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Avocados, the favourite food of brunch-goers and healthy-fat-seekers, are fickle beasts. There’s nothing more rewarding than deciding you want a slice of eight on your salad and it being perfectly ripe. There’s nothing worse than only being able to buy avocados harder than resisting a brunch offer from your friends.
However, there are some sneaky ways you can speed up the process so you can have your trendy breakfast ASAP. Here’s how to ripen a hard avocado!
The Buddy Method
Also known as the brown paper bag method, we’ve called it the buddy system thanks to the hard work of other fruits in the ripening process. Simply place your unripe and unsatisfying avocados into a brown paper bag and add a banana or apple (or a few if you feel rebellious) and roll the top down. The other fruits will produce extra ethylene gas, helping the avocado to ripen within 12 – 24 hours. There’s probably a metaphor in there somewhere.
The Lemon Juice Method
This is a great hack for ripening an already cut avocado! Just coat both halves of your avocado with fresh lemon juice (lime will work too), then put back together and wrap tightly in cling film. Whack it in the fridge and check back the next day. It may need a little longer depending on how hard it was when you sliced it open, but eventually it’ll ripen up nicely.
Image source:Louis Hansel / unsplash
The Salt Method
If you’ve got some salt lying around (if you don’t you should probably get to a grocery store ASAP coz it’s kinda a staple), just cut open the top of the stem end of your unripe avocado, pour salt into the opening, then pop the lid back on. The next day your avocado will be ripe for eating!
The Oven Method
This method claims to have your avocados ready and ripe within 10 minutes! All you have to do is set your oven to 90° celsius, wrap your avocados in foil (the same way you would bake a potato) and pop them in. The heat from the oven makes the fruit release ethylene gas and speeds up the ripening process.
Alternatively, you can slice your avocado in half, remove the pit, wrap in cling film, and microwave in 30 second intervals until it’s soft! Let cool, scoop, and enjoy.
Image source:Alexander Mils / unsplash
The Flour Method
This is a totally random one but foodies swear it works. Grab a brown paper bag and add at least two inches of flour (any kind will do) to the bottom, then drop in your avocados and roll the top down tight. Some say you should cover them entirely in flour, but whatever works for you. Within two days your avocados will be perfectly ripe.
The Sun Method
The simplest method to ripen a hard avocado is simply to leave it out on the counter or in any sunny spot of your home. The warmth will speed up the ripening process in a totally natural way, and you’ll have a perfect avocado in a few days! Make sure you check on them daily to make sure they’re perfect and haven’t become overripe.
