Juan Arbelaez, Colombian chef: “To ripen an avocado quickly, put it in a brown paper bag and slip the fruit inside.”
A rock-hard avocado can quickly ruin your guacamole or toast cravings. On Instagram, Juan Arbelaez offers a simple trick to help it ripen faster, using a brown paper bag and a hidden ally in your fruit bowl. We'll tell you all about it!
You were planning on making guacamole for an appetizer, but your avocado seems as soft as a rock? It's hard to mash without turning the preparation into a workout. Before you rethink the entire menu, a simple trick can help it ripen faster. And the good news is, it mainly requires a brown paper bag and a quick trip to your fruit bowl.
On his Instagram account @juanarbelaezchef, chef Juan Arbelaez shares several tips for dealing with this classic culinary mishap. The brown paper bag trick, accompanied by a piece of fruit, particularly caught our attention for its simplicity. Indeed, it's an easy method to try, provided you plan ahead a little.
An apple or a banana to give him a boost
The principle is simple: place your whole avocado in a brown paper bag, add an apple or a banana, then seal the bag by folding over the opening. Leave it at room temperature. No need for fancy gadgets or sacrificing a kitchen appliance to save your future toast.
This fruit combination works well because apples and bananas release ethylene, a gas that plays a role in fruit ripening. The bag helps retain more of this gas around the avocado, thus promoting its ripening.
Pay attention to the texture rather than the calendar
Even though Juan Arbelaez enthusiastically announces, "Your avocado will be ready in 1 to 2 days," this timeframe will depend on the initial firmness. It's therefore best to check its progress regularly rather than planning your meal in advance.
Each day, take your avocado out of the bag and gently press it with your fingers, without squeezing it. If it's still very hard, give it more time. When it becomes slightly soft, you can consider preparing it. The goal is a pleasant, edible flesh, not a completely mushy fruit.
During this waiting period, keep the avocado at room temperature. The chef advises against refrigerating it until it's ripe, as the cold slows down the ripening process.
In his post, Juan Arbelaez also presents the oven and microwave as temporary solutions, though he expresses reservations about the taste. To ripen your avocado naturally, it's best to stick with the traditional paper bag and fruit. Your avocado simply needs a little patience!
