The nutritional value and health benefits of avocados are well-recognized, so it's no surprise that many people enjoy them in their daily lives. To ripen an avocado, you can sprinkle lemon or lime juice on the cut surface.
Method 1: Ripening a Whole Avocado
Place the unripe avocado in a paper bag. The bag is used to trap the ethylene gas that ripens the avocado. Make sure the bag has no holes! The paper bag only serves to seal in the gas. It's also fine if you can achieve the same effect with another method. Your grandma might tell you to put it in a flour canister, but you might find an empty McDonald's bag works just as well. Also, place a banana, an apple, or a tomato in the paper bag with the avocado. While other fruits can also help with ripening, a banana is the best choice. If you don't have any other fruit besides the avocado, just put them together in the paper bag. These fruits release more ethylene gas than others. The more ethylene gas, the faster the avocado will ripen. Seal the bag and leave it at room temperature. Avoid direct sunlight; a temperature of 18°C to 24°C is ideal. If there are no other fruits in the bag, it will take 2-5 days. Check it periodically. Adding fruit can significantly speed up the ripening process, taking only 1-3 days. The avocado is ripe when the skin can be easily peeled off; give it a squeeze to see if it has softened, as it can sometimes be difficult to judge ripeness by color. An unripe avocado looks green and is quite pretty. As it ripens, it will turn purplish and black (at this point, you can eat it in about two days). When it's ripe, it will be a dark brownish-green, almost purplish-black. Once ripe, it needs to be placed in the refrigerator, where it can be kept for a few days, but its flavor will diminish over time.
Method 2: Ripening a Cut Avocado
Sprinkle lemon or lime juice on the cut avocado. The exposed flesh of a cut avocado can spoil easily. Using something like lemon juice can prevent the cut surface from turning brown and mushy. This way, you can continue to ripen it without it going bad. Wrap it with plastic wrap. Put the two halves of the avocado back together and wrap them with plastic wrap before placing them in the refrigerator.
If you don't have plastic wrap, use an airtight container.
Check for ripeness periodically. The time needed for ripening depends entirely on the avocado's initial ripeness. Take the avocado out and gently poke it with your finger. When it feels soft and looks ready to eat, give it a taste. If it's not ripe enough, put it back.
Method 3: Storing and Eating Avocados
Store whole, unripe avocados at room temperature. Never put them in the refrigerator, as they will not ripen in the cold. If you leave it out (just the avocado on its own), it will ripen in about 6 days. For cut, chopped, or mashed avocados, you need to use lemon juice to preserve them. Even if the avocado is already in a salad or a sauce, you can sprinkle some lemon juice, lime juice, or even fresh orange juice on top. This will slow down the browning process (i.e., oxidation) and keep it fresh for longer. If the avocado has turned brown, don't throw it away. Just scoop out the brown parts; the rest is still edible as long as it hasn't turned brown. If an avocado is about to go bad, make it into guacamole and freeze it. If an avocado is perfectly ripe but you don't have time to eat it, make it into guacamole and freeze it. Don't freeze the whole avocado, as it doesn't taste very good that way. The resulting guacamole can be used as a dip or spread on bread. Obviously, freezing an avocado is not ideal; it's a method for when you can't eat it fresh. Monitor the stages of ripeness. If you keep a close eye on the avocado over the next few days, you'll get a very clear idea of which stage of ripeness it's at. Avocados at different stages of ripeness are used in different ways.