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How to pick a great avocado every time? Genius in simplicity.
- Thread starter traca
- Start date
richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
Of course, being the contrarian that I am...
So what happens when everyone picks the stem off?
People blindly groping, pushing, and squeezing avocados in the store is the main reason they are bruised and have rotten spots in the first place.
My method: Go to the back of the pile, pick the greenest avocado on display that no one has pushed, prodded, and squeezed. Take it home and wait for it to get ripe in a couple days.
So what happens when everyone picks the stem off?
People blindly groping, pushing, and squeezing avocados in the store is the main reason they are bruised and have rotten spots in the first place.
My method: Go to the back of the pile, pick the greenest avocado on display that no one has pushed, prodded, and squeezed. Take it home and wait for it to get ripe in a couple days.
Marsha taught me a good method. Buy green, put some refrigerator. When almost ripe, cut in
half and put the second half in the frig. Each day, use half of the unrefrigerated ones. When they're all gone, the ones in the frig will have caught up.
She uses way more than I do, but her method works.
I once received a wonderful full box of avocados from a sweet friend. Unfortunately, I didn't know this trick so they all ripen about the same time. Fortunately, I made a big batch of guacamole for work and EVERYONE was happy then.
half and put the second half in the frig. Each day, use half of the unrefrigerated ones. When they're all gone, the ones in the frig will have caught up.
She uses way more than I do, but her method works.
I once received a wonderful full box of avocados from a sweet friend. Unfortunately, I didn't know this trick so they all ripen about the same time. Fortunately, I made a big batch of guacamole for work and EVERYONE was happy then.
My method is to just assume you need 2 if the rec calls for one. It is one of the few items that I
purposely over buy, expecting that one will be bruised or brown inside. I love my avocados, but even the hard green ones have been brown when I cut them. And it is one of the few ingredients that I say are essential to a given recipe. I can "fudge" (tweak) using a different cheese, lettuce, onions etc in a recipe. BUT, if an avocado is suggested, it is a "must have!"
purposely over buy, expecting that one will be bruised or brown inside. I love my avocados, but even the hard green ones have been brown when I cut them. And it is one of the few ingredients that I say are essential to a given recipe. I can "fudge" (tweak) using a different cheese, lettuce, onions etc in a recipe. BUT, if an avocado is suggested, it is a "must have!"
mariadnoca
Moderator
Joe since you have a tree...my SIL new house has some, but they are awful...
She just moved and has two huge trees from the neighbor overhanging in her yard, full of full size green avocados that drop in her yard. Shes tried to ripen them on the counter, in bags, etc. She says they just go from hard to rotten. Needless to say all of us hoping for avocados are a bit heartsick seeing all of them and thinking we can't eat them. I'm not sure if they are Haas or not, they don't get black like a Haas, but other types like the Bacon around here are normally very good eating avos as well. (Can't see why anyone would keep such a messy tree if they couldn't eat the fruit.)
Any ideas? Is it just too early and they need to ripen more on the tree?
She just moved and has two huge trees from the neighbor overhanging in her yard, full of full size green avocados that drop in her yard. Shes tried to ripen them on the counter, in bags, etc. She says they just go from hard to rotten. Needless to say all of us hoping for avocados are a bit heartsick seeing all of them and thinking we can't eat them. I'm not sure if they are Haas or not, they don't get black like a Haas, but other types like the Bacon around here are normally very good eating avos as well. (Can't see why anyone would keep such a messy tree if they couldn't eat the fruit.)
Any ideas? Is it just too early and they need to ripen more on the tree?
It could be they are just not a good variety. (Sometimes people grow them from the pits,
thinking they will get the same variety as the parent tree, but hybrids don't work that way.)
If they are falling on their own, they may have stayed on the tree too long. They get a gamey flavor if they're too old, and sometimes they are rotten.
Here, the trees bloom in February, set fruit in spring, and aren't ready for harvest until around December. They can stay on the trees until spring and still ripen well when picked, but once summer comes, if the squirrels haven't already eaten them, the flavor is off.
(Sadly, my tree seems to be in decline. It is probably about 45 years old and they don't usually live that long. My whole back yard is built around it so it would be a huge loss, not to mention I would lose the avocados and all the friends who only like me because of them.)
thinking they will get the same variety as the parent tree, but hybrids don't work that way.)
If they are falling on their own, they may have stayed on the tree too long. They get a gamey flavor if they're too old, and sometimes they are rotten.
Here, the trees bloom in February, set fruit in spring, and aren't ready for harvest until around December. They can stay on the trees until spring and still ripen well when picked, but once summer comes, if the squirrels haven't already eaten them, the flavor is off.
