Vivid green, ultra-creamy, and sumptuously rich, avocados are a fruit that offers delicious versatility for numerous recipes. If you’re looking to craft some mouth-watering guacamole or simply want to jazz up your morning toast or sandwich, a ripe avocado is essential to your culinary exploits.
Much like bananas, the ripening of avocados occurs post-harvest, which explains why those you pick up at the supermarket feel like little edible rocks often taking an age to reach optimum squishiness.
Nabbing perfectly ripe avocado precisely when you need it can be a foodie’s frustration. However, this problem can be easily resolved with a nifty 10-minute hack courtesy of @freshlysnapped on TikTok.
In their helpful footage, the TikTok user reveals: “Nothing like a quick bake sesh in the oven to get that avocado to perfection. Never live with an underripe avocado again.”
Our kitchen guru commences by snugly swaddling an unripe avocado in foil before nestling it on a baking tray.
For optimal results, the TikToker advises cranking the oven to a toasty 200 degrees for just 10 minutes.
Following this brief thermal excursion, the avocado undergoes a cooling period, thereafter being effortlessly cleaved open to unveil its tender, beautifully hued interior.
An alternate route, should you opt for a less hurried approach, involves stowing your avocados in a brown paper bag though anticipate a slower ripening cadence, spanning two to three days.
The trick rests upon the natural release of ethylene gas by the avocados as they mature. Stashing them in a sealed paper container allows this gas to accumulate, thus amplifying its ripening ability.
This method works particularly well if you place the paper bag on a sunny windowsill.
If your avocado has reached its prime but you’re not ready to use it, simply move it from the counter to the fridge. The cooler temperature will help maintain its ripeness for a bit longer.
Whole, ripe avocados can be kept fresh in the fridge drawer for about two to three days.