I Asked a Farmer How To Choose the Best Avocado Every Single Time

Avocados are essential for toast and bowls of guac, but picking out the perfect one can be difficult. I asked the experts to walk me through how to find the best ones at the store (and how to keep them fresh at home).

A perfectly ripe avocado cut in half, showing the pit inside. The avocado is on a small cutting board, which is sitting on a green checked kitchen towel — Simply Recipes / Getty Images

I was eating mashed-up avocado on toast long before it became a trend on brunch and coffee shop menus. My Chilean father grew up eating avocado on toast and naturally made it for me when I was a child.

Whenever I went grocery shopping with my dad, we would find either too many overripe avocados in the produce aisle or ones that were rock hard. Neither was a good option. This appears to be a universal problem. Avocados are seemingly either bruised and mushy or woefully underripe, but finding the perfect avocado is possible! You just have to know how and where to look.

How To Choose a Perfect Avocado

"Select firm or hard fruit if you will not be eating them for a few days," says Jeff Salchenberg, the produce program and category manager for New Seasons Market. Inspect the avocado for any blemishes before placing it in your cart, too. Rachael Laenen, Sixth generation farmer and Director of Farming and Operations at Kimball Avocados, says, "Check the avocado all over to make sure there aren’t any bruised spots or places where the avocado is softer than others," says Laenen.

Her recommendation is to always choose avocados that aren't ready to eat yet. "Pick one that is on the firmer side; it will ripen quickly and that’s easier to manage than one that’s already past its prime," she advises.

Chunked-up avocado in a shallow bowl with a fork; a lime sits to the side — Simply Recipes / Adobe Stock

The oil content and dry matter of an avocado are ways growers test if a fruit is mature before harvesting. These factors also influence flavor. "Oil content and dry matter are what gives avocados their great texture and flavor," says Laenen. "So always look for a piece of fruit that is as local as possible." Local or US-grown avocados tend to have better flavor because they are harvested when mature and can ripen naturally, keeping their oil content and dry matter high.

Relying on the skin color of an avocado isn't the best way to determine ripeness since there are different varieties of avocados all with skins of different hues of green to black. "Hass, the most commercially available variety, will turn black and yield softly to the touch around the stem," says Laenen. "Fuerte or a Bacon [variety] will always stay green, so the only way to tell is by a gentle squeeze."

Why a Perfectly Ripe Avocado Is Hard To Find

"Avocados don’t ripen on the tree. They only start to ripen once they are picked," Laenen says. Avocados can be found in the produce section year-round because they are flown in from across the globe when they are in season in other regions of the world.

“The issue with long distance travel is that once an avocado is placed in cold storage the ripening process is halted and can be stopped and started numerous times over the journey,” says Laenen. "How they are handled post-harvest has a huge effect on how they ripen and how their flavor develops."

How To Store Avocados

Unripe avocados should be kept on the kitchen counter at room temperature. "My top tip is to buy an unripened avocado, bring it home, leave it at room temperature, and only refrigerate once it is ripened," says Laenen. "A good quality avocado can last in the fridge for up to a week once it is ripe."