296300 Sat Feb 28 12:35:37 -0800 2004 10 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1631652 hi There. I bought three avocados today, and they are a LITTLE bit soft, but still about 3 days away from being ripe under normal room conditions....I want to make guacamole tomorrow though, so I have 24 hours to get them as ripe as possible. I put them in a brown paper bag along with 1 ripe banana, cause I heard that bananas release a chemical that helps other fruits ripen...is that true? is this a good strategy and will it work? Any advice? Dave M.P. Sat Feb 28 12:35:37 -0800 2004 0 Dave M.P. 1 1631657 This should work, even without the banana. I've had great luck with the paper bag method. Sat Feb 28 14:44:18 -0800 2004 1631652 0 Amy 2 1631666 Or an apple, they give off the gas to speed ripeneing too. My grandmother used to put them into a tin with flour and cover tightly. I've not tried that method Sat Feb 28 18:10:41 -0800 2004 1631657 0 Candy 3 1631667 Ethylene is the gas that fruits give off to ripen. Putting avocados in a paper bag with all their fruit friends is a good idea, and adding apples and bananas is especially good, since these fruits give off lots of ethylene. Sat Feb 28 18:36:30 -0800 2004 1631666 0 kiliki 4 1634142 "avocados in a bag with all their fruit friends..." hahaha... sorry, i just loved that image. Mon Mar 29 21:53:12 -0800 2004 1631667 0 soopling 1 1631661 TJ has frozen avocados In a pinch they will do. Frank Sat Feb 28 16:13:06 -0800 2004 1631652 0 Frank 1 1631662 If you end up really desperate, you can microwave hard avocadoes to soften them. It doesn't do anything for the flavor, but if all you need is creaminess, it's worth a try. Sat Feb 28 16:41:33 -0800 2004 1631652 0 babette feasts 1 1631681 Put an apple in the bag - works like magic! Sun Feb 29 13:29:33 -0800 2004 1631652 0 MzMaggie 1 1631683 So I put the 3 avocados in a bag with 1 apple and 1 banana, and they were all there for about 20 hours.....it worked okay, i would say the ripening process doubled in speed....so today the avocados weren't very mushy, but were good enough to taste nice and be made into avocado spread. They actually would have been ideal for slicing. Had a chilean asado (BBQ) with grilled choripan (chilean chorizo sandwich) and palta with limon and salt, some aji chileno and roasted potatoes and onions on the side. YUM. Feels like spring already here in Boston. Sun Feb 29 16:14:34 -0800 2004 1631652 0 Dave M.P. 1 1632195 i just place the avocados on top of refigerator- and wait until ripened- Sat Mar 06 19:02:05 -0800 2004 1631652 0 hildegard 1 1634139 If they're within a day of being ripe, you can massage them, as vigorously as you can without breaking the skin, and you can eat them NOW. They may not be as nutty. When I grew them in Hawaii, some old guy taught me that. Mon Mar 29 02:44:06 -0800 2004 1631652 0 Bob Barnett