A ripe avocado is chosen from among fruits that show a small amount of give when the shell is pressed gently with the palm, but are still firm enough not to leave a fingerprint. The answer to how to choose and ripen a ripe avocado is recognizing the right level of firmness and letting still-hard avocados ripen at home over a few days.
Avocado is a fruit that ripens after being picked from the tree, which is why it's generally sold hard at grocery stores. As the starch inside the fruit gradually turns into sugar, its texture also softens and gains a creamy consistency. While this process completes within a few days at room temperature, low temperature slows this ripening down considerably.
How Is a Ripe Avocado Chosen?
A few simple checks when choosing an avocado make it easier to find a fruit at the right ripeness.
- When lightly squeezed with the palm, the avocado should show a little give, but should not cave in.
- If the shell's color has turned from dark green to dark purple, this is generally a sign of ripeness; but this color change can vary by variety.
- If the small nub at the stem end comes off easily when gently pulled and the area underneath looks green, the avocado is ripe; if the underneath is brown, the avocado may be overripe.
- Avocados with sunken, blackish spots on the shell should be avoided; these spots can indicate rotten areas inside.
How Is a Hard Avocado Ripened?
Simple methods can be applied to ripen a still-hard avocado within a few days.
- A hard avocado can be put in a paper bag and left at room temperature for 2-4 days.
- Adding a banana or apple to the bag can speed up ripening due to the natural gas these fruits release.
- The avocado should be kept somewhere cool and dark, not in direct sunlight.
- A ripened avocado can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days until used, to hold it at its ripeness level.
What Mistakes Are Made When Choosing and Ripening Avocado?
One common mistake when choosing avocado is looking only at color and not checking firmness; in some varieties, color doesn't change much with ripeness. Another mistake is trying to quickly ripen a hard avocado by heating it in a microwave; this method may heat the outside of the fruit but doesn't allow the inside to ripen evenly, and can ruin its texture.
How Should a Ripe Avocado Be Used?
A ripened avocado can be used in salads, on toast, or mashed and seasoned in a classic avocado sauce. An avocado's creamy texture is sensitive to heat, so adding it to hot dishes at the very last stage helps preserve its texture without it breaking down. An overripe avocado can be considered for recipes like smoothies or sauces where a puréed consistency is desired.
How Is Cut Avocado Stored Without Browning?
Cut avocado darkens quickly when its surface is exposed to air; to slow down this browning, it's recommended to rub a little lemon juice on the cut surface and leave the pit in for a while before removing it. Avocado can stay usable for a day or two longer when stored in an airtight container or tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Even if slight darkening forms on the surface, this is generally a color change caused by oxidation rather than spoilage, and the rest can be used comfortably by scraping off a thin layer.
The answer to how to choose and ripen a ripe avocado is slight give, checking the stem, and the paper bag method when needed. These simple techniques make it easier to get a creamy-consistency avocado every time and reduce the margin of error when shopping.