[HN Gopher] How to ripen and store avocados
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       How to ripen and store avocados
        
       Author : green-eclipse
       Score  : 157 points
       Date   : 2023-11-30 17:05 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.seriouseats.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.seriouseats.com)
        
       | robg wrote:
       | Brown paper bag, two not fully ripe bananas with every three
       | avocados. Leave for two days.
        
         | robg wrote:
         | Serious Eats here suggests staggering:
         | 
         | - Ripe within 2-3 days - with a banana in a brown paper bag
         | 
         | - Ripe within 3-5 days - just avocados in a brown paper bag
         | 
         | - Ripe within a week - open air avocados
        
           | soco wrote:
           | Must the paper be brown for some reason? Or why would
           | everybody say "BROWN paper bags"? And to the particular
           | solution, has it to be paper, not plastic?
        
             | richiebful1 wrote:
             | Maybe the paper bag breathes more? I've speed-ripened
             | avocados in those plastic produce bags they have in the
             | produce section with twist ties and it seems to work okay
        
             | crazygringo wrote:
             | It has to be paper to let humidity pass out. Fruit will rot
             | if kept in a plastic bag for too long because of the
             | humidity build-up.
             | 
             | It doesn't have to be brown, it's just that the classic
             | paper bag you buy at the store is always brown. You know,
             | the lunch bags for kids (or adults). I've never seen them
             | sold to consumers in any other color.
             | 
             | You could reuse a white bleached paper bag that you
             | sometimes get with food delivery, but they always seem to
             | acquire a grease stain or other liquid along the way... But
             | the food delivery bags are often waxed, and that won't let
             | humidity pass either.
        
             | mattkrause wrote:
             | They mean the bags made of uncoated kraft paper, which lets
             | air in very well. "Brown [paper] bag" is essentially the
             | name of this type of bag, which is often used for school
             | lunches (small bags) or groceries (bigger). Here's an
             | example:
             | 
             | https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/goodtimes-paper-lunch-
             | bag...
             | 
             | They come in other colors--we had bleached white ones when
             | I was a kid--and those would be fine too. However, it risks
             | confusion with other paper bags, like the ones used in
             | bakeries. These often have some kind of liner
             | (polyethylene, plastic, foil) or wax coating that would
             | impede airflow.
             | 
             | The department store paper bags, even if they are pure
             | paper and colored brown, are often multiple layers that
             | would block airflow too.
        
             | dekhn wrote:
             | Just oxygen-permeable. I also keep my cheese in an air-
             | permeable bag in the fridge - if there's no bag, it dries
             | too fast, if the bag is not air-permable the cheese gets
             | sweaty and gross.
        
       | apercu wrote:
       | This is probably sacrilege but after 40 years of being annoyed
       | with avocado ripeness I just routinely buy them and keep them in
       | the fridge. They don't go off and keep for weeks.
        
         | civilitty wrote:
         | My trick is to eat them so frequently (1-3 a day) that I'm
         | always rotating avocados between the store, kitchen counter,
         | and the fridge.
        
           | lotsofpulp wrote:
           | Same, my family probably goes through 10 to 15 avocados per
           | week, so we buy them every few days at Costco to have a
           | rotating stock. They take about 5 days to ripen, and then
           | once it feels a little soft, we put it in the fridge, and
           | then they last for a while in the fridge (at least a week).
           | 
           | The one rule at Costco, however, is to not buy avocados from
           | Peru. For whatever reason, the loss ratio is way too high for
           | those specifically.
        
           | rootusrootus wrote:
           | That's impressive. I thought I was a maniac when I was eating
           | one large avocado every day.
        
