This can help prevent you from wasting money at the grocery store.

When you are shopping for Guacamole is there nothing worse than coming home with Avocados there is too ripe.

Telling if an avocado is too ripe or just right is easy, I pry their condition by popping off the stem, the color underneath reveals the state. An avocado that is too ripe will be brown under the stem, and will be useless. An avocado that is just right will be green underneath the stem.

Step 1 – Do buy Hass Avocados, they are better in flavor and texture, check the outside color of the skin of the avocados for any that are darker in color than the others. Check the outer skin of the avocado for any large indentations as this may be a sign that the fruit has been bruised.

Step 2 – Place the avocado in the palm of your hand. Gently squeeze without applying your fingertips as this can cause bruising. If the avocado yields to firm gentle pressure you know it’s ripe and ready-to-eat. If the avocado does not yield to gentle pressure it is considered still “firm” and will be ripe in a couple of days. If the avocado feels mushy or very soft to the touch it may be very ripe to overripe. Remove the stem at look at the color.

How to Buy Avocados Ahead of Time for an Event

Hass Avocados do not ripen on the tree; they ripen or “soften” after they have been harvested. Ripe Hass Avocados that yield to gentle pressure should be eaten within a day or two. For events a couple days out, purchase firm avocados instead. Unripe, firm or green fruit can take four to five days to ripen at room temperature. Should they begin to yield to gentle pressure, place them in the refrigerator to slow the ripening process.