What am I doing to my avocados?

I seem utterly incapable of ripening avocados at home.

I always shop at that same grocery store. Sometimes I buy ripe Haas avocados and sometimes a buy green ones, depending on when during the week I plan to use them but invariably the green ones go rotten instead of ripening properly. When I cut them they’re either still hard or all black and watery with thick fibrous strings running through them.

What am I doing wrong? I’ve tried leaving them uncovered out on the counter, storing them in plastic bags and storing them in paper bags but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. The corner where I usually keep them is dim and cool (stone countertops). I live in LA so the humidity level is low.

What am I doing wrong? Should I be refrigerating them? Keeping them warmer? Cooler? Putting them in the window? Hiding them in the cupboard?

I’m just up the freeway from you and I have never had a problem.

Fast ripening: Put in a paper bag on the counter.
Medium: Open air on the counter.
Slow: Refrigerator.

I disagree on the refrigerator option: avocados are a tropical plant, and like a tropical plant left out on a cold night do not do well in cold air. They’re likely to “die”–to go brown and mushy. Like a banana or an African violet.

I buy them medium to softish, and just leave them out in a bowl on the counter till they’re ready. Easy peasy. The larger “Florida” avocados are an abomination, inedible, and will never “ripen.” Hopefully that’s not your problem?

I have had problems getting good ones as well. I wonder if I’m picking out the Florida ones you mention? How can I tell the difference?

One thing that may be forgotten is that avocados need to have their stems still attached to be able to ripen properly. If you’re buying ones without stems, they will ripen unevenly, with the top going rotten before the bottoms are ripe.

We used to have more than a few avocado trees in our yard. We had a picker to cut them off of the trees. You can’t just pull. Also, until they’re picked, they won’t start ripening, so they’re essentially in storage while on the tree.

You can try taping over an avocado that’s lost its stem, but it’s iffy.

Stem? :confused: You mean the teeny brownish nub thing at the top? I’ve never seen one without that but nothing else that resembles a stem at all.

To the OP, you have to keep doing the grope test. I leave mine out and do a touch test every day. I won’t cut it until it has that perfect give to slight pressure.

I wonder if the cold counter and the dim light are part of the problem. Maybe try putting them on wood or something warmer and in the light. Fridges are fatal - your avocado is likely to take on a nasty greasy taste that is very unpleasant if you stick it in the fridge.

Definitely not. I get the regular hass avocados with the black, bumpy skin. When I buy a ripe one at the store it’s always fine. But when I buy an unripe one from the same bin and try to ripe it at home I come to grief.

I’m thinking that might be worth investigating. Lissener’s comment about avocados dying in the refridgerator and going brown and mushy is making me wonder if my countertop is just too cold for them to ripen properly. I’m going to try storing the next batch someplace warmer.

Thanks all, you’ve given me some ideas. I’ll report back to let you know if it works!

yup.

They cut it close before shipping so that it can’t get knocked off. Well, has less chance of being knocked off.

Florida avocados are pale green, thinner-skinned and gigantic–and either bad-tasting or tasteless.
Regardless, they are not worth it.
I agree about the stems, and that avocados should not be kept too cool. I’ve had similar 'cado problems in my tiny little town with its less-than-sophisticated grocery store. If I want decent avocados, I have to drive to the next town to get them.

Ahhh! That’s what I get for trying to pick out the largest ones for the money! I also didn’t know about the stem needing to be there.

Here’s the avocado update! I bought two a few days ago and let the ripen on the wooden window sill in the kitchen where they got some sun. We had them for dinner tonight and they were perfect. So it seems that the temperature of the stone counter really was the culprit. Thanks again, everyone!

Are you confusing two varieties? One is black and bumpy when ripe, one is smooth and green when ripe. Sorry, I don’t have a link handy to show the difference.