Think about coming home from the grocery store, looking forward to that beautiful smooth and creamy avocado you just bought and you want to eat right away. Then, to your surprise – its ripened past its prime or its too young and not ripe enough. The thing is, avocado’s don’t ripen on the tree, they only ripen once picked. Here are 3 tips to pick the best avocado:

General appearance: The color and texture of a ripe avocado are uniform. If skin color varies or has block spots it may be spoiled. There should be no “divots”, another sign your avocado has gone bad.

Firmness: Press gently on the fruit to make sure it is ripe enough. There should be just a slight give to the texture. If you don’t feel much resistance, the avocado may be too ripe. If too much resistance, it may not be ripe enough.

Color: If under the stem, its yellow or light green, it means your avocado is not ripe enough but if it is brown, it likely has ripened beyond its usefulness.

Like most fruits, avocado’s have relatively short shelf life, maybe one to three days if stored on the counter. Maybe a couple of more days in the refigerator. If you put the avocado closed bag on the counter, it will ripen faster.

If you live in California or Florida, maybe the best idea is to plant your own avocado tree.