       | crazygringo wrote:
       | Trying to _change_ the rate at which avocados ripen is way beyond
       | anything I would ever worry about. Because I can 't even _tell_
       | when they 're ripe! The article is spot-on when it says (emphasis
       | mine):
       | 
       | > "The window of time in which they are absolutely perfect--soft
       | and tender with no brown spots or streaks-- _is notoriously
       | short_. "
       | 
       | But then it claims:
       | 
       | > "...gauge ripeness by touch: Using your fingers, very gently
       | press on the avocado near the stem end (that's where the avocado
       | was once attached to the tree). You want to feel a slight
       | tenderness and give. If the avocado is very firm, it's not ready;
       | if it feels soft and mushy, it's gone too far."
       | 
       | I have gotten this wrong _so many times_ that it seems like
       | useless advice. The skin of the avocado is so stiff and wrinkly
       | by the stem end, _you simply cannot tell_. By the time you apply
       | enough force to feel _through_ the skin, you 're going to explode
       | the avocado.
       | 
       | But if you try pressing against the side, where you can
       | _sometimes_ feel the level of hardness /softness more accurately
       | (if it is a particularly thin-skinned one), _you bruise it_.
       | 
       | I'm an expert in the kitchen at basically everything else, but
       | trying to figure out if an avocado is ripe or not just absolutely
       | defeats me. I've routinely cut into an avocado I thought was
       | underripe, only to discover it's so _over_ -ripe it's inedible,
       | because the skin _all over_ is so darn tough that the whole thing
       | simply felt rock-hard all over. It 's like fossilized reptile
       | skin.
       | 
       | How does anyone do it? I'm talking about regular Hass avocados
       | bought in the northeast US shipped from Mexico.
       | 
       | At the end of the day, I just buy a few, wait 3 days, cut into
       | one, and if it's ripe I try to eat the rest quickly. If not, I
       | throw it out, wait another couple days, and repeat. Ugh.
        
         | civilitty wrote:
         | You must be consistently getting the world's worst avocados -
         | do you always buy them from the same store? Though it might
         | just be a variety designed for distant shipping that sucks in
         | general.
         | 
         | None of what you described sounds accurate to me but I'm
         | spoiled in the Southwest. Ripe avocados are definitely soft and
         | when I find the rare one that isn't, it's usually a bad avocado
         | altogether (most of the flesh is very tough despite being
         | overripe).
        
           | crazygringo wrote:
           | The avocados I buy look like this:
           | 
           | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Av.
           | ..
           | 
           | See how the outside is super bumpy, and there's a _thick
           | rigid brown layer_ before you get to the green flesh? Rock-
           | hard skin even if the flesh is soft. A serrated knife helps
           | to cut through it without smushing the flesh.
           | 
           | While I see other photos that look like this:
           | 
           | https://daily.jstor.org/wp-
           | content/uploads/2017/05/avocado_1...
           | 
           | Where the skin is visibly _much_ thinner and smoother and
           | there 's no brown layer, and I can only imagine _that 's_ the
           | type of avocado where people can judge its ripeness. But
           | those don't seem to be available in NYC at my local store or
           | Whole Foods or anywhere...
        
             | rashkov wrote:
             | There's an avocado delivery service in NYC that claims to
             | deliver perfect avocados every time. There's some good
             | press coverage around it: https://davocadoguy.net/
        
               | squidsoup wrote:
               | I use a similar service in New Zealand, and no longer
               | have avocados ruined by overzealous squeezers in the
               | supermarket.
               | 
               | I don't know who these people are, but they exist!
               | 
               | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38m-wnbHPLA
        
             | civilitty wrote:
             | _> Where the skin is visibly much thinner and smoother and
             | there 's no brown layer, and I can only imagine that's the
             | type of avocado where people can judge its ripeness. But
             | those don't seem to be available in NYC at my local store
             | or Whole Foods or anywhere..._
             | 
             | I get both of those here in SoCal, or at least a varieties
             | that look similar to those photos - the bumpier variety is
             | noticeable when I come across it (it's definitely tougher).
             | I never paid attention to the thickness of the skin or kept
             | track of how quality correlates to the bumpiness, though.
             | I'll keep an eye out from now on.
             | 
             | I wonder if there's a single vendor/broker supplying the
             | stores in your area. Have you tried buying them from
             | outside the boroughs?
        
             | kjkjadksj wrote:
             | If its still hard there set it on the counter a day or two
             | and check again. The test works for me with these sorts of
             | avocados so I'm thinking user error.
        
