How to Know if an Avocado is Ripe

If you’re going to buy or have bought an avocado and aren’t sure if it’s edible, don’t worry! There are some pretty easy tips and tricks to help you spot and prepare delicious foods like avocado sandwiches, avocado sauce, and avocado-based snacks.

Table of Contents

Check the external appearance

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Consider avocado harvest time. Different avocado varieties are usually harvested at different times of the season. If you buy avocados in September and choose between early fall and late fall avocados, early fall harvests are more likely to ripen.

Bacon avocados are usually sold from late fall to spring and are considered midwinter varieties.
Fuerte avocados are also harvested in the fall and into the spring.
Gwen avocados are usually picked during the fall and winter.
Hass and Lamb Hass avocados are harvested year round.
Pinkerton avocados appear from early winter and throughout spring.
Reed avocados are available throughout the summer and early fall.
Zutano avocados begin to age from early September to early winter.

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Note the size and shape of the fruit. Avocados must age before they ripen. Depending on the avocado variety, an aged avocado usually has a certain size and shape.

Bacon avocados are medium sized, weighing about 170 – 340 g. The fruit is oval in shape.
Fuerte avocados are medium to large when aged, weighing between 140 g and 400 g. This variety is more elongated than Bacon avocados, but still somewhat pear-shaped.
Gwen avocados are medium to large, ranging from 170 g to 430 g. They have a fat round oval shape.
Hass avocados are small to medium sized, weighing about 140-340 g.
Lamb Hass avocado is large, weighing up to 330-530 g. This avocado is pear-shaped and symmetrical.
The Pinkerton avocado is long and shaped like a pear. Weight from 230 – 510g.
Reed avocados are medium to large, weighing about 230 – 510 g. This type has the most rounded shape.
Zutano avocados are medium to large, usually weighing between 170 and 400 g. This fruit is elongated and pear-shaped.

Consider color. Most avocado varieties have a dark skin when ripe, but the color of each avocado variety is also slightly different.

Bacon and Fuerte avocados have smooth, thin, green skins.
Gwen avocados have a dark green skin that is soft and rough when ripe.
Hass and Lamb Hass avocados have the most distinguishing colors. Hass avocados when ripe will have a dark green to purple color. However, a black avocado skin means that it is overripe, just as a bright green avocado is likely to be underripe.
Like Hass avocados, Pinkerton avocados have a deep color when ripe. Ripe Pinkerton avocados are usually dark green in color.
Reed avocados remain bright green even when ripe. The pods are usually thick and slightly rough.
Zutano avocados have a thin, greenish-yellow skin when ripe.

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Avoid fruits with black spots. Dark spots can be a sign that the fruit is bruised or underripe.

In general, you should pay attention to uniform color and texture. Any avocado that looks uneven is either spoiled, or damaged. Both cases are of poor quality.

Hardness test

Hold the avocado in the palm of your hand. Do not press the avocado with your fingertips. You should put the avocado completely in the palm of your hand.

If you press in with the tip of your finger or thumb, the avocado may break. ^{[1] X Research Source} Unripe avocados are hard to break, but ripe avocados won’t. Place the avocado in the palm of your hand to disperse pressure on the avocado and reduce the risk of splintering.

Lightly squeeze the avocado. Use the palm of your hand and the bottom of your fingers to gently and evenly press into the avocado.

When pressing on the avocado, if the fruit is ripe, you will feel that the fruit is slightly soft even if you press it very lightly. The pods will “give up” a bit but still won’t sink.
If you feel soft when you press on the avocado, it means it is overcooked.
If the avocado is still firm when you press it, it’s not ripe.

Squeeze several points on the avocado. Rotate the avocado and press again with the palm of your hand and the bottom of your fingers with light pressure.

It is possible that the first point you press on is bruised, giving the impression that the avocado is overripe or overripe. To confirm that this is not the case, you should mold the avocado in different positions and compare with the firmness of the fruit. Avocados that are ripe without crushing will have a uniform softness.

Check under the avocado stalk

Gently shake the avocado. Hold the avocado close to your ear, shake it a few times, and listen for a crunching sound inside.

Shaking an avocado is a good way to check without having to cut it out if you find the avocado is soft and worry it’s overripe.
If the avocado is overripe, the seeds will loosen from the flesh and make a crunching sound when shaken. If you hear this sound when shaking an avocado, it’s likely overripe. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Pull out the avocado stem. Hold the avocado stem between your thumb and index finger and pull it out quickly.

If the avocado is unripe, you won’t be able to pull the stem out of the fruit without cutting it. Do not use a knife or other tool to cut off the stem. If you can’t remove the stem from the avocado, it means the avocado is unripe and inedible.

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Look at the color under the avocado stem. If the avocado stem is loose, you should check for the distinctive green color of the avocado flesh underneath the stem. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

If the avocado is light yellow or brown, the flesh inside is not yet ripe.
If the bottom of the avocado is dark brown, it’s probably overripe.

Handling avocados that are cut but not yet ripe

Use lemon juice to brush the surface of two avocado halves. Using a pastry brush, brush about 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of lemon juice over the cut sides of the avocado.

When you cut an avocado, you break down the cell walls of the pulp and activate the oxidation process. The best way to slow down oxidation is to apply an acidic agent to the pulp.

Put the two halves of the fruit together. Put the two halves of the fruit together as before, matching the better.

Another way to slow down oxidation is to reduce the exposed surface of the pulp. Putting the two halves of the fruit together can help cover the flesh as much as possible.

Cover the avocado with cling film. Wrap several layers of plastic wrap around the avocado so that it is tight. If you don’t have cling film, you can also use a container with a tight-fitting lid, a zippered plastic bag, or a vacuum-sealed plastic bag.

The sealed film will limit the oxygen exposure of the fruit pulp, thereby slowing down the oxidation process.

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Bake an avocado that has been cut but not yet ripe. Cut avocados into thin slices, place them on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Let the avocado slices cool and serve with tomato sauce or salad dressing, here’s the recipe. healthy and nutritious snacks. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

You can also dip avocado slices in breadcrumbs before baking for a crunchy texture.

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Leave the avocado in the refrigerator until ripe. Since the avocado has been cut, you will have to store it in the refrigerator to prevent it from spoiling as it continues to ripen..

The avocado will ripen within a few days. However, if it starts to soften and turn brown, you may have to throw it away.

Advice

To ripen a green avocado, place it on a table at room temperature for a few days. Refrigeration will interfere with fruit ripening, so you shouldn’t store unripe avocados in the fridge unless you’ve cut them.
Avocados will ripen after picking. If you want to pick an avocado from a tree, you should choose one that is large, uniformly dark in color, and has a firm texture. After picking, you will have to leave the avocado on the table for 2-7 days before the fruit is ripe and ready to eat.
If you don’t plan to eat it right away, it’s best to buy unripe avocados. Ripe avocados can only be stored for a few days in the refrigerator.
To speed up the ripening process of avocados, you can put avocados in a paper bag with an apple or banana. Apples and bananas release ethylene gas, a stimulant that ripens fruit, and avocados ripen faster when exposed to ethylene gas. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Steps

Check the external appearance

Hardness test

Check under the avocado stalk

Handling avocados that are cut but not yet ripe

Advice

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