If You Aren't Using Lemons When Storing Avocados, It's Time You Start

From being used for creamy guacamole or blitzed into a dressing to topping off toast or a salad, avocados have a permanent spot in myriad kitchens. You can never go wrong with keeping a stash of avocados at home — unless they start to brown quickly. To stave that off a while longer, store avocados with lemon.

When we say to keep your avocados with lemon, we don't mean placing the two side-by-side in a bag the way people do to get fruits to ripen faster. Rather, a squeeze of lemon juice will help the green, ripe avocado delay the browning process it eventually undergoes after it's been cut and exposed to air. When avocados experience oxidation, their enzymes interact with the air and eventually break down, leading to a brown coloring.

Enzymatic browning begins when the fruit's pH level is five, but lemon juice can delay this for a day or two. The liquid's citric and ascorbic acids lower the avocado's pH level, helping to keep the buttery fruit green. Lowering their pH level is the best way to keep avocados fresh, but it's important to keep them away from oxygen, too. After squeezing some fresh lemon juice onto the cut avocado, keep it in an airtight container or seal it tightly with plastic wrap before placing it in the fridge.

The avocado hack does keep the fruit green for a while longer, but it'll also infuse it with a zesty flavor. You shouldn't douse your avocado with enough lemon juice to make it mouth-puckering and mushy, but instead give it a subtly tangy kick. This bright boost may slightly change how you use the fruit, but it still works with a plethora of dishes.

It helps to opt for recipes that already require lemon juice, like British bistro smoked salmon avocado toast. The zingy liquid is whipped with avocado, salt, pepper, and crème fraîche for a buttery topping to garlic-rubbed toast with salmon, red onions, and chives. 

Lemony avocado is also delicious on a tuna melt with cheddar cheese, peppery Dijon mustard, and tomatoes. A small amount of lemon juice used to prolong avocado's shelf life is hardly noticeable amidst the other ingredients, but it can easily take center stage in more stripped-back recipes.

The Barefoot Contessa relies on Tabasco sauce for a nice kick, but lemon juice is the real star of Ina Garten's guacamole. Garten names a hefty helping of freshly-squeezed lemon juice as her secret to making the dip, so you can definitely be a little more generous when preserving avocados with the liquid. Opting for lemons over lime brings out the avocados' sweetness without making the guacamole taste too acidic, and the right amount can keep your batch bright green for longer.