How do you tell when an avacado is ripe?

[rawlaw06]

One of the things that scares me about eating more veggies is that I don't know how to tell when certain ones are ripe. Crazy, huh?

Could you help with the avocado question?

Thanks!!

[pieface12]

I am so glad I am not the only one who would like to know.

Nell

[Coconutcutie]

In the case of the Hass variety of avocados, they darken from green to a blackish color and they feel soft to the touch (they give when you push on the skin). I can say that if any avocado is rock hard, it is not ripe!! I don't like the other avocado varieties, so I can't comment on them...

[durian]

I like mine when you can mash them with a fork and they smush up, rather than breaking into pieces. They are too ripe when they mash themselves.

[DavidZaneMason]

The above posts are exactly correct. For Haas (Mexican) look for globular fruit of heavier weight. Look for skin that's pebbly (as opposed to smooth) and uniform in color. The fruit should slightly yield to pressure along the fat bottom....and not be at all mushy or give along the stem portion. Hopefully the stem is still in the fruit tip....as they tend to rot faster when this is pulled out. When ripe, they'll go from a light brown...darkening to dark brown. Eat/refrigerate before they go black....and the tips start to collapse inward from rotting and drying out. Look for fruit with a dull color....but avoid overly shiny, grayish or off-color avocados. Store in small batches of 3-6 where air can circulate a bit. Larger batches in enclosed spaces tend to rot together. Just some tips...in my experience.

-David Z. Mason

[klomasius]

Don't worry, you'll get the 'feel' of assessing how ripe, fresh, and what sort of quality the fruits that you buy are after you gain some experience.

These days I can just tell by looking at an avocado whether it'll be unripe, ripe or rotten, and I'm usually pretty spot on. But I do tend to feel them as well.

So when you do feel them, I agree with what the others have said, also, you get to be able to feel whether the skin has lifted from the avocado flesh on the inside. If this has happened then it's more than likely the avocado is overripe.

And what david says about the stems is SO true! Try to get ones with the little nubby stem still in as these last a lot longer and are more likely to ripen properly rather than just rot.

I tend to get ones in various stages of ripeness so they last over the week. And if you want an avo to ripen faster, just place it in a bag (plastic ones ripen them faster) with a ripe avo or banana overnight.

[coco]

here's a tip, always buy avos when they are green and rock hard. that way you ripen them yourself at home (only takes 2-4 days), otherwise they get bashed at the market and on the way home and will be bruised inside. i buy a large bag of them at a time and keep half of the hard green ones in the fridge until the others are ready to eat. then i put the ready ones into the fridge and the green ones out on the counter. by the time i'm done the ripe ones the others are ready to eat and that's when i buy a new bag of green ones.

[violetsareblack]

I was told once that you try popping the stem thingy out on Haas and if it pops out easily they are ready and if not, they aren't ready. I do it all the time and it works fine, the stores probably hate me, leaving the little stem thingies behind. ;)