I was out in the yard picking up pine cones to use for fire starting and for no good reason, I decided to waste some time on Google to see what others were doing. It looks like people are soaking them in wax to make a fire starter. They fall off the tree with a perfect air to fuel ratio and usually have some resin on them as a bonus. I'm sure wax makes them last longer, but they last long enough to light small splits. Why make more work out of it? It kind of reminds me of roasting corn. I see all kinds of recipes where one peels them, adds some kind of stuff, then wraps them in foil. They come pre wrapped and ready to put in the oven or over the BBQ or however else you want to do them. The moisture in the leaves automatically controls the temperature of the corn. Once the outside is charred, they are ready to go. And the silk peels off 1000 times easier. It's only a matter of time before bananas are sold peeled and wrapped in plastic.
Well I guess I am one of those guys that likes life complicated. If there is no science behind it I just get bored. I can not help myself. It is just the way I am wired and just because a person retires does not mean they go brain dead. So I plead guilty.
I had to argue with my wife the first time I grilled corn for her. She thought it was going to taste like grass since I left the husk on. Now she requests it all the time like that! Speaking of bananas, I was just at one of my company's distribution centers a few weeks ago taking a tour. There was one entire warehouse dedicated to Chiquita bananas! Apparently getting them to the stores ripe is so scientific that Chiquita requires that only Chiquita employees can manage them. They keep them in these large rooms, about 20'X20' and probably 20' tall that are temp controlled until they need them. Up until then they are as green as grass is and they can keep for months like that. When the grocery stores are ready for more, they pump a certain gas mixture into the rooms and they "ripen" in a few days and then end up in your produce section. Apparently a lot of "fresh" fruits are kept in a state like that which is the only way to get fresh fruits and veggies year round.
No need to imagine. I had seen peeled, packaged banana's quite a few years ago. They must not have been very well received. I had to look through nearly 20 pages of photos but I finally found them.
I think my boss helped design those! One of his favorite projects he's told me about was he developed a film that had the right barrier properties to give bananas a shelf life of something like 3 weeks! But it flopped once it hit market, I guess folks prefer to buy bunches of bananas that need to be eaten within 5 days than something that's prepackaged.
Complicated is in the eye of the beholder. There are many things that people do (wood burning) that I think complicates things but we all "get er done" one way or another.
Same reason why a lot of people try to re-engineer their new wood stove to get it to burn better............ Screw the fact that the big $$$$$ spent by the guy who designed and built it put into research. A lot easier to re-design it after you get it home...................