The best ways to ripen an avocado at home quickly and easily

Avocado is a delicious and healthy fruit. It appeared relatively recently on the shelves of Russian stores, but has already managed to gain popularity among adherents of proper nutrition. It contains many vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. In terms of nutritional properties, it is not inferior to nuts and red fish. Its taste is ideal for salads, appetizers, sauces and main courses.

Ripe avocado has an oily flesh with a delicate nutty flavor and rich aroma. Unripe product is tough, crunchy and similar to raw pumpkin. A fully ripe avocado spoils quickly and easily wrinkles during transportation, so it ends up on the shelves green. The fruit does not always have time to reach the desired consistency in the store. What to do if the avocado is hard, and how to ripen it at home, read the article.

Signs of a ripe avocado

An unripe avocado is not harmful to human health. It is no less healthy than a ripe fruit, but less pleasant to the taste.

Ripeness is determined by:

1. Blossom. In a ripe avocado, it is bright green, closer to emerald. If the fruit has a brownish tint, then it is overripe; if light green - not ripe. It should be borne in mind that there are varieties that are characterized by a dark green, almost black shade.
2. Peduncle. The opening under the stalk is light green in ripe fruit, yellow in unripe, and brownish in overripe.
3. To the bone. It should separate easily from the pulp. If this is not the case, then the fruit is not ripe.
4. Softness. Ripe fruit is soft to the touch. If you press on it, the dents remaining from the fingers will quickly straighten out. Green avocado won't rinse when pressed. Overripe is too soft and easily deformed.
5. The scent. If you smell a ripe fruit, you can smell a light characteristic aroma. An unripe avocado does not have a pronounced odor.

Is it possible to ripen an avocado at home

If you bought an unripe avocado, don't be upset. The fruit will ripen quickly at home. Even if you just put it in the refrigerator, it will become soft and fragrant in a few days. However, there are ways that allow you to achieve the desired result much earlier.

Note! Most of the nutrients are stored in avocados, which ripen without exposure to high temperatures.

Avocado ripening methods

There are many ways to quickly achieve full ripening of an avocado. Some of them take more than one day, while others allow you to get ripe and soft fruit in a few minutes.

In the microwave

It takes only 1-2 minutes to ripen the fruit in the microwave. During this time, it will become soft and acquire a creamy consistency, but the amount of nutrients in the composition will decrease.

How to speed up the ripening of avocados using the microwave:

1. The fruit is washed and several holes are made in it with a fork.
2. Then they are placed in a plastic tray. Do not cover with a lid.
3. The container with the product is placed in a microwave oven, which is turned on for 1 minute.
4. After turning off the device, the avocado is taken out and checked. If it has not reached the desired consistency, it is placed in the microwave for another 30 seconds. If necessary, add time.

In the microwave, the fruit can ripen in a minute. However, in this case, there is a great risk that its taste will deteriorate.

In the oven

You can soften the product using the oven. As in the case of a microwave, this effect destroys some of the nutrients.

How to make a soft avocado in the oven:

1. The fruit is washed and punctured several times with a fork.
2. Wrapped in foil and placed in the oven. The device is set at a temperature of + 200 ... + 210 ° C.
3. In 10 minutes. the fruit is taken out of the oven. This time is enough for it to soften.

In paper

To make the avocado ripen faster at home, use a proven method. The fruit is wrapped in newspaper or paper as tightly as possible so that there is no free space, and kept at room temperature.

With this method, the fruit will ripen in 2-4 days. At the same time, it will retain the maximum amount of nutrients and acquire a pleasant taste and rich aroma.

In foil

You can help the fruit ripen by wrapping it in foil. In this form, it is placed in a warm place, for example, in the lower cabinet of a kitchen set.

Under these conditions, the fetus will mature within 2-4 days. At the same time, its taste and composition will not change for the worse.

Council. In winter, to speed up ripening, avocados are placed in foil near the battery.

In boiling water

One option is to use boiling water. This method, like other heat treatments, negatively affects the taste and healthiness of the product, but makes it ready to eat in a few minutes.

What to do if the avocado is unripe and tough:

1. Several holes or a cruciform incision are made in the fruit at the base.
2. Placed in boiling water and leave there for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from boiling water and check. If it is not soft enough, boil for a few more minutes.

Ripening storage

If there is no need to soften the fruit as quickly as possible, it is better to do this gradually. In this case, it will retain a maximum of useful substances and acquire a pleasant taste.

There are some simple tricks to speed up the ripening of the fruit a little.

how store avocadoto ripen:

1. Place on the windowsill near the south window. Turn it over from time to time so that it softens evenly.
2. Put the fruit in one basket with apples and bananas. Store at room temperature.
3. Place it near a working heater, for example on a newspaper under a radiator.

Instantly soften avocado

How to ripen an avocado:

1. Peel, remove the bone. Then cut into slices and pour boiling water over. After 1-2 minutes. the product is ready to use.
2. Cut into pieces, peel, place in microwave oven for 30 sec.

How to ripen a sliced ​​avocado

If already cut avocado turned out to be immature, it is possible to store it until softened without using high temperatures. To do this, the halves are greased with lemon juice and pressed as tightly as possible to each other. Then wrapped in cling film, leaving no free areas.

In this form, the product lies at room temperature or in the refrigerator until it acquires the desired consistency.

Important! If, when wrapping the fruit in a film, you leave open areas through which oxygen will enter the pulp, it will deteriorate.

Conclusion

Green avocado is significantly inferior in taste to ripe fruit. Such a fruit is tough, does not have a pronounced aroma and is associated with many unloved raw vegetables. However, it is in this form that the product is most often found on store shelves, which is associated with transportation difficulties.

Ripe fruits have a soft tender pulp, which has a rich taste and aroma, easily separates from the skin and pits. Their consistency is ideal for sauces, salads and appetizers. To achieve the desired softness of the product, different methods are used. The fastest of them allow you to soften the avocado in a few minutes, but they negatively affect its taste and composition.Longer methods do not reduce quality.