It happens way too often. You’re making a recipe that calls for guac, so you reach for the avocado you just bought at the grocery store and realize it’s not ripe yet. Oh the humanity.
Luckily, you can get through this hurdle with a little trick that’ll ripen your avocado quickly.
Here’s what you do:
- Preheat your oven to 200°F.
- Wrap the entire avocado in aluminum foil.
- Place the avocado on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 10 minutes (or until soft).
- Remove from oven and place in the fridge until cool.
Ok Great, That Worked. But Why?
Avocados release ethylene gas which causes the fruit to slowly ripen. When you put the avocado in aluminum foil, the gas surrounds the fruit and expedites the ripening process.
So How Does It Taste?
One writer who tested this method with a completely unripe avocado said that she had to bake the avocado for closer to an hour to get it the level of softness we expect from a ripe avocado. As she wrote on The Kitchn, she checked the avocado every 10 minutes until it felt soft enough to use. She then let it cool for 30 minutes, and she noted that it felt even softer at that point.
As for the taste? Well, it wasn’t quite the same as an avocado given the time to ripen on its own.
“It didn’t quite have that smooth, creamy texture you expect from a ripe avocado, nor did it have the same taste,” she wrote. “It certainly didn’t taste bad, but it did taste a little different.”
Good to know. Of course, if you’re in a pinch and really need that guacamole now… different-tasting softened avocado is better than no avocado at all!
RELATED: Once you’ve whipped up some fresh guacamole, bake these delicious tortilla chips for the perfect snack!
The Brown Bag Trick
If you have a bit more time before you need your ripe avocado, put the fruit into a brown paper bag with an apple or banana. The additional fruit will up the amount of ethylene gas surrounding your avocado, and the brown bag will serve to trap the gas.
If you’re working with a completely unripe avocado, this method should ripen your avocado in two to three days. An avocado that’s just about ripe may need just a day in the bag before it’s ready to eat.
How To Know When An Avocado Is Ripe
If you’re in the grocery store looking to purchase an already ripe avocado, you should feel for fruits that yield slightly to firm pressure from your hand. They shouldn’t be overly soft or mushy, as that’s a sign of overripeness.
A ripe avocado will also be a very dark green or almost black color when ripe. Checking the color along with the giving the fruit a squeeze will give you a good sense of its ripeness.
RELATED: Here’s How Long Common Foods Last In The Freezer
If you want to check the ripeness of an avocado you have at home, one trick is to pop the little button stem off the top of the fruit. If the skin underneath is green, the avocado’s ready to go. If it’s brown, that means it’s past its prime and then it’s up to you if you want to use the overripe avocado or not!
Check out the tips in the video below for more details on choosing ripe avocados. Knowing how quickly these delicious fruits can go from unripe to overripe, the more information you have, the better!
[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff3p38Drz30″ /]