues, discomfort, and that lingering taste/feeling.
Spotty or oozing, which is just right for banana bread.
A decent amount of green, there's like a one or two day window where it's possible to peel them normally without the peel snapping, but where there's still a little bit of the underripe sourness to them
Barely no longer green
Thoroughly freckled, nearly alcohol.
Non existent. I do not recognise this object as food.
Hmm. This doesn’t sound like the reply I’d expect out of an opportunistic bottom-feeder. Sure you’re a catfish?
For eating, when they have significant brown spots on them. For baking or banana-yoghurt when they are completely brown.
Also obligatory: How Brown has a banana to be, to be Bad?
I prefer a very ripe banana, though uncooked makes my mouth itchy and I get violent heartburn... I'm allergic to cross pollination in bananas, so I can only eat them cooked.
Got any good recipes for cooked bannannas you could share?
Holy cow that sounds rough. I used to eat Kiwis with my grandma when I was a kid (42 now) and I recently grabbed one at the store. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to it, I don't remember it being that tingly and mouth numbing lol.
still be a bit green, and starting to yellow.
Same. Bananas, avocados, and artichokes all get this weird but similar taste when they get ripe beyond the point I can enjoy them. Idk what it is exactly or even how to describe the taste, but some people seem to either not notice a difference or actively be seeking it out.
Most ready made guacamole always seems to have that same flavor. Honestly not sure if there's even a name for it, but it almost makes me gag.
Do plantains count? If so may I introduce you to the illustrious jibarito
I dont know when in the lifecycle of a banana this happens, but after they transformed into banana ice cream
I might be the weird one but I like them dark green the greener the better.
The yellowest one that doesn't have too much brown. If there's some green it usually won't taste as sweet, but if it's too brown it will be mushy and gross.
green to lime yellow.
I like the freshness and grassy flavor.
my parents would eat them black and it just put me off them.
I rarely have a banana unless it's with rice crispys or cheerios.
As with most things I have a "in the moment" preference. I'm not gonna be sad if they're as OP described or very brown and sweet, but I'll have a "man, I would have rather have them this way" and what way that is is different from time to time. Can have one or several hours, days, weeks or months of preferring one kind then it'll just change. Generally like change and things to be different rather than the same all the time.
When they are brown and mushy.
Because thats when you can turn them into banana bread.
If I am going to just eat the banana by itself, I prefer it to look fake as fuck and bright yellow. Just ripe enough that the peel isn't super hard to remove.
I haven't tried frying one, tho. Might be better if it's still green for two reasons: Higher sugar content for caramlizing and firmer so it doesn't just melt away.
I really like them almost entirely brown, mashed up with butter and mixed with some flour, sugar, an egg or two and a hint of vanilla extract, all baked in the oven for like an hour.

3-4 for me.
7 is where thr real taste of banana begins. Pre-7 on your so called chart is not even ripe bennana. Bannana is good until it is dirt. The mold gives good flavor, like cheese. To think that so many individuals could be out of the loop of real banana eating. What horrible ignorance of man.
I'd say 6.5. I like to see a few brown spots but 7 is verging on too far. I'd happily eat any of 5-7.
My vote goes to 3-5
Absolutly none. Can't stand bananas. Need to wash my hands after peeling them for my kids when they were young.
Think it's the weird texture.
And also the awful flavour.
@sicarius @snoons you hate bananas to that extent ??
I eat the whole hand of bananas within 24 hours so the need to be ripe. A green banana tastes terrible and I have no self control
I like my bananas yellow, with the brown dots just starting to appear. That's the perfect sweetness, flavor, and texture.
When I was a kid, my mom thought bananas were too expensive, so they were a rare treat. To this day, eating a banana feels like a candy bar to me.
When I was an adult, with a job, and my own apartment, I was grocery shopping, and about to pass the bananas because they were too expensive, I saw that they were only about 60 cents a pound. A giant bunch of bananas, more than I'd ever seen in my house in my life, was less than $2!
I have always had a few bananas in my kitchen ever since.
Blender with protein powder and blueberries. Cannot handle the texture at any ripeness
For frying, green is good. For eating as dessert, dark yellow with freckles
Five, six, or seven. I'll go to eight, to not waste the banana. I'll eat four on cereal. I'd never eat one, two, or three.
Very under ripe. I like how it tastes likes shit and leaves that weird coating on your tongue that is hard to get rid of. Refreshing.
all 93 comments