Question: I’m planning to make some guacamole this weekend and will be buying some avocados. How can I tell when the avocados are ripe enough to use?
Answer: You can tell if an avocado is ripe by giving it a gentle squeeze — if it yields to that light pressure, it’s ready to use, says the California Avocado Commission.
If your avocados aren’t yet ripe, store them at room temperature. It generally takes anywhere from four to seven days for a hard avocado to fully ripen. You can speed up that process by putting the avocado in a brown paper bag — placing an apple in the bag will help hurry things along even more.
If you've got fully ripe avocados that you do not want to use right away, place them in the fridge. There, they'll usually keep well for another three to five days.
