5 Ways to Ripen an Avocado Quickly
If you’re like me, then your desire to put avocado in your next meal is never something you plan for despite knowing how crucial it is due to the ripening process.
But, I totally get it. Sometimes you only know you want the creamy green goodness when you open your fridge door and get inspired to make that delicious salad or yummy taco bowl.
As many avocado lovers know, however, this means that your chances of finding that perfectly ripe avocado down at the grocery store in your time of need are slim to none.
So, what is a Queen to do?
Did you know that you can speed up the ripening process?
Well, if you ever find yourself in this dilemma, I am here to report that you no longer have to pay extra for guacamole packets to get your avocado fix!
Nor do you have to wait a crazy long amount of undetermined time for your avocado to ripen!
I scoured the internet for you and found 5 hacks that people have been using to help speed up the ripening process of their avocados. I will list each hack below, starting from the hacks that require the most amount of time to the least amount of time.
Keep in mind, however, that some of these hacks could affect the way your avocados taste. I would say that it’s always best to plan when you think you might want to include avocados in your meal so you can give them the proper time to ripen.
But it never hurts to have these hacks on deck for when Mother Nature is taking her sweet, sweet time and you have no more patience left to spare.
Hack #1: Using A Brown Paper Bag
Time to Ripen: 2-3 days
Instructions:
Place avocado in brown paper bag and fold over the flap a few times.
Let sit for a few days until soft.
According to The Today Show, “When an avocado is too much of an evergreen rock to ripen naturally on the counter in three or four days, place it in a breathable container like a brown paper bag. The avocado will bathe in its own natural ethylene gas, the chemical that causes it to ripen.”
Based on my research, the avocado is expected to ripen in 2-3 days using this method. But if you’d like to speed up the process…
Hack #2: Using a Brown Paper Bag + Apples/Bananas/Kiwis
Time to Ripen: 2-3 days
Instructions:
Follow instructions for hack 1 and add apples, bananas or kiwis into the bag.
Country Living writes that, “Apples and bananas emit [ethylene] gas as well, so when a hard avocado is paired with an apple or a banana inside a paper bag, the ethylene becomes more concentrated, therefore yielding ripe avocados faster.”
The Today Show noted that kiwis work just as well.
Now the thing to note about this hack is that it will also speed up the ripening process for your other produce as well. So, if you’re planning on making banana pancakes soon, then by all means go ahead. But if you were hoping to keep your bananas around for a bit, then I might just use apples and/or kiwis to get the job done.
Now if you don’t have any apples, bananas or kiwis laying around, then I’m sure you have…
Hack #3: Using a Brown Paper Bag + Flour
Time to Ripen: 36 hours
Instructions:
Place 2-3 inches of white flour in a brown paper bag.
Add the avocado and fold over the flap a few times.
Let sit for a few days until soft.
According to Well + Good, using flour in a brown paper bag is the only way to go when it comes to ripening an avocado quickly. They note that, “While some of these quickie methods do make your avocado softer in minutes, it's not the kind of softness you want for your avocado toast.”
To take advantage of this hack, all you need is a brown paper bag, 2-3 inches of white flour and an avocado. Pour the flour at the bottom of the bag and then place your avocado inside. Seal the bag by rolling down the flap 3-4 times to trap the ethylene gas.
Well + Good argues that flour is the best item to help with the ripening process because it “has the added benefit of soaking up any moisture that gets trapped in the bag.”
But if 36 hours is still too long to wait…
Hack #4: Using Foil + Baking in an Oven
Time to Ripen: 10-60 minutes
Instructions:
Wrap the avocado tightly in foil.
Bake at 200 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the fruit is softened slightly but not warmed.
So, what is interesting about this hack is that it is often touted around the internet as being able to get you a soft avocado in just 10 minutes. But according to an editor at Kitchn who tried the hack out for themselves, they found that it actually to around the 60 minute mark for the avocado to get soft.
Now one could argue that because this person kept checking the avocado every 5 minutes, that this could have disrupted the baking process, which caused it to take longer. But even if that were the case, their experiment proves that this hack definitely requires more than 10 minutes if we’re talking about a rock hard avocado.
However, they note that when it came to taste, “It didn’t quite have that smooth, creamy texture you expect from a ripe avocado, nor did it have the same taste. It certainly didn’t taste bad, but it did taste a little different.”
I don’t know how I feel about that verdict, but I figured I’d still pass along this hack for the adventurous.
The Today Show notes that “This works for avocados that are dark but still very firm. For totally unripe avocados that are green, allow them hang out in a paper bag for a couple of days first, if possible.”
And finally, the shortest hack to get you a ripe avocado in just mere minutes is…
Hack #5: Using Microwave-safe Plastic Wrap + Baking in the Microwave
Time to Ripen: 2-3 minutes
Instructions:
Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit.
Wrap each half with microwave-safe plastic wrap and cook for 30-second intervals on medium-high, until desired softness is achieved.
Check softness between each interval. Once cool enough to handle, unwrap halves and place them in the refrigerator for about six minutes (allowing for an extra 2 to 3 minutes for very hard avocados).
However, Country Living warns that, “When using the microwave, expect to sacrifice the avocado’s naturally buttery taste and silky texture.”
This method has also been known to leave a stink and has been advised to only be used in the most desperate of cases.
Take Aways
I guess good things really do come to those who have the time to wait and when it comes to avocados this is especially true.
While there are methods that can promise you ripe avocados in just mere minutes, they also seem to compromise the rich, silky buttery taste that we have come to love so much from our avocados.
But if you needed the avocado to make brownies or other baked goods, I could totally see a world where some of these speed ripening processes could be of value.
Overall, I think I will definitely be making use of the first three hacks, but I appreciate having the last two in my back pocket for those desperate moments.
Have you tried any of these methods? Do you have your own avocado ripening method that wasn’t listed here?
Tell me in the comments below!
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