How To Ripen a Heritage Avocado

All avocados are picked hard and only start to ripen once they are picked from the tree. So how can you know when your Heritage Avocado is ready to eat? Gently press on the skin with your thumb– if it feels soft and gently gives, it is ready to eat.

If it is hard or firm – it needs a few days to ripen. Do not refrigerate or it will not ripen. Instead, place on the counter (in a bowl) and wait for anywhere from one to 10 days. Check each day.

Avocados put together will ripen together, and more quickly!

To ripen faster – put in a paper bag with a banana or apple.

Here is how we suggest you “stagger” your ripening process so you have avocados to eat over a longer period of time:

1. Put 2 or 3 in a paper bag with an apple or banana and leave on the counter. They will ripen first.
   
   
2. Put another 2 or 3 in a paper bag without any other fruit. These will be ready a day or two later than the bag with the banana or apple.
   
   
3. Put a few more in a bowl on the counter. They will ripen within 3-10 days.
   
   
4. If you wish – put a few in the fruit/vegetable compartment of your refrigerator. This can extend the life for a few days. No more than 4 or 5 days. Then put out on the counter to ripen.

Note: Heritage avocados are not always as “stable” as those grown for commercial shipping and rough handling with machines. They may also have “beauty marks” where the fruit brushes against other fruit or the bark of the tree in the California wind. That is common on thin-skinned Heritage Avocados.

With our heritage avocados you may see some uneven ripening (e.g. – the stem or “long neck” may ripen more quickly – especially in long neck varieties). This is normal. Enjoy the top half first, then cover the unripened portion with plastic wrap – leave on the counter, and it will be ready to eat in a day or two.

Think of these heritage avocados like the delicious fruits and vegetables your grandpa grew – they are not always as “pretty”, uniform or “perfect” as the grocery store fruit – but they TASTE so much better!

Heritage avocados are worth the wait. Enjoy!