An avocado a day...is better than an apple a day.
TL;DR - if you're a fan of avocados, a little care can keep them safe and unbruised for up to 10 days.
I eat a lot of avocados. For the last couple of years, I've been using a storage method that's worked amazingly well, and that I realized - even after all my talk of tacorritos and guacamole - I've never mentioned. Better late than never.
The key is to start with green, hard avocadoes - preferably with a little bit of stem remaining. You should always start this way - even when buying avocados for home - since anything that's ripe in the store won't last more than a day and likely already has brown dents and bruises. The little bit of stem keeps the avocado from losing too much moisture and also keeps it from growing mold where flesh is exposed when the stem is detached.
Once you bring them home from the store, avocados should always be stored at room temperature until they are just ripe enough to eat. Beyond that point, ripening will continue - more slowly, a good thing - in a refrigerator (be it at home or on the trail).
When headed out on the trail, storage becomes critical. In the thin plastic bag you got at the store, bouncing around with the rest of your food, is a sure way to end up with gross, brown, dented avocados. Instead, spend a few minutes before leaving to wrap each avocado in its own hand towel, and place it carefully in a structurally sound cardboard box. Ideally, the box will hold one layer of avocados - mine holds six to eight, depending on size. Store the box somewhere in the cab of your vehicle, so the avocados sit flat, and the box isn't being jostled around. The floor is a good spot, I've found. Bonus points if you cover the box with something soft to insulate and keep heavy items from collapsing it.
After about 3 days, your avocados should be ripe enough to eat. If you'll use them within 5 days, you can just take them out of the box as you need them. If you need them to last longer than that, move a few the fridge or cooler, storing them in the same way - wrapped in a towel and contained in a box. This uses a bit more space, but will result in perfect avocados every time!
In this Series
Nice. I LOVE avocados. Agree with everything you wrote about purchasing and subsequent storage.
And I think that they should be free. The idea of having to pay for one, let alone the typical going rate of $3.99 apiece for good ones at the local market around the corner, is insulting. Sometimes they can be found for around $1.99 on sale, but they are... substandard...
I grew up with a huge avocado tree in my parents' backyard in SoCal. And all the neighbors had trees. When avocados were in season everyone up and down the street would beg others to take some. By the grocery bag full. Even years later on my own, there were always locals happy to give me/us as many as we could eat, and then some.
Maybe someday I'll adjust but after 28 years away from SoCal I still snarl. Then add them to my shopping cart anyway.
I never grew up with a tree, and when I was a kid, I wasn't a fan of the texture of avocados. That meant I didn't really start eating them until I was in college (Cal Poly, SLO) and discovered that guacamole on a burrito (first), and then Mexican food (second) and then avocados in general (finally!) was/were amazing.
Of course, there are many great things about San Luis Obispo, but one of them is that produce is essentially free at the weekly farmer's market. Ever since then, I'm the same as you - I cringe, and then load up the shopping basket.
Whoever talked about eating apples every day, sure hadn't tried it with avocados! 👍
Mmmm... So many great SLO memories. Was the Dark Room still a going venue when you were there? Last time I drove through campus I didn't recognize the place.
If the Dark Room was a place, I don't remember it. I was out of there in 1999, so a while ago. Campus has definitely changed - a lot more sprawl out into what used to be the Ag area. Farmers Market is still going strong; I always try to get through town on a night it's taking place so I can grab a pulled pork sandwich and a few other goodies!
Someday, I hope to move back. Time will tell!
Well. I'm old. Just looked in the mirror, was harshly reminded of that. Lol.
Class of 1981. Left Morro Bay in 1984. Was ready to go. But like you, wouldn't mind moving back. Santa Margarita area would be nice. Really miss the mountains of eastern SLO county, try to get to the Carrizo Plain a couple of times a year. Was big into mountain biking then (still sorta am, just a lot slower) and rode every dirt road and trail I could find in the area.