How Long Does Guacamole Last?

[havsumtea]

Hello! How long does a guacamole dip last for? Avacados seem to brown quickly even with little lime juice (is there a difference with lemon?) and I have some Henry avacados ready to go mushy if I don't do something with it. I can't seem to eat avacados straight up because my lips get itchy real bad. Any suggestions for simple cooking?

 

[Poppinfresh]

I would never keep fresh guac longer than 48 hours. The sugars start to breka down within a day. The type of citrus used has no effect on how long till an avocado browns up.

As for recipes? I'll include my guac recipe below, but don't limit your avocado usage to guac. Makes great pico de gallo (which actually keeps a little less time, I'd say a day at the most) and other such things

2 avocados
half a juiced lemon
2T chopped onion
1/2t salt
1/4t pepper
2T olive oil

Mash the avocado, add the rest of the ingredients, cover it up and fridge it for an hour before eating

 

[Clienta]

Avocados

In Isla Mujeres, Mexico where we live in the winter, a lot of the cooks leave the pits in, because they think it keeps the guac fresher longer? If you put plastic wrap on your container & seal it up, you can skim the dark layer off the top & use for a couple days. You can also use avocado chunks in salads & in soups or make salsa verde (green salsa).

 

[GB]

The pit does not have any magical properties. What turns the guac brown is the air. If you can keep air from touching the guac then it will stay green. The pit will keep a portion away from the air, but what is more affective is to put plastic wrap over it and push it right down onto the surface.

 

[sattie]

If you have a food saver, do the following and it will keep up to a week:

Tap container (with steep sides) with the guac sharply on counter to remove air pockets.

Press a layer of plastic wrap on top of guac, making sure to press around the sides to form a bit of a seal. Press out air bubbles.

Place container with plastic wrap in saver bag and seal. If you don't have a Food Saver, the above two steps will buy you at least 3 days as Clienta stated.

I did this about 2 weeks ago and my guac was good for a week... well, that was as long as I needed to eat it all!!!

 

[Katie H]

I certainly can't offer any advice on this question. We've never had any left to refrigerate.

 

[havsumtea]

I would never keep fresh guac longer than 48 hours. The sugars start to breka down within a day. The type of citrus used has no effect on how long till an avocado browns up.

As for recipes? I'll include my guac recipe below, but don't limit your avocado usage to guac. Makes great pico de gallo (which actually keeps a little less time, I'd say a day at the most) and other such things

2 avocados
half a juiced lemon
2T chopped onion
1/2t salt
1/4t pepper
2T olive oil

Mash the avocado, add the rest of the ingredients, cover it up and fridge it for an hour before eating

Sounds yum, I'll have to try that thank you.

 

[auntdot]

Sattie's advice is spot on. Press the plastic wrap against the top of the guac and it will help prevent the oxidation.

Only two of us here and we love guac so need to make it last and the no oxygen near the stuff works well.

 

[sattie]

Sattie's advice is spot on. Press the plastic wrap against the top of the guac and it will help prevent the oxidation.

Thanks Auntdot!!

 

[Michael in FtW]

Well - to add just a little to what has already been said, and reinforces what GB said ... what causes the guac to turn brown (oxidize) is air. The only portion of the prepared guac the avocado pit will protect is the portion it is direct contact with. Harold McGee in his book, The Curious Cook, explored this along with other culinary myths and found that a burned out light bulb is just as effective as the avocado pit!

Now, as for the "plastic wrap" - McGee also discovered that not all are created equal, nor are they as effective in reducing oxidation. Saran Wrap is different from other plastic wraps - in chemical composition, thickness, and effectiveness in blocking oxidation.

So, to just repeat what others have said ... make your tub of guac, press a single or double layer of Saran Wrap (yes you can use other plastic wraps but they will not be quite as effective) directly on the surface removing as much air as possible. When it comes time to serve - remove the amount you wish to serve and reseal the remainder. The less amount of time the surface of the "batch" is exposed to air the longer it will keep without turning brown.

It will probably keep for a couple of days ... if you have a FoodSaver and can follow that route like sattie mentioned ... maybe a week to 10-days.

 

[Claire]

Nothing that everyone has already said. To me the bottom line is that you make guacomole and eat it. All of the suggestions work to extend it a bit, but the fact is that you make it and eat it. If your lips itch or swell, you're better off to just skip it. Food allergies tend to get worse, not better. I LOVE avocadoes. I have to say I've never cooked with them, an avocado never makes it that far!

