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.
JoC
Saturday 19th of March 2016
My son gave me an avocado knife. I think its made by oxo. It makes it so EASY to cut avocados for any reason.
Susan T.
Tuesday 15th of March 2016
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!
Yda
Tuesday 15th of March 2016
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!
K D
Tuesday 15th of March 2016
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.
Jen Y
Tuesday 15th of March 2016
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!
Lydia
Friday 25th of March 2016
If you cut them with a ceramic knife, they won't turn brown....