How to Tell When an Avocado is Ripe
How do you ripen avocados so that they’re just right—not too mushy? Here’s what you need to know about selecting, ripening, cutting, and storing avocados. After all, it’s worth the knowledge to enjoy this super-healthy brain food—and make awesome guacamole!
How to Select an Avocado
The best way to tell if an avocado is ready for immediate use is to gently squeeze the fruit in the palm of your hand (avoid squeezing with your fingertips). Ripe, ready-to-eat fruit will be firm yet will yield to gentle pressure.
It’s hard to explain, but think of how your palm feels—a soft give but also firm.
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How to Ripen Avocados
The cold air in a fridge delays ripening. And if you’re waiting for your avocado to ripen on the counter, it could be a while.
I discovered a trick years ago for ripening avocados. As soon as I buy them (green), I tuck them securely in a brown paper bag with an apple or two. After two (sometimes three) days, they are perfect.
Apples and avocados all produce natural ethylene gas, a gaseous plant hormone, that speeds up the ripening process. When placed in a paper bag, you are containing the ethylene and encouraging the fruit to ripen faster.
The apple is just for extra gas. The avocado will ripen in the bag by itself, too. If possible, use red or golden delicious apples. These old varieties produce more ethylene than newer varieties.
How to Peel Avocados
When peeling avocados, cut them lengthwise into four equal quarters around the seed. Don’t remove the seed until you’ve separated the quarters.
The skin and seed will then come away effortlessly.
Keep Avocados From Turning Brown
To bring out their flavor, a bit of edible acid helps. Some folks like to use a bit of lemon or lime, but my favorite is apple cider vinegar. I dice them into bite-sized pieces, shower them with a splash of vinegar and a generous pinch of salt and stir. Delicious!
By adding an acidic agent, you also delay the aging process so that your avocado or guacamole won’t turn brown.
Putting avocado seed(s) in guacamole may help maintain its color because the seed reduces the amount of surface area exposed to air (minimizing oxidization).
Of course, adding plastic wrap so that your guacamole isn’t exposed to air (oxidation) will also help. If your guacamole develops a brown-colored layer, it’s safe to just scrape it off to eat the green spread beneath.
Avocados Are Good for You!
According to Dr. David Perlmutter (author of Grain Brain), they are one of the three best brain foods. He believes that avocados, grass-fed beef, and coconut oil are essential for healthy brain function. According to the California Avocado Commission:
- One-third of a medium avocado (50 g) has 80 calories and contributes nearly 20 vitamins and minerals, making it a great nutrient-dense food choice.
- The avocado is virtually the only fruit that contains heart-healthy monounsaturated fat—good fat!
- Avocados are naturally sodium-, sugar- and cholesterol-free.
- Avocados can act as a “nutrient booster” by helping increase the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamins A, D, K and E.
Avocados are also one of the cleanest fruits. Their thick skin keeps pesticides and other poisons from infiltrating the meat, so this item doesn’t always have to be organically grown. Some of the most vitamin-rich parts of an avocado lies just underneath the skin.
Avocado Recipes
Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t offer up a delicious guacamole recipe. See this recipe and more below!
Grow Your Own Avocado Tree
By the way, is the avocado a fruit or a vegetable? It’s a fruit! To be more specific, it’s a berry.
You can grow your own avocado fruit tree, too—if you have patience.
If you’re growing a tree from your own avocado seed, it will start out as a houseplant.
Celeste Longacre
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I put avocados in a brown paper bag and leave it in an open drawer with the onions and garlic. When they ripen which is within 2-3. Raw avocados kept in the fridge can take upto a week to ripen and sometimes go bad. Cutting them into halves is much easier to store without browning. Never knew they belong to the berry category. :)
I have grown many avocado plants over the years, just put the seed in potted soil and water them, they grow. The seed is actually made up of 2 halves and over time they split up.
I have been having good luck extending the life of a just perfectly ripe avocado. I put it in the crisper drawer and I’ve been able to hold them at least an additional week or longer uncut. I’ve gone two weeks + but the texture starts to get a little soft, still edible though and color looking fine.
Avocados are fruits, not vegetables...
I buy several unripe avocados on sale and put them in the refrigerator. I take them out one at a time for ripening, which usually takes a couple of days.
why peel ? just cut in half and scoop it out with a spoon
Seems the avocadoes I get; no matter how green/hard go from that state to spotted and rotting in less time than you say to leave with apples.
The quality of an avocado is sometimes due to the store and their sourcing. If you haven’t already, it’s a good practice to make your produce manager aware of any concerns you experience so they can address them. Generally speaking, avocados from California are in the market from spring through fall so that’s when they are truly in season.
To enjoy that perfectly ripe avocado, one of my favorite dishes is something I call A.A. Salad. Just slice a sweet-tart apple (I'm partial to Fujis) with the avocado, add a little red wine vinegar and salt. Delicious, easy and so nutritious, too!
I learned my favorite avocado tip after throwing out too many overripe fruits. Once the avocado is just the right level of ripening, they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks and stay perfectly ripe, no dark spots, etc. I shop frequently at a grocery store that has had avocados as low as $.49 each and I can take advantage of the great price and buy a few more because I can store them in the fridge and know they'll still be perfect!
I cleaned out my freezer once and had realized that I had put several bags of Avocado's in the freezer, I took out one bag and put it in the freg, 3 days later, we were eating fresh Avocado's, we were so Amazed !!!!
