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The other week my wife came home with a bag of avocados, all of them rock-hard. “You couldn’t have at least gotten a bag with ONE ripe one in there?” I railed.
She shrugged and said something like, “You do the shopping next time then.”
Fine, she had me there, but I still wanted to make guacamole in time for a party we were throwing in a couple days without having to go out and buy another batch. So I did some poking around online and found some great ripening tips over at FoodGeeks.com, a website with a title we here at the _floss embrace wholehearts-of-palm-edly.
To ripen fruits such as avocados, bananas and tomatoes, enclose them in a brown paper bag with an apple for 2-3 days. Apples give off nitrogen gas that speeds up the ripening process.
And you know what? It worked! For some other really cool tips, like how to peel garlic with ease, or how to make ice cubes in a pinch, check outFoodGeeks household tips page.
It does work, but the gas involved is ethylene rather than nitrogen. I believe some fruits and vegetables are packaged under nitrogen to retard ripening and prevent spoilage.
posted by justawriter on 10-25-2006 at 10:50 am
This is also another reason why you should never store apples on the bottom shelf in your fridge if you have other veggies or fruit in the fridge. At restaurants where they have walk-in coolers for produce, apples have to be stored in a corner by themselves or on the top shelf to prevent them from making the other produce spoil too quickly.
posted by Susan on 10-25-2006 at 12:41 pm
good to know! sort of makes you wonder what kind of gas the big apple gives off!
posted by David on 10-25-2006 at 7:59 pm