Ripening avocados

[luckyfatima]

I need to make guacamole on Sunday. Today is Thursday. My avocados are green and just darkening. Experience tells me that they will be fully black in color on Sunday but still too firm inside, perhaps needing two more days to fully soften and be at their peak deliciousness. I have them in a plastic bag (I don't have a paper one) with a banana inside because I read once that bananas give off some fume that ripens fruit. Is there anything else I can do to help the avocados soften nicely?

I read this CH thread here on microwave cooking that in a case of true desperation I can nuke-ripen them for one minute in the microwave for guacamole, and the less than prime taste will be masked by the lime juice...I hope there is something else that can be done.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7939...

[luckyfatima]

They ripened. A few could have used another day, but basically the worked in my guacamole. Thanks for the input.

[luckyfatima]

I have them in a cardboard shoe box inside the only brown paper bag I could find, which is tiny. I have the bag turned over so the opening is against the bottom of the box. The bad is too small to seal with all of the avocados and ethylene producing fruit inside. I will try to get a newspaper or a larger paper bag today.

I checked on the avocados and they all darkened nicely over night. That makes me hopeful. Do you think checking on them is allowing the ethylene to escape and slowing the process?

I definitely want to avoid having to microwave them.

[Riska]

Small h is right about microwaving avocados -- you will get something both unusable and hot. I'd check a couple other stores for backups. Sometimes you can find some that are already ripe enough to use.

[subal]

The apple.banana bag works!

[EWSflash]

The microwave does nothing for the flavor of the avocado. Get yourself a paper bag or wrapper of some kind and please take the ripening project out of the plastic bag, it will come to no good.
:-)
Apples and bananas give off a lot of ethylene gas that is what ripens fruits, put some in the bag with your avocados. If you have to microwave them, please wait till the last minute.
I wish you good luck- let us know what you ended u doing.

[luckyfatima]

I do not have a paper bag. I wonder if a cloth bag (pillow case?) or cardboard box would work.

[small h]

Do you have any newspaper? Try wrapping the avocados in that. If it works for tomatoes (and it does), it may well work for avocados. In my experience, microwaving unripe avocados gets you hot, unripe avocados. Not recommended.