The Most Important Avocado Questions Answered | What’s Eating Dan?

Awesome as ALWAYS, Dan!😊

Love avocados

Cool, thanks!

Also buy avocados in different stages of ripeness so you don’t have to eat all of them, all at once.

Those ball jar lids for fermentation that have a hand pump to suck out the air can work well like the vacuum seal bags.

I'm shocked there was no mention of checking the stem. Pull of that little stem nub and check the color on the avocado underneath. If it's green the avocado will be unripe. As it turns brown the avocado will ripen. Not sure how accurate this actually is but it's what I use.

but you still didn't answer the question - how do you know when the avocado is at optimum ripeness.

I need to know how to not pick avocado in store that has those veins/threds/sprouts inside so its no lobger eatable. Sometimes the whole inside is like that 😅😢

The hass avocados off of my tree ripen more quickly if they are nicked. I discovered this accidentally when the avos nibbled by squirrels ripened more quickly than the ones that were intact. To keep avocado halves from browning, I remove the pit and squish it jut a little bit, cut side down, on a flat glass plate then refrigerate.

A practical method to reduce browning for cut avocados:
Take a small glass bowl with a lid, place the cut avocado in there, (ideally the side with the pit still attatched), and include some cut up red onion as well, it can be a few wedges of onion, whatever fits in the bowl as well.

That will keep the avocado for a day or two in the fridge just fine, it wont taste like onion, and it's pretty easy to do.

Since avocados are small, let's all agree that browning can be avoided simply, by eating the avocado right away!

Who eats half an avocado? 🤔

nice work Dan & Lam

Really loved the video and not being a regular around here, decided to spend time more often...
Having learned all about avos from this video, and also having a lot of experience, I thought I could never go wrong, I would put the thing in plastic bag and wait for it. But fate had different plans...
Last avocado I bought quite prematurely was stubborn, it did not go softer for a few weeks, and when I believed the top is softer and that I would not be able to get a better result by waiting, it was really rubbery and the insides had these black ropes although the flesh was still hard.
People started to grow avocado in Turkey now(where I reside) and we have imported Kenyan avocados this time of the year.
a friend of mine( grower) claims no one should buy avos for four months starting from June(?!), and this is not about haas variety which has little if any local produce .

I like my avocado toast with a tomato concasse, pickled red onions, a drizzle of EVOO and a shake of Everything Bagel seasoning.

I have huge avocados. Gigantic. trump is weird.

My anecdotal evidence from purchasing hundreds of avocados indicates that pear-shaped avocados have smaller pits and better meat to pit ratios than apple-shapped avocados.

Hey folks,
I have taught molecular biology/AP Biology and ran a lab exercise for my students on enzymatic browning. There is another easy way to reduce/prevent browning from PPO. I use Ball Fruit Fresh Produce Protector. It contains citric acid (lowers pH and inhibits the enzyme. BUT, it also contains Ascorbic acid (Vit. C) which chelates ('locks up') the copper ion which is necessary for the PPO to function as an oxidase. Have Lan test this.
Note: I am not affiliated nor do I get any compensation from Ball Inc, This is NOT in any way a paid endorsement. I am sure you go the health food store and get food grade ascorbic acid. Its just convenient for me to go to my supermarket and pick it from the shelf.

I feel like somebody should tell poor Dan that nobody actually eats avocado toast. Anti-millennial responsibility-shirking boomer media made it up

You mention the best way to enjoy a ripe avocado is to
1. Buy a not-ripe avocado
2. Wait 2-5 days for it to ripen on the counter
But gave no advice to know when in that 2-5 day window to slice it open to enjoy.
Can you answer & pin it in the comments?

Would you eat brown guacomole?

There are more kinds avocados than Hass! 😡 You press the stem side!

I learn a lot from comments as well.. Thanks..

Guacamole! 🥑

If everyone brought their spouse a ripe avacado (or bowl of guacamole) three times a week divorce rates would plummet. 🥑=❤️👀👍🏼

I have no concept of having left-over avocado to deal with. in our house in SoCal, once cut open, an avocado has less than a minute before it is totally consumed.

I cried when I saw the 6 avocados that got sacrificed to the oven.

What is a chilli crisp?

I know the channel is called "America's Test Kitchen", so I'm not saying I'm surprised they test stuff in the kitchen.

I'm just really happy they keep it up, and keep it methodical and accessible!

