Avocados aren’t exactly the most shelf-stable food. You have to buy them at exactly the right stage of ripeness in order for them to be perfectly green and buttery when you’re ready to use them. Then, after your avocados reach peak ripeness, it’s all a matter of storing them to keep them fresh.
As soon as you slice into one, the clock starts ticking, because if left uncovered for too long, it’ll eventually lose its vibrant green colour. While an oxidised avocado may still be edible, nothing is appetising about brown guacamole or grey avocado toast. If you store this fruit properly, however, avocados can remain fresh for longer than you’d think, according to Amy Cross, the food storage expert behind the blog The Cross Legacy.
In a YouTube Shorts, Amy gave two tips on storing avocados – one for when they’ve been cut in half and another tip for when they’re whole.
Starting with how to store half an avocado, Amy said: “An avocado cut in half with a metal lid will stay fresh for about a week after you cut it.”
However, when it comes to whole avocados, she noted that they can stay fresh for at least four weeks with stored with lemons.
The expert said, “If you store whole avocados in your crisper drawer with a lemon, they will stay fresh for a month from when you first buy them.”
Crisper drawers, sometimes called humidity drawers, are located at the bottom of the refrigerator and are designed for fresh produce storage. offer a more humid environment than the rest of the fridge.
When used correctly, they can keep produce fresher for longer, extending the life of your fruits and vegetables.
So why should you store avocados with lemons? Well, the ethylene gas released by citrus fruits appeared to slightly delay spoilage, helping the avocados stay fresher longer.
If you want some avocado toast really soon but your avocado isn’t ripe, you can hurry up the ripening process.
Place your avocado with some fruits or vegetables that produce ethylene, a gas that can speed up ripening.
Pair your avocado with an apple or banana in a brown bag, or just put the avocado underneath bananas in the fruit bowl.