Commercial guacamole - how do they do it?!

seeker

Tue, May 22 2018, 1:01 am

I used to make avocado salads pretty often but lately I've had a long streak of disappointments. I always knew avocados were fickle but I thought I knew how to work with them! Now I'm really discouraged.
Yet Wholly Guacamole sells massive amounts of perfectly green packages.
What is their secret? Can I get some of that magic?

seeker

Tue, May 22 2018, 1:19 am

My issue is not keeping it green; my issue is getting it in the first place! It seems like they go straight from hard to brown. Or I'll buy one that looks fine in the store, but when it gets ripe and I cut it open it has bruises all over and I can barely find any green between them. Or it has brownish streaks within the flesh and I'm not sure whether or not that's OK, but one thing I do know is you won't find those grayish brownish streaks in Sabra guacamole!

emunahmother

Tue, May 22 2018, 1:30 am

I find I get the best ones when I feel they will be ready in two to three days. Meaning they aren’t hard as a rock that take a week, yet aren’t soft that you need to eat it right away and take the chance of being spotted or streaked. Sometimes it’s hard to find those and in that case I buy the best I could and keep it next to some bananas on a rack (enclosed ripens them much faster if need be). Then I kee a careful watch. I should mention my kids are a big help with this because they love avocado and will constantly bring them to me to ask if they are ready yet.

We had 3 amazing ones over y”t! And they were huge.

FranticFrummie

Tue, May 22 2018, 6:13 am

Are you using the thick skinned avocadoes, or the thin ones? I hate the thin ones, I find them too hard and watery.

Avocadoes can be very hit or miss, just depending on what shipment comes in. I tend to have better luck in the really hot months, and they go downhill from there. I like to think of myself as an expert avocado-picker-outer, but I still sometimes come home with a bag of bruised and stringy mess. So disappointing!

When you find them in season, buy a whole bunch, and make a huge batch of guac. Then freeze it in zip lock bags in smaller portions. Save the frozen ones for the winter months when it's harder to get good ones.

Hashem_Yaazor

Tue, May 22 2018, 9:57 pm

I buy them when they're just able to start being pushed in (more brown than green but not too mushy). If they can't be pushed in, they stay on the counter and get checked on often till they start being pressable and then in the fridge they go. I buy avocados a lot and rarely have a dud. I agree to get the bumpier thick ones; I can't use the other kind.

I've seen this tip but never have been brave enough to do this in the store without committing to buy it: "Flick the small brown stem off the top of the avocado. If it comes off easily and you can see green underneath it, the avocado is ripe! If you see brown, the avocado is overripe and will have some browned spots. If the stem doesn't come off, it's not ripe yet."

rainbow

Tue, May 22 2018, 10:06 pm

I am jazzed to have mastered the art. I'll share our secret:
We purchase avocados completely unripe. The most unripe we can find.
We put them on a high shelf in the warmest part of the house, and where there is no fan (for us it's the back bedroom).
Within 24 hours the avocados are perfect. Sometimes they need closer to 36-48 hours.
This is our no-fail secret to perfect avocados.

ra_mom

Tue, May 22 2018, 10:23 pm

seeker wrote:

The secret to perfect avocados is
-Hass avocados
-picking the right one (should have some black color - not all green, should have bumps - not all smooth, not rock hard - even if it's completely firm it shouldn't be like a rock)
-placing the avocados into a brown paper bag as soon as you get home and putting the closed bag into a cool dark place for 48 hours (cabinet that doesn't get opened much) [we buy a pack of brown lunch bags for this reason]
-store in refrigerator once ripe if not using right away

Last edited by ra_mom on Tue, May 22 2018, 10:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

Sunny Days

Tue, May 22 2018, 10:28 pm

ra_mom wrote:

The secret to perfect avocados is
-Hass avocados
-picking the right one (should have some black color - not all green, bumps - not all smooth, not rock hard - even if it's completely firm it shouldn't be like a rock)
-putting the avocados into a brown paper bag as soon as you get home and putting it into a cool dark place for 48 hours (cabinet that doesn't get opened much) [we buy a pack of brown lunch bags for this reason]
-store in refrigerator once ripe if not using right away

Great tips!
How long do they stay ripe in the fridge?

rainbow

Wed, May 23 2018, 7:26 am

Bluesky 1 wrote:

L over love love avocado! I can a whole thing all by myself, I'm allergic so I can eat some till it starts itching me

Have you tried organic? Regular avocados make me itch badly, but organic ones don't.

thunderstorm

Wed, May 23 2018, 8:15 am

I think it has to do with the store. Because some stores have the avocados sitting in the wrong temperature and they don't end up ripening properly. They go from hard and unripe to brown strings.
I discovered that Trader Joe's has a "Guacamole station" where they sell everything to make Guacamole. They have tons of avocados to choose from. I buy a few and store it in a shallow kitchen drawer that I have for about 36 hrs and then transfer to the fridge for up to a week.
My kids were reading something out loud to me the other day. You can freeze ripe avocado , peeled and drizzled with lemon juice. I think you wrap each quarter individually in Saran Wrap or something and it's supposedly comes out perfect for Guacamole. If I find those instructions I'll post them. It was an interesting concept.