On buying, storing, and using avocados
I have more than just a few words to go with this week's Tuesday photo, because, avocados. 😉
I seriously love avocados.
A reader emailed recently to ask about how to buy, ripen, and store avocados, so here are a few tips.
I choose avocados are rock hard and then I let them ripen at home. Buying ripened avocados never seems to work out well for me because they always seem to be bruised or they're unevenly ripened.
I also look for avocados with their stem nubs still attached. I'm not entirely sure that this makes a difference, but I read that it does, and I figure that it certainly can't hurt!
I store my avocados on my dining room table in a bowl. They ripen just fine in the open air there, and I generally leave them until their skin has turn a darker green color and they give just a bit when gently squeezed.
If the stars have aligned properly, they ripen exactly when I need them to. If they ripen before I plan to use them, though, I just refrigerate them.
Refrigerating doesn't noticeably change the texture or flavor of a ripened avocado, and it slows the ripening process to a crawl. So, as long as I use them within a few days of refrigeration, I'm good to go.
If I need to hurry up and use avocados, I throw them into smoothies, slice them up and eat them as a side with fried eggs, or chop and freeze them for future smoothie use.
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Have you got avocado advice to add to mine? Share in the comments!
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P.S. If you have an Aldi, I highly recommend buying avocados there. Not only are Aldi avocados inexpensive, I've also had the best luck with them ripening properly. When I buy them from other stores, I have way more trouble with them going straight from unripe to overripe.
Then again, I'm kind of a big fan of Aldi produce.
I am told that when the stem end pops off easily you are good to go. After our recent glut of the darlings I am glad to have a short break.
I often let mine ripen in a paper bag to speed up the process a bit. They keep so well in the refrigeratoronce ripe! I've also found that grilling an under-ripened avocado helps them get nice and soft too.
I'm just starting to eat more avocados and figure this stuff out. Thanks for info.
I was just looking through your site yesterday to find a guacamole recipe! I didn't find one, but got to reread the Aldi trip with the green grape guacamole. Can you believe I haven't even been eating them for over a year yet? I don't know what took so long!
Our new to us Aldi has the worst avocados ever. 🙁 They are like room temp butter in a peel. Not so appetizing.
Oh man, that's so disappointing! Are they bad even if you buy them rock hard and let them ripen at home?
I just eyeball my guacamole, and I only use three ingredients: avocados, minced sweet onion, and salt.
I found a quick version of guacamole online years ago--can't remember where!--but it called for you to mix equal parts of salsa and avocado. The things in the salsa were pretty much what I had been adding when I made guacamole anyway, so now I just mash up my avocado, stir in some salsa, and we're good to go. It is better if you make it a little bit ahead of time, but I never seem to be on the ball enough to do that and it's still yummy.
Great idea! It does have all the same stuff in it and I actually usually have salsa on hand anyway.
Fresh cilantro, sweet onion, fresh tomato, avocado, and a fresh jalapeno. Chop chunky, not too smooth. Add a little salt. So good that friends always ask me to bring it to potlucks and parties.
I seem to have SUCH a hard time with avocados. Sometimes things work out perfectly lovely, and other times it seems like I have to throw away more of the avocado than I can salvage. I'm going to try your tips and hopefully have better luck. We do love the things around here, and it's so disappointing to have them go bad...such a waste of deliciousness.
Another quick guacamole = avocado + cream cheese, with perhaps a bit of spice thrown in (I love Trader Joe's Everyday Seasoning, but Spike seasoning is also really good, or you could go with chili powder, or whatever else you like).
I just found out an Aldi store is opening less than 2 miles from my house. I have only ever heard of them from your blog, and I am so excited! I can't wait to shop there thanks to all of your fabulous recommendations of them.
I only just recently discovered the refrigeration trick with ripened avocados. I buy a 6 pack at costco ($3.99) and let them ripen for a few days, then put them in the fridge and eat 1 every day or every other day. I've had much better luck with those than the ones I buy at the local grocer.
If you need to ripen an avocado quickly, you can wrap it in aluminum foil. The instructions I found said it only took 10 minutes, but mine took half an hour.
I love avocados too. 🙂
I read recently that the pit is the most nutritious part of the avocado. You just rinse the pit and dehydrate it for a couple of hours; chop it up; pulverize it; and then add it to smoothies and baked goods...stuff like that.
I'm not sure if I like avocados enough to try this though. What about you?
I just bought an avocado at Aldi a few minutes ago! Our daughter loves them (me too!) and it's so nice to have a healthy option for her to snack on after school or track practice.
If we have a bunch of extra avos we make guac and freeze it. Like when I got a dozen ripe avos in my produce box
My granddaughter, who just turned two, loves avocados, and has loved them since she was old enough to eat solid food. It's so funny to see that tiny tot scooping up plain avocado and grape tomatoes with a tiny touch of salt.
I've made chocolate pudding out of them before, and it is so rich and creamy... yum... and I'm not even vegan or a raw foodist..
I buy my avocados at Aldi & at Walmart. Sometimes they are way over ripe at my Aldi. When I get home I put them all in the crisper drawer in my fridge except the ripest one. I set the ripest one on my counter. Usually by the next morning I can eat it, sometimes it takes a day or two, depending on how hard it was when I bought it.
I eat half for breakfast. When I slice them, I leave the seed intact in the half I'm not eating. I pour lemon juice over that half then wrap in plastic wrap, making sure the wrap clings to all the cut part of the avocado. I keep it wrapped & stored in an air tight container in the fridge.
The other half either goes on a salad with supper or with eggs for breakfast the next day. Pouring lemon juice over it & wrapping seems to be the best method I've found for keeping it from turning brown.
When I eat the second half, I pull another out of the drawer to begin ripening on the counter.
Love them!
If you cut them with a ceramic knife, they won't turn brown....
I too generally have better luck with Aldi avocados. I have been keeping them in the refrigerator and then putting them out to ripen, which sounds like the opposite of what I should be doing. And it not working particularly well. Thanks for the great tips.
I grew up eating avocados in Peru, I love them. There is an Aldi 20 miles from our house which I visit once a month, especially when avocados are on sale for $.49 cts, like last week.
My little girl loves them as well, she has been eating them since she was a baby. We have them the way I did it growing up: over white rice or bread/toast, yummy!
I keep trying, but every time I cut open an avocado it is sprinkled with black spots throughout. I've read that this is the result of too-cold storage in transit. Such a bummer!
My son gave me an avocado knife. I think its made by oxo. It makes it so EASY to cut avocados for any reason.