You’re Squeezing Avocados All Wrong

We Aussies love an avocado. It’s a breakfast staple in these parts and I won’t hear a bad thing about the creamy, pear-shaped fruit. But though it is one of the most popular foods in the country, it could be argued that a good portion of us have little idea how to properly select an avocado when shopping for one.

The most common approach is reaching out and having a feel to see how soft the avocado is. God knows taking home a hard unripe avocado is the worst thing ever, right?

Wrong, friends.

What to look for when shopping for avocados

In a recent ABC News article CEO of Avocados Australia, John Tyas, explained that it’s actually far better to opt for an unripe avocado when shopping. Soft avos, he explained, are far more likely to end up getting bruised.

“If you need an avocado tonight, sure, buy a ripe one. But if you’re buying for the week choose some that aren’t ripe because when they ripen at home they will be much better quality and you’re almost guaranteed of no bruising,” he told the outlet.

The old faithful pick-up-and-squeeze approach for avocados is one of the biggest reasons the green balls of deliciousness end up bruised. However, this can also occur if your avocados are moving around in your shopping trolley, or even on the way home, Tyas shared. So treat these guys with care, alright?

How to tell if your avocado is ripe

Now that we know not to grope our fruit, how do we assess if an avocado is in fact ripe? Well, this depends on the type of avocado you’re working with.

Hass avocado skin darkens as they ripen, so the deeper the shade, the riper the avo. Shepard (in season Feb through May) avocados stay bright green in colour throughout their lifetime, so the only way to tell if the fruit is ripe is with a gentle feel.

If you’re going to give an avocado a feel to test for ripeness, Better Homes and Gardens suggests softly squeezing the stem end (not the whole thing) to test if your avocado is ready to eat. That’ll lessen the potential damage.

The last step is eating your avocado relatively quickly. Most of the time, a ripe avocado will last about two days before spoiling. However, we do have a hack for extending that time period here.

Now, go forth and use your newfound avocado expertise wisely.