Recipes  

How to Ripen an Avocado Fast

Ever heard that you can hurry your avocados along on their road to ripeness by putting them in a paper bag with an apple or banana? Or into a container filled with flour? We tested to see if these are myths or reality.

The idea is that, as they all contain ethylene gas, the avocados should be stimulated to ripen faster. ​​Curious as to whether these tricks actually work, we decided to put them to the test.

We took a bunch of avocados from a single batch and divided them up for ripening:

  • on the kitchen counter;
  • in a paper bag with a banana;
  • in a bag of flour;
  • in the fridge’s produce drawer.

The results: Other than the ones in the fridge (that stayed really hard), the rest all ripened at the same speed. No matter how we stored them, it took the avocados about two days to become soft enough to enjoy. Moral of the story: Stop fussing. Just leave your avocados on the kitchen counter and wait. They’ll be ready soon – promise!

To find out more on how to cook with and enjoy avocados, be sure to read this article:

Christina Blais

For Christina Blais, explaining food chemistry to the masses is as simple as making a good omelet. Holding a Bachelor and Master degree in Nutrition, she has been a part-time lecturer for over 30 years in the Department of Nutrition at the Université de Montréal, where she teaches food science courses. She has been sharing the fruits of her experience with Ricardo since 2001, during his daily show broadcast on ICI Radio-Canada Télé. And diehards can also read her Food Chemistry on our website. You can follow her on Facebook at @Encuisineavecchristinablais.