The Genius TikTok Trick To Keep Avocado Green For Days
Trying to keep a half-used avocado green is a true struggle. You can try to prevent browning by using lemon juice, wrapping it in plastic wrap, or even storing it in the freezer. But let's be frank: These methods rarely slow browning. Better than nothing, for sure, but still a little disappointing.
The fact of the matter is that oxygen — that stuff that's literally all around us — is the cause of browning, and nothing protects the flesh of an avocado from oxygen as well as its own peel.
As soon as we rip off that protective layer, no amount of lemon juice or plastic wrap can truly save us. A new TikTok hack, however, approaches the problem from a different angle: What if we don't remove the skin?
TikTok user @mikey_bee99 shared a video of his personal anti-browning technique, and it makes a lot of sense. Instead of cutting the avocado lengthwise or removing the skin entirely, he chops the top off the avocado and scoops the flesh out as if it's a little bowl.
The pros and cons of this avocado trick
It's not shown in the video, but you can use the flesh in the cut-off section first, and then turn to the larger section. Cutting it this way doesn't just mean less flesh is exposed to oxygen during storage — it also means much of the flesh isn't exposed to oxygen at all. This makes a big difference in comparison to techniques that expose the flesh first and then cover it with citrus or plastic wrap.
When you store the avocado, you can put it upside down on a plate like the TikTok creator suggests, or use any of the other avocado tricks to try and keep the small area of exposed flesh away from oxygen. Low temperatures also slow the browning reaction, so make sure to store your avocado in the fridge after cutting.
The main drawback of this trick is, as you might have guessed, the pit. The big old stone in the middle of an avocado (which people eat for health reasons that are entirely unproven) definitely gets in the way when you're trying to scoop out the flesh, but this isn't a deal breaker in most cases. Many people use half an avocado at a time, and if this applies to you, it's easy to skip the worst of the scooping difficulty by cutting the avocado open when you use the second half.
Overall, this TikTok trick is both effective and pretty low-effort, so it's definitely worth a try.