There is nothing more frustrating than slicing into an avocado you just bought, only to find it’s rotten inside.

Damn it! It happened to me all too often in the past, and I am sure it does to many others too.

That is, until I learned a little trick that solved this issue.

How to tell when avocado is ripe and ready to eat

Fresh avocados do not ripen on the tree; they ripen or “soften” after they have been harvested.

Although skin colour can help in the initial visual selection of fresh avocados, it is not always the best indicator for ripeness. Ripeness is ultimately determined by consistency.

If the avocado yields to firm gentle pressure and feels lightly soft, but not “mushy” to the touch – you know it’s ripe and ready-to-eat.

How to tell when avocado is overripe

Overripe fruit will feel mushy to the touch; it may have deep indentations and have darker yellow or brownish coloured flesh throughout the inside of the fruit.

My favourite way to tell whether an avocado is rotten, BEFORE you purchase it, is to carefully remove the dry stem from the fruit. If the inside of the avocado looks mushy, black, or mildewed; the avocado is most likely rotten and you shouldn’t buy it. A ripe avocado should look green and slightly creamy inside!

Since I started using this trick, I always choose the perfectly ripe avocados.

I hope you’ll find this tip useful.

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