(Sadly, my tree seems to be in decline. It is probably about 45 years old and they don't usually live that long. My whole back yard is built around it so it would be a huge loss, not to mention I would lose the avocados and all the friends who only like me because of them.)
I thought this as well. Avocado need some of the stem attached to ripen and. . .
so that they don't rot so fast at the stem.
I usually go for the greenies, hard ones.
If I need avocados that are ripe, or near ripe I look the ones that are just a little soft on the neck, give just a little in the seed area and make sure that the skins are on tight If you squeeze gently you should not feel the skin moving in to meat the flesh(If the skins are loose--old, nasty avocados). As a final check I sniff the stem end as if they are rotters, they have a "funky", weird fermented smell, something like really bad "sweet" decay from anerobic fermentation; it is not sulfurous, it is a really weird smell and you don't even want a whiff. I could tell you about what this smell reminds me of, but it is not suitable for a food board!
so that they don't rot so fast at the stem.
I usually go for the greenies, hard ones.
If I need avocados that are ripe, or near ripe I look the ones that are just a little soft on the neck, give just a little in the seed area and make sure that the skins are on tight If you squeeze gently you should not feel the skin moving in to meat the flesh(If the skins are loose--old, nasty avocados). As a final check I sniff the stem end as if they are rotters, they have a "funky", weird fermented smell, something like really bad "sweet" decay from anerobic fermentation; it is not sulfurous, it is a really weird smell and you don't even want a whiff. I could tell you about what this smell reminds me of, but it is not suitable for a food board!
heather_in_sf
Well-known member
Yes, usually you can graft on a male branch to promote pollination, something my mom and I did when
I was a kid with an avocado tree grown from a pit! Fun memories.
I was a kid with an avocado tree grown from a pit! Fun memories.
mariadnoca
Moderator
Maybe, if she wants to try and reach them -- they are TALL trees. I'll tell her. thxs
mariadnoca
Moderator
Yes/no...Yes if they are none other around, no if they are around in the valley like here
First, my SIL's neighbor has two huge trees, so I guess that answers that. Also, I'd heard the same thing and a friend last month wanted one for her birthday. We happened to talk about this so she called the nursery who said there are plenty enough avocado trees in these parts she wouldn't need to worry about that, but technically, yes you do.
First, my SIL's neighbor has two huge trees, so I guess that answers that. Also, I'd heard the same thing and a friend last month wanted one for her birthday. We happened to talk about this so she called the nursery who said there are plenty enough avocado trees in these parts she wouldn't need to worry about that, but technically, yes you do.
mariadnoca
Moderator
Ha, great minds...I was thinking that too, I'll have to try to find a source.
This is so complicated. We had peach, apple, pear, plum trees. All fruited and all had no mates.
Then we got a saskatoon. It too, was all alone and went crazy. It was like we were living in an orchard. Our apple, at 60 years of age, was so famous, people would come from around the neighbourhood asking for cuttings to graft to theirs.
Then along comes a second saskatoon (a close cousin also imported from the prairies) and it starts growing up at the end of the same yard, and it refused to fruit. We introduced fairy dust from the big tree, but it still wouldn't. After 20 years, it did almost nothing.
And here I have a kaffir lime that I would like to send out on a date but don't know anyone here who has one. I'd love to see little fruits on it. And yes, I started it from a seed.
I'm going to try an avocado tree from a pit. Maybe I can find someone else with one. I actually remember from school, how to do grafts. But I'm not sure I want to go looking to determine which is a boy and, you know.
But I really don't understand all this business. I still don't know what happens with chickens and eggs. (It's no wonder I never had any kids)
Then we got a saskatoon. It too, was all alone and went crazy. It was like we were living in an orchard. Our apple, at 60 years of age, was so famous, people would come from around the neighbourhood asking for cuttings to graft to theirs.
Then along comes a second saskatoon (a close cousin also imported from the prairies) and it starts growing up at the end of the same yard, and it refused to fruit. We introduced fairy dust from the big tree, but it still wouldn't. After 20 years, it did almost nothing.
And here I have a kaffir lime that I would like to send out on a date but don't know anyone here who has one. I'd love to see little fruits on it. And yes, I started it from a seed.
I'm going to try an avocado tree from a pit. Maybe I can find someone else with one. I actually remember from school, how to do grafts. But I'm not sure I want to go looking to determine which is a boy and, you know.
But I really don't understand all this business. I still don't know what happens with chickens and eggs. (It's no wonder I never had any kids)