Everyone loves a spot of golden toast smothered in luscious avocado, but the downside comes when you're ready to slice and find it's still stone hard. For those desperate for ripe avocado quickly, there's a natural quick-fix, but Lori Monte, culinary expert and The Kitchen Whisperer founder warns strongly against the internet's hot hack of tossing it in the oven. She explains that baking an unripe avocado won't ripen it but destroy it into a tasteless, rubbery disaster.
Lori advises: "It 'kind of' works but ONLY if you have an almost ripe avocado." She further warns that taking the oven route with a firm avocado: "But working with a rock-hard avocado – don't try it. Please. You'll just end up wasting your time and end up with a soft and slimy avocado whose interior flesh is still rock hard.".
Heat doesn't do the trick as it merely cooks the outer part, leaving you with a gooey skin and a hard centre. However, Lori comes to the rescue by suggesting the pairing of avocados with apples or bananas in a bag - the ethylene gas released from these fruits naturally encourages ripening.
Once harvested, fruit emits ethylene which breaks down starches enhancing flavour and softness, reports the Express. Apples and bananas are particularly generous producers of this gas, so when kept together in an enclosed space like a paper bag, they work their magic on surrounding fruits.
Lori says: "Apples and bananas give off ethylene which is a natural food ripening agent. By 'trapping' the avocado in the bag with the fruit you're speeding up the ripening process of the avocado.". To get your avocados ripe and ready with the paper bag trick, all it takes is tossing those firm avocados into a paper bag alongside an apple or a banana. Seal the bag tightly so no light sneaks in – perhaps with a rubber band or paper clip for extra security.
Then find a dark spot in your kitchen, like a pantry, drawer, or cupboard, and stash the bag there. Avoid light and heat as they can spoil your avocados instead of ripening them. Remember to use something like a paper bag that lets the air move around, because you don't want any dampness building up – that could lead to nasty rot or mould. Skip the plastic bags; they just create a moist haven for germs.
