How to store avocados and keep ’em fresher for longer
How to store avocados and keep ’em fresher for longer
Keeping an avocado fresh from paddock to plate is kind of our thing. Don’t believe us? Ask our fans. But if you’ve ever wondered how to store avocados, you’ll know there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
But the journey of the humble avocado from our orchard to your stomach doesn’t need to be paved with gold. It just needs to be short and well thought out. Here’s what you can do to make sure your avocados stay fresher for longer.
How to buy the freshest avocados
This is the easy part. In fact, we take care of it for you.
Many people don’t realise, but supermarket avos actually pass through many hands before they reach the supermarket shelves.
They’re also often cool stored, which slows the natural ripening process resulting in avocados that brown easily. These avos have also been pre-squeezed when customers check to see whether an avo is almost ripe.
Buying the freshest avocados shouldn’t be the hard part.
Our avocados are picked, packed, and delivered straight from the orchard in a nest of pure New Zealand wood wool, ensuring your avocados arrive in the least amount of time possible from our trees, in the safest way possible.
Storing an avocado before it’s ripe
Once your avocados arrive fresh from the orchard, you can either leave them inside their box or place them in your fruit bowl.
Make sure to keep them out of direct sunlight. While heat does technically speed up the ripening process, direct sunlight can cause the avocado to cook from the inside, resulting in a brown, mushy consistency. Not ideal for your avocado on toast.
Related: How to ripen avocados quickly
How to store avocados once ripe
After your avocados have ripened, eat them within the next day or two.
If you’re not ready to eat them just yet, pop them in the fridge. This will keep them fresh for up to a week (we’ve even pushed it to two, but no guarantees!). The cold temperature slows down the ripening process, preventing avocados from going brown.
You can even mash or purée your ripe avocado, or prepare it in halves or chunks, and keep it in the freezer for 4-6 months. Add a spot of lemon juice and seal it in an air-tight bag with a vacuum sealer to prevent browning.
When you’re ready to eat, simply defrost and pop it in a smoothie, on toast, or as a first food for baby!
How to store avocados once open
If you’ve ever googled “how to store avocados”, you’ll know the internet is teeming with avo hacks. We’ve kept it simple.
When you only use half an avocado and want to save the rest for later, reach for the lemon. To keep an avocado fresher for longer, rub a lemon wedge along the flesh of the avocado around the pit. Pop it in a ziplock or air-tight bag and place it in the fridge.
The ascorbic acid reacts with oxygen as soon as it hits the avocado, preventing oxidation (a fancy way of saying it’s going brown).
How to store guacamole
Let’s say you’ve prepared a nice bowl of classic guacamole and you want to store it in the fridge for later (that’s some serious self-restraint).
You might have heard the myth that storing the avocado pit with the guac keeps it from going brown, but unfortunately, there’s no magic property in avocado seeds that keep prepared avocado from browning.
You can keep guacamole fresh in the fridge by pressing a piece of plastic or reusable beeswax wrap directly against the guacamole. This keeps any oxygen from making contact with the surface of the guac.
If any browning does occur, simply scrape it off and voilà! You’ll reveal the fresh avocado green colour underneath.