Ripening an Avocado

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 2/25/2017 at 3:05 PM, Dave the Cook said:

 

 This totally works, pit or no pit. A half an avocado would never last two weeks around here, but we've gotten five days, easily.

 

Usually, I preserve half a Hass avocado in the fridge with the pit still in, because that provides a natural airtight seal at least in the under the pit. This last time, after I had made guacamole out of one half, the pit came loose from both halves, so I discarded it. Lacking a vacuum sealer, I just wrapped in plastic wrap still in the peel, but gently pressed the wrap into the well the pit left to expel air and tightly wrapped the avocado half up and stored in the fridge for two days. This worked better than pit in because the plastic wrap was better able to make contact with all of the cut surfaces, so that is how I will go forward with storing avocado halves.

 

My stored half was very good in the guac I made with it, and stayed green.

[Jim Vanus]

On 6/20/2017 at 10:35 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Thanks to google I found this link, maybe it will help:

 

http://www.flavorboulevard.com/one-shot-californian-avocado-vs-peruvian-avocado/

 

Thank you very much! Some of this article's comments were helpful too. That's one of the few articles I've seen that say anything negative about Peruvian avocados. In addition to the ripening problem, the article confirms that the taste is inferior to Californian/Mexican avies and the skin is thick & tough.

 

There are many web sites touting Peruvian avocado production and their farms. Widespread bad-mouthing of Peruvian avocados would negatively impact this growing industry. Surely Costco and Sam's Club are getting some negative feedback about them. The last bag of Peruvians I bought from Sam's Club ripened so unevenly that I cut all of them in half, took a photo and used it to get a full refund.

 

Both Costco and Sam's Club switch to Peruvian avocados around June every year, presumably when the last avocado crop from California and Mexico has been consumed. The entirety of Peru is located in the southern hemisphere, so their seasons are reversed, as are their avocado harvest times, so Peruvian farms can provide avocados when sources in the northern hemisphere cannot.

 

Worldwide demand for avocados all year round has increased over the past few years -- Thus the Peruvian solution. For the sake of the Peruvian avocado farmers, I hope the uneven ripening problem can be solved. Maybe, as you suggested, the so-called uneven ripening is attributable to a fungus, which could be a solvable problem. Until it's solved, I'll stick to avocados from the northern hemisphere.

 

Postscript: Life is pretty good when you have the time to complain about southern vs. northern hemisphere avocados!  And I just found some Mexican avies at Target for $1 each.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Jim Vanus
clarity (log)

[weinoo]

 

This morning's.

[heidih]

My favorite organic farmer at our small close-by farmers market was selling his quite large Reed avocados last Sunday for $1/each. He counseled us that unlike the Hass, the Reed is ready when you see the slightest shift in color. My rock hard one from last Sunday, sitting in the fruit bowl with nectarines and cherry tomatoes, was perfect for dinner last night. Creamy and flavorful

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

This morning's.

 

My dinner avocado was not so pretty.  The inside was mostly fungus.  I suspect the second one I bought at the same time is pretty much the same.  These were organic from the local Shoprite @$2.50.  Amazon has never sold me a disappointing avocado, organic or otherwise.  Hmm.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I've had very good luck with Hass avocados I buy for about 99 cents from our local Food Lion. Most of the ones on offer these days are already blackish-looking. I buy the greenest one I can and then put it out with the tomatoes on the counter. When it's ripe I'll refrigerate it and haven't had a bit of problem if I use it within a week.

 

I have occasionally had problems, especially in winter, so I can feel your pain with the unusable avocado you were looking forward to, Jo. I hate it when that happens.

[chromedome]

They're pretty unpredictable here in my neck of the woods, where there's always a high risk of someone sticking 'em in a walk-in cooler at some point along their path to my local supermarket. 


...and of course for several months of the year they can get way too cold just sitting on a loading dock. 

[weinoo]

We're paying $2 each for these medium sized ones (4225).

 

But I guess the industry calls them "large."

Edited July 1, 2017 by weinoo (log)

[Jim Vanus]

As of the last week of July 2017, Costco in our area (Southeast US) is still selling Peruvian avocados. Waiting until they switch over to the Mexican Hass before I buy.