How to Ripe Avocados

Did you just receive the butter you ordered? Are you longing for an instant avocado puree? Unripe avocados can be quickly ripened in a few simple steps.

Table of Contents

Cook Uncut Avocados

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Place unripe avocados in a brown paper bag. This bag is used to hold the ethylene gas that ripens the avocado. You must make sure that the paper bag you use is not punctured!

Paper bags are for keeping sealed. If you have another similar way to stay airtight that would be great! You can do it your way. Your grandma probably told you to keep the butter in the flour bin, but you might still have to get an empty McDonald’s bag.

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Add a banana, apple or tomato to the paper bag. Bananas are the best choice, but other fruits also work. If you don’t have these, but have one or two more avocados, put them together.

These fruits will emit more ethylene gas than others. And the more ethylene gas is emitted, the faster the avocado will ripen. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Keep the bag tightly closed at room temperature. Avoid exposure to the sun; The best temperature is between 65º-75º F (18º-24º C). If you do not add fruit to the bag, it will take about 2-5 days for the avocado to ripen. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Regular check. The extra flowers will speed up the ripening process significantly and the avocado will ripen within 1-3 days. ^{[3] X Research Source} Your avocados are very easy to peel when ripe; Squeeze and feel if the butter is soft because sometimes it is difficult to guess by the color of the skin.

Unripe avocados look smooth and green. When ripe, a few purple and black spots will appear (that’s when you can eat after about 2 days). When fully ripe to eat, avocados are dark green/brown and often dark purple. ^{[2] X Research Source}
- Once ripe, avocados can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, but the longer they sit, the more they lose flavor. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Ripening Cut Avocados

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Drizzle lemon juice over the sliced avocado. Since avocados are open and easily damaged by external influences, keep them from browning and mushy with an acidic agent like lemon juice. If you want to ripen, don’t damage the avocado.

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Cover with transparent film. Put the two halves of the avocado together and wrap them like a complete avocado. Place the butter in the freezer.

If you don’t have cling film, use an airtight container with a tight-fitting lid.

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Monitor ripening. The time it takes for the fruit to ripen depends on what stage of the ripening process your avocado is in. Take the avocado out and press it, if the avocado is soft and looks edible, try it. If it’s still not ripe enough, put it back in the fridge.

Storing and Using Butter

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Keep uncut and unripe avocados at room temperature. Keeping butter in the refrigerator is not recommended. Avocados will not ripen at low temperatures. ^{[4] X Source of Research} If you do nothing (other than put the avocado on the counter), it will take up to about six days to ripen.

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For cut, sliced, or grated avocado, use lemon juice. As soon as the avocado has been mashed, drizzle some lemon juice or orange juice (as long as it’s fresh, orange) over the avocado. The acid will slow down browning (also known as oxidation), and prolong the shelf life of the butter.

If you’ve already started to see brown spots, you don’t need to throw away the butter. Scrape off those parts and start eating the rest of the butter before they change color. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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If it starts to get worse, puree and freeze the butter. If the avocado is just ripe for use but you don’t plan to eat it yet, puree it and put it in the freezer. Do not freeze the whole fruit, the avocado will lose its taste. You can still use butter for dips and spreads, etc. ^{[5] X Research Source}

Obviously, it’s best not to freeze avocados. This is only a solution to apply when you can not eat when the avocado is fresh.

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Monitor ripening. Hopefully you’ve spent a few days tracking the avocados. If you keep an eye on it, you’ll know what stage the avocado is at in the ripening process. Different stages will give different results.

If the avocado is just starting to ripen, it will be less affected by heat. You can bake butter easily.
If avocados take a while but are well done, slice them up for salads or salads. The buttery smooth slices make the dishes look delicious!
If you have several ripe avocados, turn them into cream. Think flan, ice cream, or cheesecake. That’s the reason to try the experience!

Advice

It is still possible to just use a paper bag, although the avocado will not ripen as quickly as when adding fruit, it will still be faster when the avocado is not covered.
Adding flour to the bag is also a way of ripening the butter. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Warning

Refrigerating the avocado is counterproductive – preventing it from ripening. This is good for prolonging avocado storage, but does not accelerate the ripening of avocados.
Do not use the microwave to ripen the butter. You can find information online that it’s possible (and yes, you can. In theory, you can use the microwave for everything), but the microwave will ruin the taste of the butter. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Things you need

Avocado
Paper bags
Banana, apple, or tomato (for ripening)

Steps