Avocado Questions

[julesmoz]

Couple of questions about avocadoes . . .

There was an awesome avocado sale yesterday (8/$1!), so I bought a ton. Most of them aren't ripe yet, and I'd like for them to ripen at different rates. If I leave some out to ripen and put the rest in the fridge, will I still be able to ripen the "fridge" ones when I'm ready to use them? In other words, do avocadoes ripen after they've been refrigerated?

Also, I know that avocadoes contain different amounts of fat, depending on where they were grown (California-grown are fattier than Florida-grown, for example). Why is that? Most of the avos in Texas right now are from Mexico. What is the fat content of Mexican avos? Can an experienced avo-eater tell the relative fat content just by tasting it? Are the lesser-fat ones still pretty creamy-tasting, or not as much?

Thanks!

[blessed]

Most of the ones we get are cold and they do ripen afterwards. Within two days of us getting them home they have started to ripen if we don't keep check on them they will be too soft. No problem in buying tons, great deal.


Ann :p :p

[Shivananda]

>>If I leave some out to ripen and put the rest in the fridge, will I still be able to ripen the "fridge" ones when I'm ready to use them? In other words, do avocadoes ripen after they've been refrigerated?

Putting them in the fridge will slow the ripening process slightly. But if they do ripen up faster than you can eat them, make them into guacamole or avo puree and freeze it, rather than let them turn black inside and spoil.

>>Also, I know that avocadoes contain different amounts of fat, depending on where they were grown (California-grown are fattier than Florida-grown, for example).

That's not true, it just seems that way. What makes the real difference is what variety they are. Some varieties (like Hass) are oily and buttery and have heavier skins, while other varieties (like Reed) are more watery and have thinner skins. It just happens that most, but not all, of what you see from California are the oilier varieties, because they have better flavor and command higher prices in the markets. But other varieties grow better in Florida, so most, but not all, Florida avocados are more watery. Just seeing where they are from will not tell you what is inside.

And just to air a pet peeve here... there is no such thing as a Haas avocado. Some dodo started spelling it that way, maybe after taking a Haagen-Daasz break or something, and somehow it stuck, and spread, and now is everywhere. But the real name for that variety is Hass. I give produce managers a hard time whenever I see that oh-too-common error on their signs. When I'm lucky they throw avocados at me. :)

[Queenie]

I have an avocado question also. David Wolfe loves them so much he uses Avocado as a stage name. I know they're good for women - lots of folic acid - but is there some magical quality of nutritional near-completeness or something?

Thanks...

[julesmoz]

Thanks for the tips and the info. That was a great idea to freeze them if they ripen too fast. One of your comments, Shiv, brought up another question:

Is it okay to eat dark spots on an avocado? If they're on the inside when you've first cut it open, are they bruises or spoilage? Are they rancid? Similarly, is it okay to eat the dark oxidized part from an avo that was previously cut and exposed to air? Seems like that would be rancid, too.

How can you tell when an avo has gone bad? Does it just turn all black inside?

As I'm sure you can tell, I'm new to avocadoes :)

[ArcticMist]

I am thrilled you brought this up jules. I buy avocados and when I cant get to them for a good while. I wonder how long they can stay good or throw them out. I dont want to eat bad ones but I dont want to risk getting sick because I could not tell it was bad.

[Shivananda]

If they have spots that are a little dark, it's like the soft brown spots in bananas... they're still OK to eat, just a little past their prime. Once they get to be black I cut those spots out, not because it hurts to eat them, but because they don't taste as good.

The best way to keep cut avos or gucamole from turning dark is to squeeze a little lime or lemon juice over the cut part, and then wrap with plastic kitchen wrap, squeezing out the air bubbles. Natives of Mexico say to put the pit inthe middle of a bowl of guac to help keep it looking fresh, and I've found that works. If the avos or guac get dark anyway, just scrape a little off until you a hit fresh looking layer, and chow down.

But they aren't really bad until they are squishy soft and all black inside.