How to Tell if an Avocado Is Too Ripe

Make sure your avocados are not too ripe.

As scrumptious and healthful as avocados are, it is important to be able to tell when an avocado is too ripe. Ripe avocados are delectable, but overripe avocados can be entirely unusable. Do not try to save parts of an overripe avocado to use in your recipe.

Things You'll Need

• Avocados

Instructions

1. Inspect the skin around the avocado. Ideally you want to bring home avocados that are either ripe and ready to eat or unripe if you will not need them for a couple of days. A ripe avocado will have unblemished skin.

2. Squeeze the avocado gently. If you leave dents in the skin and underlying flesh, it is most likely overripe. Also, if you squeeze it and notice a very mushy section in an otherwise fine avocado, be aware that the mushy section is most likely black on the inside and unpalatable. Leave it in the store and look for another one.

3. Pass up avocados that have a white, powdery mold growing on the outside. These are overripe and if cut open will most likely be unusable.

4. Throw away avocados that have more than a small amount of black on the flesh when cut open. Also, throw away avocados that have brown fibers running through the flesh. Sometimes an avocado may seem like it's perfectly soft and ripe but those fibers will be detectable on your tongue and will ruin the experience.

Tips & Warnings

• If your avocados are hard, don't cut them because they will not continue to ripen when cut. To ripen an avocado, leave it on the counter and check daily to see if it reaches the desired softness.

• Be aware that resting anything else on a ripening avocado can bruise your avocado. It is best to lay them out in a single layer with nothing else touching for best results.

References

• California Avocado Commission: How to Choose and Use