Avocado always turns dark and mushy

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Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen

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Butterfly

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 5:02 pm

I buy avocados very often. I usually use 1/4 or 1/2 at a time. I usually reserve the rest with the pit still in tact, and cover it with either aluminum foil, or with a plastic baggie and refrigerate it. By the next day it usually turns gray. If I wait two days.. forget it.. it looks so gross, dark and mushy, that I just dump it.. Is there any way to preserve its color and freshness for at least one more day?

Another issue with the avocados.. many times when I cut them up there are huge black spots or gray discolorations at some areas. The gray spots have a different texture then the rest of the avocado.. What are those spots?? and the gray?? worms maybe?? When I cut them away, there is almost nothing left.. well, not always.. but it has been happening many times.

How can you tell from the outside if the quality is good on the inside? BTW I always buy the more expensive ones.. from inside of the store...

octopus

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 5:09 pm

I still am able to eat my discolored avocados. It's like a banana. if you put it into the refridgerator it becomes discolored, but it is still okay to eat.
If you scrape away the top layer, underneath it, it is still green.

greenfire

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 6:04 pm

add some lemon juice ... so they say What

Tamiri

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 6:06 pm

We eat a lot of them here in Isreal. I have learned to make the whole thing at once, and preserve it with lemon juice. It deteriorates in the shell, no matter what you do. That's our experience.

MommyLuv

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 6:13 pm

Just enjoy the whole avocado at one time. There really is no good way to keep it fresh and green for more than a few hours....

mumoo

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 6:19 pm

mix it in. its just the top layer

sky

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 6:48 pm

Spray with pam and seal in tupperware and place in fridge. I read this in a cookbook and it really works.

Butterfly

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 9:08 pm

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Am still wondering though, what the thick gray pieces/spots are.. this is happening very often, while the avocado is freshly cut open...

One question for Tamiri and Sky, do you remove the shell before you storage the avocado?

sky

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 9:17 pm

I remove the shell.

Butterfly

Mon, Aug 11 2008, 9:41 pm

Thanks sky, am on my way to the fridge to remove the shell.. am out of lemon juice.. and no Pam spray either.. I guess one step at a time will have to do for now.

newatit

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 12:39 am

try putting a tight seal of saran wrap over the exposed part

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 12:55 am

Butterfly wrote:

Those spots should not be there on "good" avocados. You can do an internet search and find out if that is because of poor storage at the source, weather damage etc.
I prepare the whole fruit and toss the shell and pit. Lemon juice preserved it, but only to a point. I don't think that avocado left for a day tastes as good compared to fresh. It gets this undertone flavor which I don't like.

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 1:00 am

Butterfly wrote:

Thanks sky, am on my way to the fridge to remove the shell.. am out of lemon juice.. and no Pam spray either.. I guess one step at a time will have to do for now.

The Pam idea, if you will excuse me, it a horrid one. Pam in general is very bad for you. Take a look at the gunk it leaves on your pans - you can hardly scrub it off (and yes, I used Pam for years). Do you really want that gunk in your body? Why not just shmear with a bit of olive oil, though I have never heard of that being a good way to preserve an avocado.

Teacup9

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 1:47 am

I feed my baby about 1/4 of an avocado a day and leave the pit and skin on. It sits in the fridge in a baggie and I've never had anything more than a thin layer or darker green on the exposed part that I can mix right in. I use the wrinkled dark avocados not the smooth brighter ones. Could you be buying overly soft avocados? Usually keeping it with the pit will make the avocado stay fresh. You could try those as seen on tv stay fresh bags. I use them with other produce and love them

sarahzeldman

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 7:02 am

Here's a tip for you: My brother-in-law owns the best sushi take-out-place in town. I once asked him "Avocados go bad so quickly -- how do you make sure they are always perfectly ripe for your sushi?" He told me that he buys them when they are hard and puts them in the fridge, they are ready in about a week and stay ripe longer than if you leave them out.

Here's another avocado tip: Many people think it is impossible to salvage half of an avocado. Nope! I learned the trick. With your finger, apply a thin layer of olive oil to the leftover half of the avocado. Make sure the oil coats all of the surface. Then wrap the avocado in tin foil and place it in the fridge to use later. The oil will protect it from the air and the foil will protect it from the light. Air and light are the two factors that make avocado spoil quickly. You can keep it for up to a week or so this way.

sky

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 8:05 am

sarahzeldman wrote:

Here's another avocado tip: Many people think it is impossible to salvage half of an avocado. Nope! I learned the trick. With your finger, apply a thin layer of olive oil to the leftover half of the avocado. Make sure the oil coats all of the surface. Then wrap the avocado in tin foil and place it in the fridge to use later. The oil will protect it from the air and the foil will protect it from the light. Air and light are the two factors that make avocado spoil quickly. You can keep it for up to a week or so this way.

This takes care of Tamiri's concern of not using PAM like she mentioned above. Just to give credit to the idea - I got it from Kosher By Design I - she wrote that to keep the avacado green you have to protect it from light and air. spraying with baking spray (or shmearing with olive oil) and wrapping with foil and keeping in the fridge will achieve this.
You probably can leave it in the peal based on what others have written.

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 8:11 am

Go for the olive oil! I never heard this before but if someone does it in the business... it's worth a try. In our house there are no leftovers.

sarahzeldman

Tue, Aug 12 2008, 9:20 am

Actually, I learned that from an Old copy of eating well magazine.

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