Guide
How to tell if an avocado is ready
Don’t squeeze it. Flick the stem.
The stem test
There’s a small cap where the stem was. Flick it off with your thumb. Green underneath means it’s ready today. Brown means you’ve missed it. If it won’t come off at all, the avocado wants another two or three days.
Why squeezing doesn’t work
Everyone before you squeezed the same one. What you’re feeling is a bruise from being handled, not ripeness — and a thumb print in the flesh doesn’t heal.
Colour tells you nothing
Some varieties go dark when they’re ready. Some stay green the whole way through. If you’re going by colour, you’re reading the variety, not the fruit.
Making it faster, or slower
A paper bag with a banana in it will get an avocado there in a day. Once it’s ready, the fridge holds it for three or four more. Before it’s ready, the fridge just stops it, and it never restarts properly.
Where we come into it.
Avocado is on the list we choose from. When one goes in a box it goes in a day or two short of ready — so it’s good when you get to it, not when we packed it.
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