               | crazygringo wrote:
               | Right but what I'm saying is it's _always_ hard. Because
               | the skin is so thick and hard there 's literally no way
               | to tell what the flesh is like underneath.
               | 
               | Except sometimes it's a little thinner/softer that you
               | can actually press the outside, but you still have to use
               | so much pressure it bruises the avocado. There's zero way
               | of "gently" checking.
               | 
               | I've opened avocados that are still rock-hard on the
               | outside, after waiting a full week, only to discover
               | they're overripe and brown/gray on the inside.
               | 
               | And I have no problem with _any other fruit or
               | vegetable_. Just avocados because of their crazy thick
               | /hard rind where I live.
               | 
               | I just don't see how it can be "user error". My only
               | suspicion is it's a different subvariety or grown for
               | extra-thick skin for longer-distance transport or
               | something.
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | you, sir, have a broken avocado
        
             | fiddlerwoaroof wrote:
             | I've successfully judged the ripeness of those avocados by
             | squeezing all my life
        
         | locallost wrote:
         | Not really sure why it's giving you so much grief. I gently
         | press on the bottom larger side and if I feel it's soft and not
         | hard or bouncy it's good. I press on the larger sider because
         | in my experience it takes longer to ripen.
        
         | dekhn wrote:
         | I press against the side and it mushes in slightly. this tells
         | you the avocado is ripe or past ripe. When you cut it open,
         | then if it's already browning, it's gone past ripe.
         | 
         | I agree it's a bit difficult but I used to make a few pounds of
         | guacamole a day and it always worked great.
        
         | bowmessage wrote:
         | > if it's ripe I try to eat the rest quickly
         | 
         | If it's ripe, put the rest in the fridge, and you'll have a
         | week or two to eat them at your leisure.
        
         | ars wrote:
         | Squeeze the side of the avocado, and if it gives _AT ALL_ it 's
         | ready to eat.
         | 
         | If it's soft it's way way overripened. Take a piece of
         | cardboard between you fingers and squeeze - that's the firmness
         | level that indicates the avocado is ready. Actually even _more_
         | firm than the cardboard and the avocado is still ready.
         | 
         | > where you can sometimes feel the level of hardness/softness
         | more accurately (if it is a particularly thin-skinned one), you
         | bruise it
         | 
         | You are squeezing way too hard.
        
         | leobg wrote:
         | You know that Hass is German for "hate"?
         | 
         | I always find it funny that I didn't bother to change the name
         | here.
        
         | JonChesterfield wrote:
         | There's a stem of sorts at one end. Prod at it from the side -
         | if it falls off easily, it's ripe or too far gone. If it stays
         | attached, not ripe yet.
         | 
         | More usefully, you can buy pre-mashed avocado in the same style
         | as pre-made guacamole. If the use case involves (or could be
         | made to involve) mashed avocado this option has a serious shelf
         | life (presumably it's irradiated or similar) and lives in the
         | fridge until use time.
        
         | hobofan wrote:
         | If you want to go for a over-the-top techy solution you could
         | do non-destructive testing with a near-infrared handheld
         | spectrometer. It's a pretty neat technique that can determine
         | ripeness of a lot of fruits (and properties of other materials)
         | if that can be detected via abundance of certain molecules.
         | 
         | It looks though that Consumer Physics stopped selling their
         | SCiO device that was ~$250 to consumers, and I don't know if
         | there is any equivalent current alternative.
        
       | OrvalWintermute wrote:
       | This is missing the other avocado trick:
       | 
       | You can put citrus in tight proximity to a cut avocado, or guac,
       | or avocado mash to halt oxidation better than oil. It won't
       | really impact avocado but it will effect guac/mash - it will make
       | your guac mushy and overly acid/citrusy, but it is possible to
       | adjust for it, under-adding citrus to your batch when first
       | making it, by reducing the liquid content added to your guac, and
       | straining with a fine mesh strainer it to purge the extra citrus
       | juice.
       | 
       | It is also possible to replace the citrus with vinegar if you
       | prefer using vinegar for your guac instead of lime juice.
        
         | richiebful1 wrote:
         | By tight proximity, do you mean take a lemon slice and put it
         | on the cut side of the avocado?
        
           | OrvalWintermute wrote:
           | I put a layer of citrus juice on top of a cut avocado, then
           | cover it. It is also possible to do it with solid slices of a
           | citrus too.
           | 
           | It works best with narrow lidded jars where you make a batch
           | of guac, put inside a narrow lid container, top with citrus
           | juice.
        