 

[Zeasor]

Guac + air = brown. The less surface area exposed to the air, the better. So pick you storage container accordingly. Tall and skinny (water glass) is better than short and wide (bowl). Tamp and tap down as you fill the storage container to eliminate air pockets. Press plastic wrap onto the surface OR float a little olive oil on top. Seal and store. Pour off the oil before serving. It the guac is smooth, no chunks (what a shame ), you can also put it in a zip seal plastic storage bag. Squeeze out all the air before sealing. You can then cut a bottom corner off the bag and pipe it onto chips, etc.

 

[mudbug]

I'm with Katie E. and Claire.

Guac usually only lasts about an hour around here.

 

[MexicoKaren]

I second everything that has been said. Living in Mexico, we eat ALOT of fresh avocadoes and we love them. Mexican cooks swear by the avocado pit trick, but alas, it doesn't really work. Mexican guacamole is a little different, usually made in a mocajete (mortar and pestle type of thing) and pretty chunky, with bits of tomato, onion, serrano or jalapeno chiles and garlic. Always lime juice, never lemon...yellow lemons are not readily available here. I also like a type of avocado sauce that is served with the tacos we buy at our corner tienda. Francesca gave me the recipe, but she makes it better than I do. It seems to keep for quite awhile in the frig (3-4 days at least). Take chunks of 2 avocados and put them in the blender with a couple cloves of garlic and about a cup of water. Blend until soupy and add salsa verde (made with tomatillos and green chiles) to taste. This type of sauce is served widely in restaurants in our area and is very very good on a taco or on top of enchiladas, tostados, etc.

 

[Green Lady]

While we are on the subject of avocados, I have a question. How ripe should the avocado be when you make guac? The reason I ask is once I was at the produce section of the grocery store and avocados were on sale. They were very soft and a woman was saying that they would be good for guac. I thought the insides of these avocados had to be brown and thought they were passed their prime to make guac. What say you?

 

[MexicoKaren]

I agree with you, Green Lady. Wherever they are brown, they are also bitter. It's not like ripe bananas - if they are mushy soft, they are past their useful life. Of course, if they are not ripe enough, they won't blend at all and have no taste. Sometimes it is hard to find the happy medium.

 

[Claire]

One of the things that is brought up here is the fact that you cannot predict spoilage. It is regional. It depends upon the temp of your counter, your refridgerator. When it comes to avocado, to me, once you cut it you eat it, period. I don't think it is poisonous, but if it looks bad, it probably is. I only recently learned first hand about having a sniffer gone bad. But if it looks bad, smells bad, throw it away, don't take a chance on it. If you want to keep it for awhile, do as has already been said. Squeeze a lemon or lime over it, and press plastic wrap right over it (right on the guac). You can get a few hours on it. Otherwise, sit down and eat the stuff. I'm lucky (I considered it a curse as a teen), I am tall and large (no, not particularly fat). So I will often take a bite of something I'm about to serve just to make sure. No one has every even gotten an upset tummy from food I've served (well, I have had two diverticular friends who I warned not to eat specific dishes at large parties, but they ignored my warnings; their problem not mine at that point)

Anyway, during the winter I can leave food over-night in my kitchen. During the summer I wouldn't dream of it. Honestly, my kitchen is so cold in the winter that I have to nuke butter to make it spread-able. I've lived many places and in many kinds of homes. There is a lot of variety, so speak to your neighbors and college extension service, and learn what works where you live.

 

[sugarbrown]

Surprisingly enough, I bought a couple of containers of Guacamole from Costco, and it was quite good, but what I thought was really different was it froze well, too!

I can't imagine why homemade guacamole couldn't be frozen as well, as long as the air was pressed out...

 

[Andy M.]

I buy guac from Costco and freeze it all the time with no problem.

 

[Zeasor]

While we are on the subject of avocados, I have a question. How ripe should the avocado be when you make guac?...

Avocados ripen (soften) from the stem end down. I pick avocados that are somewhat soft at the stem end and the main body somewhat firm (only a slight give when pressed). If they are too firm, you can leave them in the sunshine for awhile to soften them. This proceedure always yields avocados ready for me to mash. I also like to chill them whole before cutting. This seems to slow the browning process.