If you are buying a soft avocado in a store it’s been there for a long time. It’s old. I had two trees on my property. They ever rotted on the tree. They only ripen once picked. So when choosing and avocado, look for an unblemished skin and the little knob at the end hasn’t been removed. Avocados from Peru and Chile ripen tenuously so i only buy ones from California and Mexico. Once home put it in a cupboard and in 2-3 days it’s ripe. No matter what you do an avocado will brown once exposed to air. The best is to store in as airtight as you can. It’s not rocket science! So just just go to the store buy one, bring it home, let ripen, and eat it. This guy is WAY OVER the top. I swear, i don’t how people enjoy stuff. They obsess about every! Chill out and enjoy the damn avocado.

Best ep evah!

One may wonder: The presenter does his best performances when he gets rewarded at the end: cute and succulent sandwiches, great and healthy salads and to crown everyone’s approval he’s allowed to drink a glass of chilled wine on the job. Lord! Is there a need for an extra presenter at ATK? Line me up!

Thank you! I have always hated cutting into what seemed to be a ripe avo only to find it was ....crunchy. Now I won't panic! My take on avocado toast is simple but yummy - toasted Killer bread, mashed avo done in the shell as you do it, topped with cherry or grape tomatoes which have been gently roasted with olive oil and garlic, then a sprinkle of Everything but the Bagel. This combo not only tastes great, but the nutritional impact of both veg bring out the best in each other - pretty too!

Never really did say how to tell if it’s ripe… mystery!

Combine an under-ripe avocado with cream cheese, a pickled garlic clove, and avocado oil; blitz it up with an immersion blender:
Great spread for an everything bagel with pickled onions and a fried egg

This video changed my relationship with avocados forever. Thank you once again to ATK.

How do you know if the avocado is ripe without squeezing it? (p.s. I buy green and only squeeze at home as I wait) One day they are hard, the next day they are over-ripe - yuck!

what happens if you put the two pieces back together keeping the stone then wrap it?

I know they are not widely available to everyone, but Reed avocados are amazing ! First they don't brown easily the way Haas do. This is their most amazing feature. Second they are absolutely enormous. They deserve passing mention @DanielJSouza

My technique for storing avocado without it going brown is to simply salt it first before you wrap it in plastic wrap. Think about it, when you salt things it draws the moisture out a little. The moisture in an avocado is... (drum roll please) avocado oil. When you use vegetable oil on avocado to preserve it, you are using way too much of the wrong kind of oil. What could be more natural than to use the avocado's own oil. Salt it, then wait about a minute or so and you will visibly see the shiny oil on the surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. It will stay green for a couple days at least. I always salt the avocado anyway before I put it on toasted bread or in a salad so it's not detracting from the flavor like lemon juice would do. Give it a try.

I'm gonna keep on slicing off the brown stuff. It's easy. Why add plastic to your diet?

That avocado toast seems to be missing the important sunny side up egg.

I add my homemade DELISH Sauerkraut on top of Avo Toast. And/or some of my homemade honey-fermented garlic. And/or home-kitchen-counter sprouts. YUMMIE!

I have friends that if the avocado has ANY brown, they will toss it. I think they believe they will die of food poisoning! Sheesh

just eat it

I'm surprised that you don't know that the best way to test for ripeness is to press on the stem end. If it's soft, the avocado is ready, even if the sides feel hard. I have used this method many times.

Don’t buy avocados from Peru, Chile or Colombia. My experiences anyway.

Unlike Hass avocados Shephard avocados tend not to brown. Hass change colour as they ripen. Other varieties stay green. The way to test for ripeness is to gently press the pointy end of the fruit to see if it yields slightly. Another way is if the stalk removes easily or falls off its ripe. Storage: just eat it. Hass tend to mash well and Shepard are firmer and slice better. Then there's Reed, Bacon and Fuerte Avocados all wonderful and different.

wait, we here in California have avocados coming out of our ears and it's passed-along knowledge that to slow down browning you need to keep the pit with the fruit as the pit (as word of mouth that has been passed down for decades) somehow has the ability to keep avocados from oxidizing faster than without them. It is common to go to a house party and see a bowl of guacamole with a few pits sitting on top wrapped in plastic wrap to keep air off of it, that are then removed once the party gets started and people start attacking it with chips. or is that an old wives tale and we are just fooling ourselves?

One of my Chinese cookbooks suggests putting well marbled meat in a dry pan that is literally sprinkled with kosher salt. The salt encourages the meat to yield fat that the meat sizzles in.

Thank you good advise always watcH FOR ADVICE A.T.K.