How to Make Avocados Ripen With a Banana & Apple

Other fruit can help ripen avocados quickly.

For cooks and bakers, managing the ripening process of fruits and vegetables can be an exercise in frustration. Some won't ripen at all, while others may ripen more quickly than we'd like. The strangest of all may be the avocado, which unlike other fruits won't ripen on the tree at all. It's not until they're picked that avocados begin the ripening process that gives their flesh its characteristic richness and buttery-soft texture. Their ripening can be accelerated by placing them near fruits such as apples and bananas that give off a lot of ethylene gas.

Things You'll Need

• One or more avocados
• 1 medium apple, well ripened
• 1 banana, well ripened
• Brown paper bag

Instructions

1. Select a warm, well ventilated place where the fruit will not be bumped or jostled. Avocados bruise easily, and will discolor where they're bruised.

2. Open a brown paper bag, large enough at bottom to accommodate all the fruit in a single layer. Place the apple and banana in the bottom of the bag, then gently lay your avocados around them.

3. Roll the top of the bag and crease it sharply, so it stays closed but is not airtight. Some air circulation is necessary.

4. Check the avocados at 12-hour intervals. Remove each avocado separately as it ripens. They will not always ripen at the same time.

5. Use the avocados within one or two days of reaching full ripeness, or they will become overly ripe and deteriorate in texture and color.

Tips & Warnings

• If you eat avocados frequently, add a new one to the bag each day when you remove a ripe one. You'll have a steady supply of ripe avocados. The banana will need to be discarded every few days, as it begins to soften and turn black. The apple should last for a few weeks if it isn't bruised.

• Never refrigerate an avocado; they will not ripen properly if they've been refrigerated.

References

• On Food and Cooking: Harold McGee
• Fine Cooking: Choosing Fruit that's Truly Ripe
• Fine Cooking: Avocado