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Whether mashed or sliced, diced or dolloped, avocados are always delicious. On toast, in salad, turned into guacamole and smothered on a breakfast burrito—I want it all. The only problem with avocados? It can be tough to tell from the outside which fruits will reveal a perfectly green, smooth center, or which will turn out to be brown, stringy, rubbery, or just plain rotten on the inside. And there is nothing‚ I repeat, nothing, more heartbreaking than having everything ready for taco night, only to discover your avocados aren’t ripe, or worse, have gone bad.
But is there a way to predict which avocados will ripen perfectly every single time? Long story short: not 100% of the time, but it turns out there are plenty of expert tips to help you pick the best avocados at the grocery store.
How to Shop for Avocados, According to Experts
When I thought about who to turn to for with these quandaries, the answer came to me immediately: the man behind the best avocados I’ve ever tried (by a long shot, at that). It had to be DavocadoGuy, aka Miguel Gonzalez, a New York-based avocado wholesaler and self-proclaimed “avocado whisperer.”
Gonzalez and his company, DavocadoGuy, supply some of the best restaurants in New York with avocado, but they also deliver and ship the absolutely stellar avocados to consumers nationwide. His avocados are consistently buttery, rich, and perfectly soft but not mushy, mealy, or stringy. I have ordered them several times and I have never received anything less than perfect from Davocadoguy. So how do they do it?
First, it’s important to remember there are many avocado varieties, with varying seasonality. Hass avocados are the most common variety in the U.S., and while Hass avocados are available year-round, their peak season is November through June. In season, Hass avocados are “richest in taste and creamiest in texture,” according to Gonzalez.
Out of season, Hass avocados can be more watery and less flavorful. They're also more like to ripen inconsistently or fail to ripen entirely during this time. So while you can shop for avocados during the off-season, you're more likely to get consistently ripe avocados during their peak season.
Avocados are very delicate, and once they’re put on display in grocery stores, they’re likely to encounter a lot of poking, prodding, and even dropping. So first and foremost, Gonzalez recommends (carefully) digging a little rather than taking the avocados on the top layer of the display. Then, it comes down to picking the ripe ones. Don’t worry, Gonzalez shared a few tips to help with that, too.
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How to Tell if An Avocado Is Ripe, According to Experts
First, look at the color. Hass avocados will turn from bright green to a darker green, or even purplish black hue, according to Gonzalez. Then please, whatever you do, don't squeeze the avocados. Pressing or squeezing it with your fingers can bruise the avocado. Instead, Gonzalez recommends holding the avocado in the palm of your hand and gently apply pressure. It should give slightly; very firm and hard means it's underripe, if it's very soft and mushy, it's overripe or bruised.
There’s one other way to tell if the fruit inside is ripe: the stem. If you cannot easily remove the stem nub, the avocado is not ripe yet. If you can easily remove or “flick off” the nub at the top, and you see green underneath, the avocado is likely good to go. If the nub is already missing or you remove it and see brown underneath, the avocado is likely bruised or overripe.
Gonzalez recommends trying to buy firm, but not rock-hard avocados during peak season and allowing them to ripen naturally at home, adding that avocados are best ripened away at room temperature away from direct sunlight or heat sources. Personally, I try not to ever buy rock-hard or super cold avocados—I find it becomes much more of a roulette whether they will ever ripen, and sometimes end up with rubbery fruit.
Finally, Gonzalez shared some sage advice: "Keep in mind is that the entire supply chain affects ripening—from harvesting to transportation to storage at grocery stores." Avocados go through a long journey to get to you, and "exposure to very low temperatures during transport or storage can hinder natural ripening," so it can still be a bit of a gamble when shopping for avocados. But with these pro tips you're inching ever closer to the promise of a perfectly ripe avocado every time.
On DavocadoGuy’s website and on social media, Gonzalez shares even more tips for picking, ripening, storing, and cooking with avocados, so they’re worth a follow. We can all agree, avocados are too expensive and far too delicious to play “avocado roulette” every time you shop at the grocery store. Or, avoid the game altogether and order directly from Gonzalez—they’re worth every penny. Now go forth with these tips, shop wisely for avocados, then sit back and enjoy the best guacamole you’ve ever had.
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