       | 11235813213455 wrote:
       | Many avocados in stores (at least the lowest price) have almost
       | no taste, not worth it
        
         | voxl wrote:
         | To me avocado's are the tuna of fruits, a pinch of salt goes a
         | long way
        
           | init2null wrote:
           | Since avocado is practically vegetable butter, it's more of a
           | flavor complement than a flavor itself.
        
       | b2w wrote:
       | I learned from a chef a while back to apply a thin layer of lemon
       | juice to the smooth face of the avocado to prevent it from
       | browning quickly.
       | 
       | I can usually pick a good hass based off skin tone and feel from
       | the palm of hand if the skin is just beginning to pull away from
       | the face when most ripe.
       | 
       | I tend to store it in the fridge to prolong its ripened state.
       | 
       | They are a daily use in my household for adding calories while
       | more closely preserving the Keto ratio.
        
         | denton-scratch wrote:
         | I use lemon juice. It works, inasmuch as anything works.
         | 
         | I mainly use avocados to make guacamole, and my recipe includes
         | lemon juice. If there's half an avocado left over, I splash
         | lemon juice on, then wrap it in plastic film and refrigerate
         | it.
        
         | jechamt wrote:
         | This is what I was looking for, in the article as well as
         | comments. Lemon juice has also worked for me, especially in
         | combination with the sealed plastic wrap, but I was not
         | scientific about it and was hoping for some mention of testing
         | this in the article!
        
       | koolba wrote:
       | > As for mashed avocado like guacamole, we think the best
       | solution, aside from preparing it right before serving, is to
       | press a double layer of plastic wrap directly against the surface
       | of the avocado mixture.
       | 
       | Why a double layer? Does oxygen penetrate the single layer?
        
         | shepherdjerred wrote:
         | Plastic wrap is oxygen-permeable, so that might be why.
        
       | locallost wrote:
       | Apples are another possible source of ethylene.
        
       | bambax wrote:
       | All true, although the article contains no revelations.
       | 
       | But one important point that is somehow overlooked is that for
       | taste, brown spot don't matter, at all.
       | 
       | Depending on your guests, the preparation you're making, and your
       | love of perfection, brown spots can maybe alter the looks of your
       | dish. But they taste the same.
       | 
       | It would be a great error to prefer an unripe avocado over an
       | over-ripe one for aesthetic reasons only. Unripe avocados are
       | inedible. Over-ripe ones (within reason) taste perfect.
        
         | wizofaus wrote:
         | Definitely not my experience - the flavour definitely
         | deteriorates too, often becoming quite bitter.
        
       | hollerith wrote:
       | Because the ripe ones are very moldy, I only ever eat very green
       | avocadoes, and the way I "eat" them is to pay some company to
       | extract the oil from them and sell me the oil.
        
         | ska wrote:
         | >Because the ripe ones are very moldy
         | 
         | You are definitely doing something wrong if there is mold.
        
           | hollerith wrote:
           | No, I'm not. the black veins are mold. Some edibly-soft
           | avocadoes have much less black veins and black spots than
           | others, but they all have some. Also by the time mold is
           | visible, it is basically everywhere in the avocado.
           | 
           | But 5 out of 6 people can detoxify mold toxins, and those
           | people can probably eat avocadoes without long-term problems.
        
             | ska wrote:
             | Approximately none of that is correct. Ripe avocado's
             | typically don't have _any_ darks spots or  "veins". Ones
             | that are overripe or poorly stored can, but even then it's
             | typically not mold, it oxidization. The "veins" are part of
             | the structure, and thicker/woodier with late season, but
             | not usually colored at all.
             | 
             | There _is_ a fungal (again, not mold) infection that can
             | happen from the stem end down, but that 's rare and also
             | not a harmful fungus for humans.
             | 
             | If there is actual mold on your avocado, you are storing
             | them incorrectly or something.
        
       | nemo44x wrote:
       | Some higher end refrigerators have various fans/vents/filters to
       | remove ethylene quickly so as to dramatically slow down the decay
       | of fruits and vegetables. In addition they'll have separate
       | compressors/motors for the fridge and freezer ti keep different
       | humidity levels.
       | 
       | My Sub-Zero made this claim and I was astonished how well it
       | delivers on it. They also give you a guide on which
       | fruits/vegetables to store together.
        
