Store Avocado
Avocados can be fairly delicate and do not last long, especially when cut, but proper storage will ensure the highest quality of fruit for the longest period of time possible. Here's what you need to know about storing unripe and ripe avocados, along with whole and cut avocados.
Contents
Steps
Store Whole Unripe Avocado
- Place the avocado in a brown paper bag, if desired. You can skip the paper bag, but placing an unripe avocado in a paper bag will speed up the ripening process.
- Without the paper bag, an avocado can take up to 7 days to ripen.
- With the paper bag, this time frame drops down to 3 to 5 days.
- To speed the process up even more, place an apple or banana in the bag alongside the avocado. This will drop the time frame down to 2 to 3 days.
- A brown paper bag traps ethylene gas produced by ripening fruit. Apples and bananas produce ethylene hormone in excess as they ripen, so placing an avocado in a bag with either of these fruits will cause all the fruit in that bag to ripen faster.
- Sit the avocado out at room temperature. Place the avocado on the counter or in a pantry, out of direct sunlight.
- Ideally, the avocado should be kept in temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (18 and 24 degrees Celsius).
- Do not refrigerate the unripe avocado. Refrigeration dramatically slows the ripening process, and as a result, your avocado may not ripen correctly or quickly.
- Check the avocado each day. Give the avocado a light squeeze to determine how close it is to becoming ripe. A ripe avocado should yield slightly when gentle pressure is applied.
- Avocados can be kept at room temperature for about a week if you start with an unripe one.
- The avocado should only give a little when you press it. If you press the skin with your thumb and it leaves a bruise or deep, permanent indentation, the avocado may already be over-ripe.
Store Cut Unripe Avocado
- Cover both halves with lemon or lime juice. Brush the exposed surface of the avocado with enough acidic juice to coat lightly.
- Cutting open an avocado causes the cellular walls inside the fruit to break apart, and a process known as oxidation will be triggered as a result. Oxidation is the process responsible for turning certain fruits brown.
- An acidic agent will slow oxidation down.
- Aside from lemon juice and lime juice, other acidic agents include orange juice, vinegar, and tomato juice.
- Place the two halves back together. Fit the two halves back together as best as possible, securing the seedless half over the seed still lodged in the other half.
- The idea is to limit exposure as much as possible. If both halves of the avocado are still intact at this point, fitting them back together will effectively cover up all of the exposed flesh. You cannot repair the broken cell membranes, so oxidation will still occur, but this step will help slow it down by reducing the amount of oxygen the flesh is exposed to.
- Wrap the avocado in plastic wrap. Tightly wrap the avocado in plastic wrap to create an airtight seal.
- Alternatively, you could also place the avocado in an airtight container, vacuum-sealed plastic bag, or resealable plastic bag. All you really need to do at this point is to find a way to restrict or halt airflow to the fruit.
- By creating an airtight seal, you are limiting the amount of oxygen that the surface of the avocado flesh will be exposed to, thereby slowing down the oxidation process.
- Refrigerate the fruit. Place the wrapped avocado in the refrigerator for a few days, or until ripe.
- Keep the avocado in a fruit shelf or in the back of your refrigerator, where temperatures tend to be their coldest.
- Do not keep the avocado out on the counter or in the pantry at room temperature. Once the fruit is cut, it must be refrigerated to preserve its quality and edibility.
- Monitor its progress. Since the avocado is in the refrigerator, it will take a little longer to ripen than a whole avocado kept out at room temperature.
- Cut, unripe avocados are more difficult to preserve. Depending on how far along the avocado was in its ripening process, it could take anywhere from a couple of days to a week to ripen. Occasionally, the flesh may even begin to oxidize before it fully ripens.
- When ripe, the avocado should give slightly once you apply a little pressure with your fingers. Mushy avocados are over-ripe, however.
Store Whole Ripe Avocado
- Place the avocado in a plastic bag. Squeeze as much air out as possible and seal the bag.
- Strictly speaking, since the fruit has not been cut open and the cell membranes have not been cut, it is not essential to place the avocado in a plastic bag or storage container. Doing so may extend the life of the fruit by another day or so, but this is only debatable.
- Refrigerate the fruit. Place the avocado in a fruit drawer or at the back of a shelf in your refrigerator.
- Do not keep ripe avocados out on the counter at room temperature, even if the fruit is whole and intact. The cold temperatures of the refrigerator can slow down the ripening process. As a result, an avocado stored in the refrigerator will take much more time to over-ripen and turn bad when compared to one kept out on the counter.
- Check the avocado periodically. A ripe, whole avocado stored in this manner should last for about three to five days.
- If the avocado begins to feel mushy, or if the fruit bruises or gets a permanent indentation when pressed, it has become over-ripe and may no longer be good to eat.
Store Cut Ripe Avocado without the Pit
- Brush a little lemon or lime juice over the flesh. Coat the exposed flesh of the avocado with just enough acidic juice to cover the surface.
- When you cut open an avocado, you cause its cellular walls to break apart, and a process known as oxidation will be triggered as a result. Oxidation is the process responsible for turning avocados and other fruits brown after being cut open.
- An acidic agent will slow oxidation down. Other than lemon juice and lime juice, additional acidic agents include orange juice, vinegar, and tomato juice.
