Ideas to keep cut avacados from turning brown.

NancyAnne1960
NancyAnne1960 Posts: 500 Member
edited September 28 in Recipes
Please, need your ideas on how to keep a cut avacado from turning brown! To eat a whole avacado is just too much, but I find the other half gets tossed because it turns brown by the next day. Any tricks on how to keep them from turning brown? (other than lemon juice?) Thanks!!

Replies

  • mlemonroe2
    mlemonroe2 Posts: 603
    keep the seed in the half you don't use!
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    leave the pit in the half, and wrap it really tight with saran rap
  • abyssfully
    abyssfully Posts: 410 Member
    Sometimes plastic wrap works for me and sometimes it doesn't.

    That's all I've got! lol.
  • stanvoodoo
    stanvoodoo Posts: 1,023 Member
    Any citrus will do, for guacamole put the pit in the bottom of the bowl or vacuum pack.
  • dayzeerock
    dayzeerock Posts: 918 Member
    Squeeze a tiny bit of lemon juice on it!
  • LauraLLee
    LauraLLee Posts: 210
    The only thing I know is lemon or lime juice. You may want to try an air tight seal like press and seal? because the brown comes from the oxygen that hits the advacado.
  • BhanGoes
    BhanGoes Posts: 75 Member
    Rinse the cut side under cool tap water. Don't know why, or how, but this works.

    http://dinnerovereasy.blogspot.com/
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
    I've done my own vacuum sealing. Put it in a ziplock bag and suck the air out of it... hahahaha. Also, it's OK to eat if it turns brown the next day. It's not rotten or anything, it's oxidizing like the brown spots on a banana. As long as it is within 2 days or so, you're good. When it starts to get really dark and smell, then definitely don't eat it.
  • tam120
    tam120 Posts: 444 Member
    Smear a layer of citrus juice on it (lemon or lime) before wrapping it in plastic. Make sure all the exposed area is in contact with the plastic. Other than that here's really not much you can do, avocados just don't keep once their package has been compromised. :wink:
  • rea1980
    rea1980 Posts: 93 Member
    It is the oxidation that turns it brown. So you need to remove air from them. If I don't use the whole avacado, I usually make guacamole or something similiar with it, but when i wrap it with plastic I put the plastic directly on the avacado instead of around the top of the container. This will stop it from turning brown.
  • KellyEsparza
    KellyEsparza Posts: 35
    i've never had that problem because I eat it all up before it turns brown. LOVE avocados! Seriously, lime juice works. I love mashing mine up and adding a bit of garlic salt, chili powder & lime. YUM
  • brityn
    brityn Posts: 443 Member
    Leave the skin on and pit intact, squirt some lemon or lime on it and throw it in a zip lock baggie. If the outside layer turns a little brown just cut a thin layer off. The rest should be fine
  • Aviendha_RJ
    Aviendha_RJ Posts: 600 Member
    Squeeze a tiny bit of lemon juice on it!

    That's what my Chef taught me in Kitchen Class in College! It works REALLY well! Just wipe it on the cutting board before you cut, & tip all cut ends to the board before you wrap it.

    Or alternatively: soak a paper towel in it & wrap it around the avacado/apple/banana & let it sit for 5 seconds then you're good to go for hours!
  • craftylatvian
    craftylatvian Posts: 599 Member
    The only thing I know is lemon or lime juice. You may want to try an air tight seal like press and seal? because the brown comes from the oxygen that hits the advacado.

    Exactly. Any citrus fruit juice will help and the oxygen is what makes the fruit turn brown.
  • allybtucker
    allybtucker Posts: 91
    If it's just the next day, it's just cosmetic, you can eat it. It doesn't taste bad or anything. It's kinda like how apples turn brown almost instantaneously, but they still taste the same. My other thought is "Fruit Fresh". It comes in a little shaker, and looks like salt, but has no flavor. I buy that to use instead of lemon juice to stop oxidation becuase I don't always want the lemon flavor. I wonder if they have a liquid version so you could just give it a little squirt. Maybe you could mix some with some water in a little spritzer...
  • BobbyDaniel
    BobbyDaniel Posts: 1,459 Member
    I needed this today! I pulled some avacado out of the fridge that I mashed up on Sunday for a sandwich and it had turned brown on the outside. I just mixed it all up and ate it anyway, lol.
  • wannabahotmom
    wannabahotmom Posts: 108
    I vacuum seal mine. It keeps them just as green as when you put them in. You don't even have to have a food saver machine or spend lots of money. Ziploc makes vacuum seal bags with a small little pump. I keep a box of the bags on hand just for stuff like avocados. If I make guacamole and have left overs I usually put it in one of these bags too. It keeps for much longer!
  • Bdde
    Bdde Posts: 133 Member
    Keep the pit in the half you dont use and wrap it in saran wrap.
  • jenhenning219
    jenhenning219 Posts: 385 Member
    try freezing it
  • abalicious
    abalicious Posts: 361 Member
    These are all really great ideas, I had no clue that you could prevent them from turning brown!
  • Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet
    Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet Posts: 486
    Its turning brown because it's oxidizing. To prevent it from oxidizing, you can prevent it from getting any air (saran wrap, under water) which is why leaving the pit in prevents air from getting to the center. Putting anything on it that contains citric acid (ie diluted lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice) prevents the surface from oxidizing. You can squeeze some juice into a bowl of water if you're cutting up a lot of it.

    Same things work for apples, potatoes, artichokes, etc etc.

    Reference: I have degrees in culinary arts and neuroscience (i.e. organic chemistry background)
  • ivy2009
    ivy2009 Posts: 75
    any air whatsover turns avocado brown. So try wrapping tightly in saran wrap with all of the air out. Also, try dousing it with lemon juice and then wrapping it.
  • pannacottayum
    pannacottayum Posts: 96 Member
    Rinse the cut side under cool tap water. Don't know why, or how, but this works.

    http://dinnerovereasy.blogspot.com/
    +1
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