[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttjhOZjL59w&spfreload=10[/youtube]
You know you can keep bananas fresher longer by wrapping plastic wrap around the stem, and you can speed-ripen them by storing them in paper bags, but once the peels have browned, there's no turning back time.
Or so it seemed, until one YouTube user posted this "Zombie Banana" life hack.
In the video, Brandon Queen takes an inky-black banana, places it in a Ziploc bag filled with uncooked rice—just like you would to revive a waterlogged cell phone—leaving it enclosed for an hour to "take the moisture out," and blasting it with a hair dryer on its cool setting. Right before your eyes, the banana returns to bright yellow and barely used.
More than 9 million people have watched the video, with 1,000-plus commenters debating one burning question: Does this hack really work?
Sadly, it doesn't—at least not bananas that have rotted over time, according to Snopes, an urban legend-debunking website. A banana's peel can turn brown if it's placed in the fridge or freezer, and theoretically, removing the moisture and and drying them out could restore them to their yellow-peeled lustre, IFLScience.com hypothesizes.
The video has spurred videos testing Queen's method, which further support the belief that this hack is wack:
[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDkposP6qF8&spfreload=10[/youtube]
That includes this video, where the user tests a browned, week-old banana, one that's browned from refrigeration, and one that's browned in the freezer. (Spoiler: None work.)
[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXd6JKxZdB8&spfreload=10[/youtube]
If you're still on the fence, consider this: Queen's bio describes him as a hypnotist/mind reader who's "pushing the boundaries of magic and hypnosis." That's part of what makes this video so incredible to watch—he's skewering the internet's oh-so-popular life hack videos (down to the white, all-caps Impact font for the intro), and he's carefully explained his hack in such a way that it seems to make sense—yes, uncooked rice does pull moisture from things! Yes, a blow dryer dries things!—allowing you to suspend disbelief, even if only momentarily, much like one of David Blaine or Criss Angel's street performances.
The bottom line: We applaud you, Mr. Queen, for your clever video, and we'll save our browned bananas for some crazy-good smoothies and banana bread.
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