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Avocados are delicious and we love using them in our recipes at Taste Buds Kitchen.  We use them during our Around the World Mexico class to make a zesty Guacamole and we use them in our Adult BYOB Sushi & Dumpling class inside our sushi rolls.

It can be difficult to find perfectly ripe avocados at the supermarket, especially if you have not planned your recipe in advance and you may wind up with rock hard avocados.

At Taste Buds Kitchen, we have to deal with this often when grocery shopping, so instead of stressing over under-ripe produce, we have come up with a solution to speed up the avocado ripening process.

Avocado Ripening

1. 1. Depending on the recipe you are making, it may call for a specific texture in your avocado. For example when we make guacamole we look for overripe and extremely soft avocados, not only is the taste superb, but the texture creates a creamy dip.  On the other hand when we are making Sushi Rolls we want the avocados to be ripe – but still firm so they hold their shape during the rolling and cutting process.  The best way to gauge an avocado is by feeling it for firmness, but you can also see a difference in color when removing the stem, the darker the flesh inside, the more ripe it will be.
      
   2. To speed up the ripening process for avocados that are not quite perfect for your recipe, the trick is to put them into a paper bag with a banana and seal, check daily to see what ripening stage your avocado is in to determine if it is ready for your recipe.  You know an Avocado is ripe when you press it gently and it feels like the tip of your nose (and I love watching everyone poke their nose)!
      
   3. If you don’t have a banana you can also use an apple, tomatoes, corn or a piece of bread, these foods have Ethylene, a naturally occurring gas in them that expedites the ripening process.