         | poulsbohemian wrote:
         | Possible hack: when I was last shopping for refrigerators, I
         | couldn't help but notice that Bosch's magic food saver
         | technology appears to be a replaceable plastic ethylene filter
         | that can be purchased from their website or other major
         | retailers. Have been meaning to buy a couple and stick in my
         | much-cheaper-than-a-Bosch refrigerator...
        
       | andrewla wrote:
       | I was really hoping that this would be a more detailed breakdown
       | of the different methods, like the egg article [1]. This just
       | presented conclusions rather than trying a bunch of avocados and
       | evaluating (objectively or subjectively) their state of ripeness
       | based on the environment.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.seriouseats.com/the-secrets-to-peeling-hard-
       | boil...
        
       | niemandhier wrote:
       | Here is the trick that changed my ability to store ripe Avis:
       | 
       | Put them into a container and submerge them under water. Than
       | store the container at below 7 degree centigrade. That seems to
       | stop the ripening process.
       | 
       | It does not work without water. Vacuum sealing also does not
       | work.
        
         | edmundsauto wrote:
         | You freeze them? How do you then slice them to eat?
        
           | eric-hu wrote:
           | They shouldn't be frozen if stored below 7C and above 0.
        
             | schrodinger wrote:
             | Easy to misread as 7 deg below zero
        
           | ska wrote:
           | C not F.
           | 
           | Fridge temperature is typically 3-5.
        
       | kruuuder wrote:
       | Good to know. Now, could someone please write up a similar guide
       | for mangoes? Too many are hard when I buy them, and they start
       | getting mushy after a week, eventually rotting. However, at no
       | point do they become truly ripe and sweet.
        
         | bluGill wrote:
         | Go to India in mango season. (or I assume other areas where
         | Mangos grow). They export the garbage locals won't eat.
        
         | JamesSwift wrote:
         | Theres a tiny limit on the amount of off-the-tree ripening that
         | will occur, and they are really difficult to "read" on the tree
         | to know when they are ripe. Each variety is different. The key
         | for good mango is to let them go further than you would think
         | on the tree and hopefully the birds dont beat you to them.
         | 
         | Source: moved into a house with several mango trees and am now
         | pretty good at harvesting.
        
       | hamerld wrote:
       | I'm surprised they didn't mention storing the avocado with a
       | piece of onion. I just stored one for almost a week with no
       | visible browning thanks to the onion. Just store the 2 cut pieces
       | in a container and store in the fridge.
        
         | azinman2 wrote:
         | I also find it worthwhile to always store with the seed, even
         | in guac
        
       | grecy wrote:
       | While driving around Africa I was always buying avos from the
       | side of the road and working on a system to always have one or
       | two ripe.
       | 
       | To make them ripen as fast as possible - stick them in a plastic
       | bag and put it in the full sun. You want them to sweat. They'll
       | ripen in a single day if you get enough sun on them.
       | 
       | To slow them down, throw them in the fridge.
        
       | mhb wrote:
       | As it's Serious Eats, I'm disappointed that they didn't test
       | things like submerging the cut or mashed avocado in CO2 (e.g.,
       | from SodaStream, etc.) or nitrogen.
        
         | rootusrootus wrote:
         | Or even simple things like storing cut avocado in a container
         | with slice of onion.
        
       | amelius wrote:
       | Why can't supermarkets do this, so you'll always have ripe
       | avocados?
        
         | jpeterson wrote:
         | You don't always want to use them right away.
        
           | enobrev wrote:
           | I wish my local market had two piles - ripe and unripe. That
           | way I'd have one ready for use immediately and can ripen the
           | others as needed.
        
             | Hikikomori wrote:
             | Sorta have that here. They package 3 ripe ones, slightly
             | more expensive.
        
       | amelius wrote:
       | Yeah, I like avocados too, but they're not environmentally
       | friendly.
       | 
       | https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/is-our-avocado-o...
        
         | sva_ wrote:
         | Look up water use of chocolate if you want to make yourself
         | sad.
        
       | wizofaus wrote:
       | Commercial avocado dips seem to avoid turning brown - admittedly
       | they're usually pretty tasteless but I'd be curious what stops
       | the discoloration.
        
         | hulitu wrote:
         | Maybe like for other fruits ? They take them still green.
        