- Alternatively, brush olive oil over the surface. If you do not have lemon or lime juice, or do not want to use it for whatever reason, coat the exposed flesh of the avocado with enough olive oil to lightly yet evenly cover the surface.
- While the oil does nothing to directly slow down the oxidation of the fruit, the use of olive oil can create an even better airtight seal. With the flesh of the avocado exposed to even less oxygen, the oxidation process will naturally take a little longer than it would without the oil.
- Wrap the avocado in plastic wrap. Tightly wrap the cut avocado in plastic wrap to create an airtight seal.
- Instead of using plastic wrap, you could also place the avocado in an airtight container, vacuum-sealed plastic bag, or resealable plastic bag. The important thing is simply to find a way to restrict or halt airflow to the fruit.
- If using olive oil instead of acidic fruit juice, however, plastic wrap is your best bet since the combination of oil and cling wrap will create the strongest airtight seal.
- In creating an airtight seal, you limit the amount of oxygen that the surface of the avocado flesh will be exposed to, thereby slowing down the oxidation process.
- Refrigerate. Keep the avocado in a fruit drawer or in the back of your refrigerator.
- Do not keep ripe avocados out at room temperature, especially if they have already been cut. The cold temperatures of the refrigerator can slow down the ripening process, thereby preventing the fruit from over-ripening too fast.
- Check on the avocado frequently. A cut, ripe avocado stored in this manner will usually last a day or two before over-ripening.
- If the avocado begins to feel mushy, or if pressing it causes a deep, permanent indentation, the fruit has become over-ripe and may no longer be good to eat.
Store Cut Ripe Avocado with the Pit
- Leave the seed inside the avocado half. Instead of removing the pit from the unused avocado half, leave it inside to slow down the oxidation process.
- Leaving the seed inside the avocado causes fewer of the cell membranes to break apart. Moreover, the pit protects more of the flesh from air and light, which reduces the amount of oxygen the fruit gets exposed to and, therefore, the amount of oxidation it can go through.
- Tightly wrap the avocado in plastic wrap. Wrap the cut avocado in plastic wrap, creating an airtight seal.
- If you don't have plastic wrap, there are still other options available. You could place the avocado in an airtight container, vacuum-sealed plastic bag, or resealable plastic bag instead of using plastic wrap. All you really need to do at this point is restrict or halt airflow to the fruit.
- When you create an airtight seal, you further limit the amount of oxygen that the surface of the avocado flesh will be exposed to, thus slowing down the oxidation process.
- Refrigerate the fruit. Place the cut avocado in a fruit drawer or toward the back of your refrigerator.
- Do not keep ripe avocados out at room temperature, especially if they have already been cut. The cold temperatures of the refrigerator can slow down the ripening process. This, then, prevents the fruit from over-ripening too fast.
- Check on it periodically. When a cut, ripe avocado is stored in this manner, it should last for a day or two before it begins to over-ripen.
- If the avocado feels mushy, or if pressing it causes the fruit to bruise or gives it a deep, permanent indentation, the avocado has become over-ripe and may no longer be good to eat.
Freeze Avocado
- Cut open the avocado. Use a sharp kitchen knife to cut the avocado in half lengthwise.
- Make sure that the fruit is clean before you begin.
- Place it on a clean, secure surface and use a sharp knife to make the cut.
- Twist the two halves apart to separate them.
- Remove the pit. Dig the pit out with a large metal dinner spoon.
- Alternatively, instead of digging the pit out with a spoon, you could also remove it by gently striking the pit with a sharp, heavy kitchen knife until the knife wedges its way inside. Then, twist the knife slightly to loosen and lift the pit.
- Peel-an-Avocado. Scoop out the avocado flesh with a spoon or peel the outer skin off the flesh using your fingers.
- To peel the skin off, cut the avocado into quarters and wedges. Grab the peel with your fingertips and pull it straight down and off like a banana peel.
- You could also lift the flesh out whole by gliding a large metal serving spoon in between the side of the flesh and the skin. Once the flesh is loosen from the peel, simply lift it out.
- Puree the fruit. Place the avocado flesh in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.
- An avocado must be turned into puree in order to freeze well. Whole, cut, diced, and even mashed avocados can degrade in terms of appearance, texture, taste, and overall quality when frozen.
- Add 1/2 to 1 Tbsp (7 1/2 to 15 ml) lemon or lime juice. Place the avocado flesh in a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.
- An acidic agent will slow oxidation down and preserve the overall quality of the avocado puree for a longer period of time.
- Transfer the avocado to an airtight container. Leave 1/2 to 1 inch (1.25 to 2.5 cm) of empty headspace in the container so that the avocado puree has room to expand as it freezes.
- Use an airtight plastic container, resealable plastic freezer bag, or vacuum-sealed plastic bag. Make sure that the container is safe for freezer use before using it, though.
- Label the package with the name of the contents, the date you froze it, and the amount inside the package.
- Store the avocado puree in a freezer. When stored in this manner, an avocado can remain good for three to six months.
- Once the avocado turns brown or otherwise discolors, it has likely begun to go bad.
Things You'll Need
- Brown paper bag
- Apple or banana
- Pastry brush or spoon
- Lemon juice, lime juice, or similar food-safe acidic agent
- Knife
- Metal spoon
- Olive oil
- Refrigerator
- Freezer
- Airtight bag or containers
- Food processor or blender
