avocado under ripe or over ripe?

maradona10 · 09-01-2008 6:11pm #1

how do you tell if an avocado is under or over ripe.

i bought some today for the first time and when i sliced them the flesh was hard and the skin was hard to peel. i heard that they were a delicious and nutritious fruit but the ones i got are inedible as they are

are they yet to ripen or have they gone off

Faith · 09-01-2008 7:13pm

They haven't ripened yet. It's very difficult to get properly ripe avocados at the moment. Ripe ones should be slightly soft if you press them, yield when you cut them and be easy to peel. Underripe ones are hard, like bloody rocks! Overripe ones are very soft and often start going brown inside.

maradona10 · 09-01-2008 7:35pm

thanks very much Faith, much appreciated

NextSteps · 10-01-2008 9:26am

And go for the darker-coloured, wrinkly ones if you can find them, rather than the green shiny ones. Much better flavour.

Faith · 10-01-2008 10:40am

Oh, the best way to ripen avocados is to leave them next to a bunch of bananas for a few days.

g'em · 10-01-2008 10:57am

Faith wrote: »

Oh, the best way to ripen avocados is to leave them next to a bunch of bananas for a few days.

same goes all fruit that needs ripening iirc?

Faith · 10-01-2008 6:00pm

Yup, bananas release ethylene (i think!) when ripening, which causes other fruit nearby the ripen faster. It's also released from a damaged fruit, so if you have a crate of (say) apples and one is rotting at the bottom, it can accelerate the ripening of the rest of them (ultimately leading to them rotting faster).

Aard · 10-01-2008 11:48pm

I see I'm not the only one who has made a mistake with their first avocado, OP! I've learnt now when is best to use them, however the only problem is to find a recipe for them - I don't much like them on their own. Perhaps guacamole...

Faith · 11-01-2008 10:58am

Things to do with avocados:

Chop them up and use them in salads
Chop them up and use them in sandwiches
Squash them into a paste and use instead of mayonaise in a sandwich
Squash them into paste and use as a dip
Squash them into paste and spread on crackers/ryvita
Half them, remove the seed and fill the holes with hummous/relish and eat
Make guacamole

I've also seen smoothie recipes involving avocado, but I've never tried it.

maradona10 · 11-01-2008 12:34pm

thanks for the replies, ill try some of those suggestions but im still waiting for them to ripen at mo

daiixi · 12-01-2008 4:32pm

Slice a ripe avocado in half (lengthways), pour some balsamic vinegar into the the well left by the removed stone and eat with a spoon. Yum!

avocado under ripe or over ripe?

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