         | poulsbohemian wrote:
         | Check the ingredients... a lot of them are heavily adulterated.
         | Not to say they aren't tasty, but they aren't even necessarily
         | "avocado".
        
         | dekhn wrote:
         | I'm sure they have a step where they add an oxidation
         | prevention molecule- I bet there's some ligand that binds to
         | the oxidation enzyme in avocados. Or maybe high pressure?
         | https://www.hiperbaric.com/en/the-impact-of-hpp-technology-i...
        
         | sva_ wrote:
         | And almost all of them are too sour (imo), probably from the
         | antioxidant.
        
       | RussianCow wrote:
       | If you've already mashed the avocado, you can keep it from
       | browning by adding a little bit of ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
       | Here[0] is a series of tests someone else did to prove that this
       | works. I've personally had guacamole last several days in the
       | fridge with no noticeable browning, but then again, guacamole
       | doesn't last long in my house once it's been made. :)
       | 
       | [0]: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/53406
        
       | stronglikedan wrote:
       | I do the opposite. I buy a bag of green ones, and put them in the
       | fridge. They stay green for a while in there but do start to
       | slowly ripen. Before I put them in the fridge on day 0, I put one
       | on the counter, and one in a brown bag. The brown bag is for day
       | 2, the one on the counter is for day 3 (there is no day 1 after
       | day 0, at first). On day 2, when I take the ripe one out of the
       | bag, I take another out of the fridge and put it on the counter
       | for day 4, and continue this process. When I take the last one
       | out of the fridge, I have another bag ready to go in. With the
       | right timing, this provides a perfectly ripe avocado per day.
       | 
       | And for storing a cut avocado, the press & seal plastic wrap
       | works wonders. The trick is to not let air touch the exposed bit.
       | If it does, then just slicing a thin slice off the top exposes
       | the green part again. (This also works for frozen loaves of bread
       | that have been cut - just a thin slice off the end gets rid of
       | the bit that was destroyed by ice.)
       | 
       | My memoirs will include all my food storage tips for the
       | perpetually single.
        
         | bane wrote:
         | Factorio-like diagrams of the ripening process would be great
         | to put in your book and likely resonate well with your
         | readership.
        
           | jl6 wrote:
           | Well, avocados _are_ good if you need more iron.
        
             | 6th wrote:
             | The avocados must grow!
        
             | atoav wrote:
             | And if you wanna drain a lot of water with what you are
             | eating. A single avocado needs 70 liters to grow, a
             | magnitude more than a tomato.
             | 
             | Depending on where that farming is being done that might
             | already be an issue.
        
         | Terr_ wrote:
         | > My memoirs will include all my food storage tips for the
         | perpetually single.
         | 
         | Why wait? Become a famous author _now_. :P
        
           | granshaw wrote:
           | Which might also help with the perpetually single part
        
             | heleninboodler wrote:
             | And risk rendering all these single-person food storage
             | techniques useless?!
        
         | zikduruqe wrote:
         | > And for storing a cut avocado
         | 
         | I just put a thin layer of olive oil on a plate, then put it
         | cut side down on the plate.
        
           | kuchenbecker wrote:
           | Or lime juice
        
         | 4death4 wrote:
         | I find storing the avocados in the fridge causes them to brown
         | without really ripening. I usually buy a bag of 5 and try to
         | eat them over a 3 or 4 day period starting when the first one
         | ripens. Fresh Direct also sells packs of 2 ripe avocados. So
         | you can buy 2 ripe avocados and a bag of hard avocados, eat the
         | ripe ones, and then the hard ones should be ripe enough to eat.
        
           | kenhwang wrote:
           | My avocado tree usually drops a dozen or two avocados a week
           | for most of the year, so I've had a lot of time and examples
           | to experiment on for storage.
           | 
           | Once they're off the tree, ripen at room temperature for
           | about a week. Then transfer into the fridge in an airtight
           | container, they usually last in the fridge for another 2
           | weeks.
           | 
           | Doing fridge first means they never ripen and just dry out
           | before softening.
        
       | 1letterunixname wrote:
       | Grow your own from the pits. It will take a long time and some
       | maintenance, but it's possible.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=grow+your+own+a...
        
         | poseva wrote:
         | Avocado does not grow "true-to-seed". It will not work.
        
