Avocados are loved for their creamy texture and taste, their versatility in recipes (especially recipes that are as easy as putting avocado on toast or making guacamole) and all of the stellar health benefits. But finding a ripe avocado at the store is not a sure bet. Avocados don’t start to ripen until they’re off the tree, so most of the time you have to wait for them to ripen before you use them.

Ripening as well as storing avocados are two of the most common issues when it comes to this fruit. Having found the “best way” to ripen avocados, a member of the Facebook page Delicious Recipes shared her go-to storage method. While some people recommend popping hard avocados in the microwave or oven to ripen, Natalie Curwin favours burying avocados in rice.

She wrote: “We go through tons of avocados. The best way I've found that always works to have perfectly ripe avocados is to buy them when they are very hard and green and then store them on rice so they ripen evenly and don't bruise. 

“They ripen pretty quickly (often in two days), but if you bury them in the rice, they seem to ripen a little more quickly, like overnight.  

“I’ve been doing this for four years and throw away very few avocados for being brown and gross. They even seem to go bad less quickly, but you do need to plan a little.”

To keep them lasting longer when ripe, one group member shared a nifty tip. Nancy Koket wrote: “Once they are ripe, put them in water in the refrigerator and they will last a very long time from there. 

“Make sure they are fully covered in water. I use a large mason jar. I once forgot about them in the back of the fridge for six weeks, and they were still edible. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

Chef My Nguyen also recommends using this rice method. Posting on Facebook, she wrote: “I bury unripe avocados on rice to ripen faster.”

So what makes the method effective? Rice essentially traps the ethylene gas and helps ripen fruit, making it edible faster.

It is crucial to check avocados regularly to make sure they are not over-ripening or spoiling.