Tough Avocado

March 20, 2006 6:20 PM

What can I do with an (open) unripe avocado?

A few minutes ago, making a salad, I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I cut open a hard, unyielding, positively crunchy avocado.

Is there anything I can now do with it, or have I wasted a perfectly good fruit?

posted by tangerine to food & drink (19 comments total)

I JUST did the same thing myself. I wrapped it in cellophane and threw it in the fridge, but I've no idea if it can be recovered. Blast.
posted by stray at 6:22 PM on March 20, 2006

save the pit to keep it from turning brown. place it in a brown paper bag with some bananas.
posted by jessica at 6:31 PM on March 20, 2006

I JUST did the same thing myself. I wrapped it in cellophane and threw it in the fridge, but I've no idea if it can be recovered. Blast.

Whoa. Me three. Thanks, jessica.
posted by amro at 7:56 PM on March 20, 2006

Ah! the fruit of the ahuacacuahatl (testicle tree). With an unripe avocado you can make a Cheese and Vege Sandwich or Green Enchiladas with Crabmeat.
posted by tellurian at 8:26 PM on March 20, 2006

Sorry that's ahuacatl.
posted by tellurian at 8:30 PM on March 20, 2006

Spread a little mayonnaise on the cut sides, and glue it back together. Then you do the paper bag trick with a banana. Perfectly ripe avocado in a day or so.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:58 PM on March 20, 2006

I'm pretty sure it will ripen if you throw it in the fridge in cellophane.
posted by Dasein at 9:43 PM on March 20, 2006

When I worked in a restaurant, we force ripened avocados by putting them on top of the dishwasher. I don't know if it was the heat or the humidity or both, but it worked. Note that this was an industrial dishwasher, not a home dishwasher.

As for cut avocados, we just threw them away.
posted by faceonmars at 10:33 PM on March 20, 2006

I'm with Jessica. Put it in a paper bag with a ripe banana. You don't need to save the pit but dip the exposed flesh in lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

Thanks for the recipes tellurian. Fab.
posted by missbossy at 2:03 AM on March 21, 2006

What does an avocado cost, eighty cents? Wrap it up and put it in the fridge, and if it doesn't last until you next need it let me know and I'll paypal you the price of a new one.
posted by Savvas at 4:12 AM on March 21, 2006

The pit trick doesn't really work, compared to a real solution like lemon juice or vitamin C.

It won't ripen in the fridge... it'll just get gross.

Wrap in plastic or glue together, and put in a paper bag.
posted by rxrfrx at 5:54 AM on March 21, 2006

Remove the seed and throw the pulp away. Stick three toothpicks into the seed along the center plain at equal distances from each other. Place avocado seed in a glass of water. Place the glass in a well-lit window sill. Once the avocado seed as sprouted a taproot and shoot, plant in small pot. Voila -- you have made an avocado tree.
posted by mrmojoflying at 6:00 AM on March 21, 2006

I've heard that microwaving an unripe avocado will soften the flesh a bit. Oh, here is something: "To soften an underripe, hard avocado: Microwave at medium (50% power) for 30 to 45 seconds, rotating halfway through; let stand for 3 minutes. The avocado won’t be or taste ripe, but it will be softer."

Yeah, maybe that's not what you want.
posted by penchant at 8:23 AM on March 21, 2006

Just to follow up a bit on the pit/no-pit debate: I read an article by somebody who had experimented with this very issue, by comparing how long it took cut avocados to go bad, with and without the pits.

His conclusion was that exposing the inside flesh of the avocado to air made it go bad. If you kept the pit in, it covered up a small part of the flesh, and therefore helped a little bit in slowing the avocados decay. However, he found that it was much more effective to cover up all the exposed flesh with plastic. (This is what rxrfrx suggested, but I'm just offering some experimental backup for that.)
posted by yankeefog at 8:27 AM on March 21, 2006

What does an avocado cost, eighty cents? Wrap it up and put it in the fridge, and if it doesn't last until you next need it let me know and I'll paypal you the price of a new one.

Yes, anytime you run into a problem, do not seek knowledge. Simply draw the balance from Savvas' bank account and move on.

Personally, I've found that the lemon juice trick isn't a long-term solution.
posted by deadfather at 8:44 AM on March 21, 2006

eighty cents? I'm jealous. they're generally $2 in manhattan.
If the outside of the skin goes brown, you can just cut that off, anyway - it's just dried out, basically. The rest of the fruit is still fine.
posted by mdn at 9:52 AM on March 21, 2006

Alton brown recently did a show on avocados.

He confirmed what yankeefrog said about the pit - it doesn't help, except to cover up a little bit from air.

He also pointed out that sticking it in the fridge completely stops the ripening process. So if you want it to ripen, keep it out of the fridge. Now, once it's ripe, you can stick it in the fridge, and it won't spoil for a week.

Woot!
posted by anonymoose at 10:33 PM on March 21, 2006

Yes, anytime you run into a problem, do not seek knowledge. Simply draw the balance from Savvas' bank account and move on.

This is great. You are great.
posted by Savvas at 6:06 AM on March 22, 2006

Thank you all. I just took the avocado out of its brown paper nest. I sliced off tiny dried-out slivers from the exposed edges, and the rest was perfect and delicious!
posted by tangerine at 9:03 PM on March 25, 2006