           | sva_ wrote:
           | You mean because they're cloned from cuttings rather than
           | grown from seeds? Like apples?
        
       | sokoloff wrote:
       | I've had good outcomes in determining whether an avocado was
       | under-ripe by _gently_ picking at the little nub where the fruit
       | attached to the stem. That is more firmly attached when the fruit
       | is under-ripe and as soon as it easily removes when picked at, I
       | find the avocado is usually near perfect.
        
       | Gys wrote:
       | > What about leftover avocado? Any way to keep it from browning?
       | Oxygen is the enemy of avocados--it's what causes them to turn
       | that unsightly brown.
       | 
       | I am very surprised this article nor the comments mention what my
       | wife does: keep the pit inside the mashed avocado. It will stay
       | green much longer!
       | 
       | No idea where she learned this but it works. We always joke to
       | friends this tricks the avocado into thinking it is still
       | complete.
        
         | unstatusthequo wrote:
         | 100% this. Keeping the pit in guacamole is the trick. I am
         | happy you commented. I was about to do the same when I realized
         | the article missed this!
        
         | rootusrootus wrote:
         | I've never had much luck with the pit keeping it from browning.
         | Onion, on the other hand, is practically magic.
        
       | pvaldes wrote:
       | Avocados are like oranges. The better way to store them is
       | hanging from the tree.
        
         | JamesSwift wrote:
         | Avocados are uncommon in that they _wont_ ripen on the tree.
         | They must finish off the tree. Super convenient that you dont
         | have to deal with them all at once, but inconvenient that you
         | cant just decide to make guacamole and go pick some.
        
       | gweinberg wrote:
       | The avocados we eat are all clones, right? The reason I ask is,
       | it seems to me that avocado sellers ought to be prominently
       | displaying the variety, but in my experience they don't.
        
         | Meatpropeller wrote:
         | The avocados in stores are all Hass variety or almost identical
         | variants (Lamb Hass). These replaced Fuerte variety avocados
         | decades ago as they shipped better, gave more consistent
         | yields, and the darkening skin gave consumers an additional
         | clue to ripeness.
         | 
         | If you are interested in trying different varieties, there are
         | many if you live in a growing region and have access to
         | farmer's markets. In the US: California, Hawaii, Florida.
        
         | c_o_n_v_e_x wrote:
         | Depends on where you are in the world. In SE Asia, we get some
         | wacky varieties that greatly vary in size, shape, and flavor. I
         | bought a few at a local market in Indonesia that were border-
         | line zucchini like in shape and had a very watery flavor.
        
       | hardwaregeek wrote:
       | This is an extremely niche solution, but when I need a bunch of
       | perfectly ripe avocados, I order them from the Avocado Guy[1].
       | It's not _that_ much more expensive than a grocery store
       | (especially considering the avocados are usually on the large
       | side), and they come perfectly ripe each time.
       | 
       | [1]: https://davocadoguy.net
        
       | sonicanatidae wrote:
       | Avocados are perfectly ripe for about 247 zeptoseconds. After
       | that, they are a black spotted mess.
       | 
       | To those that eat them, I wish you luck!
        
       | mytailorisrich wrote:
       | Counter point: I am from Europe. Local meat is better for the
       | environment than avocados.
        
         | beebeepka wrote:
         | Also Europe. Stopped eating meat long time ago. I also don't
         | drive. Can I have an avocado and some fancy nuts, please? Do
         | you really want to compare footprints?
        
       | cmurf wrote:
       | Avocado molesters tend to stay away from the bright green ones.
       | At least they aren't completely dense. Buy these, fridge all but
       | one, and then stagger removal to room temp each day to
       | (eventually) have a perfectly ripe avocado each day rather than a
       | pile of them all at once. Costco bagged avocados have less of a
       | problem with molesters than the grocery store.
       | 
       | 3-4 days from bright green will yield a perfectly rip avocado -
       | although on occasion I've had them take 5 days.
       | 
       | The rotten soft spots are from the finger and thumb squeeze given
       | by avocado molesters. And then they will tell you "well how else
       | do you know if they're ripe?" well fuck off, you're ruining
       | perfectly good fruit with your goddamn squeezing and impatience!
       | What did the avocado do to you??
       | 
       | Impatient people deserve packaged guac. Stay away from the
       | avocados!
        
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