Author Topic: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?  (Read 12851 times)

Dash

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Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« on: August 02, 2013, 04:05:55 PM »


'nuff said.

olivia

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2013, 04:07:28 PM »
YUCK.  Seriously?!!  Pitting an avocado is about the easiest thing in the world, and I barely cook. 

starbuck

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2013, 06:07:18 AM »
What really gets under my skin is the disposable packaging. An avocado goes from having it's own compostable wrapper, to being shrink wrapped in plastic and then encased in cardboard, which will just get chucked. All because some idiot was too lazy to slice an avocado in half and take out the pit.

davisgang90

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2013, 07:29:58 AM »
Rats!  I just bought 5 of the old fashion kind.  I didn't know they'd been upgraded!

footenote

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2013, 07:34:23 AM »
The other product that makes me crazy are the increasingly common little plastic tubs of diced celery, carrot and onion (or other singleton or combo of commonly used veggies). Of course, they are crazy expensive. Really, people??

Joshin

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2013, 08:20:43 AM »
What always got me was the individually plastic cling wrapped potatoes, touted as "microwave potatoes -- ready to cook!" Of course, one potato cost almost as much as a whole sack.

dorothyc

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2013, 09:18:08 AM »
I didn't buy any, of course, but last weekend at Trader Joe's I saw a little plastic shell pack of cilantro leaves for $1.75 for 21g, when I can walk to the fancy neighborhood gourmet grocery store and buy a whole bunch for 99c. or a bit further afield at the Mexican market it is usually two bunches for a dollar - and we are in Southern California, for heaven's sake.

notquitefrugal

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2013, 09:47:46 PM »
YUCK.  Seriously?!!  Pitting an avocado is about the easiest thing in the world, and I barely cook.

Yes! I'm new to cooking, and am not terribly fond of avocadoes, but a recipe called for one a few weeks ago, and I dutifully picked one up from the produce section, pitted it, blended it with the rest of the ingredients, and lived to tell about it. (The dish was some sort of pesto sauce... It was okay, considering I don't like avocadoes all that well.)

kikichewie

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2013, 09:01:04 AM »
Regular haas avocados are $1.69 each right now and hard as rocks.  When they are ripe in the store, they are 10 for $1.   Seems to me I should pay less if I have to hold them until they are edible! We love avocados but refuse to pay more than 10-20 cents apiece.

Rachelocity

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #9 on: August 04, 2013, 01:00:41 PM »
Quote
The other product that makes me crazy are the increasingly common little plastic tubs of diced celery, carrot and onion (or other singleton or combo of commonly used veggies). Of course, they are crazy expensive. Really, people??

Actually, I used to buy those for my elderly mother, who still liked to cook but didn't have very much energy.  This enabled her to make her own soups, which she loved, and took some of the heat off of me, sine I didn't have to spend half of my weekend in her kitchen prepping food to her specifications. 

I never buy them for myself, however. 

footenote

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #10 on: August 04, 2013, 01:25:40 PM »
Quote
The other product that makes me crazy are the increasingly common little plastic tubs of diced celery, carrot and onion (or other singleton or combo of commonly used veggies). Of course, they are crazy expensive. Really, people??

Actually, I used to buy those for my elderly mother, who still liked to cook but didn't have very much energy.  This enabled her to make her own soups, which she loved, and took some of the heat off of me, sine I didn't have to spend half of my weekend in her kitchen prepping food to her specifications. 

I never buy them for myself, however.
Hey, for an elderly cook, of course. But that's by far the exception that proves the rule.

zinnie

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2013, 12:42:31 PM »
Wow.

And what do they put in them to make them stay "fresh and ripe"? Avocado ripeness is one of the most fleeting things.

MsSindy

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2013, 12:50:35 PM »
Regular haas avocados are $1.69 each right now and hard as rocks.  When they are ripe in the store, they are 10 for $1.   Seems to me I should pay less if I have to hold them until they are edible! We love avocados but refuse to pay more than 10-20 cents apiece.

Wow, 10 - 20 cents each?  I can only dream....Here in the NorthEast we're lucky if we can get them for a buck a piece.

MsSindy

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2013, 12:55:39 PM »
Just another 'funny' about avocados....my Aunt-in-law was telling me about the fancy gadget she bought to pit avocados, so I remarked, "yeah, I own a knife and spoon, too".  I proceeded to tease her every chance I got about how difficult this avocado was to pit, boy if they only made a fancy gadget, and ooooh, how my wrist hurts from turning the spoon to scoop it!  It made for a fun weekend (for me anyway!).  She's notorious for buying stupid stuff.

mpbaker22

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2013, 01:02:48 PM »
I didn't buy any, of course, but last weekend at Trader Joe's I saw a little plastic shell pack of cilantro leaves for $1.75 for 21g, when I can walk to the fancy neighborhood gourmet grocery store and buy a whole bunch for 99c. or a bit further afield at the Mexican market it is usually two bunches for a dollar - and we are in Southern California, for heaven's sake.

Hey now, I grew cilantro this year and had 4 months worth for the cost of maybe up to a gallon of water + $1 for seeds.  I threw the container out though because it was inside and I was getting fruit flies.

superhero

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #15 on: August 05, 2013, 02:40:33 PM »
Regular haas avocados are $1.69 each right now and hard as rocks.  When they are ripe in the store, they are 10 for $1.   Seems to me I should pay less if I have to hold them until they are edible! We love avocados but refuse to pay more than 10-20 cents apiece.

Wow, 10 - 20 cents each?  I can only dream....Here in the NorthEast we're lucky if we can get them for a buck a piece.

Seriously. What kind of dream world is this? No less than a dollar a piece here unless they somehow end up in the discount area in the back of the store.

zinnie

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #16 on: August 05, 2013, 03:20:08 PM »
Regular haas avocados are $1.69 each right now and hard as rocks.  When they are ripe in the store, they are 10 for $1.   Seems to me I should pay less if I have to hold them until they are edible! We love avocados but refuse to pay more than 10-20 cents apiece.

Wow, 10 - 20 cents each?  I can only dream....Here in the NorthEast we're lucky if we can get them for a buck a piece.

Seriously. What kind of dream world is this? No less than a dollar a piece here unless they somehow end up in the discount area in the back of the store.

I'll get on this train--the cheapest I've ever seen is $5 for 7 small ones at the farmer's market--and I live in the land of avocados

wepner

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #17 on: August 06, 2013, 08:30:59 PM »
Sometimes before the Super Bowl or Cinco de Mayo or something you can find them for around 10 cents, but that is like 2 weeks out of the year. They are going to be at least a dollar at a super market pretty much any other time (I worked at a few different super markets in Northern California over the last 10 years and I love avocados)


I was super pleasantly surprised to see that avocados in Yokohama are almost exactly the same price.

AJDZee

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #18 on: August 07, 2013, 07:58:28 AM »
Regular haas avocados are $1.69 each right now and hard as rocks.  When they are ripe in the store, they are 10 for $1.   Seems to me I should pay less if I have to hold them until they are edible! We love avocados but refuse to pay more than 10-20 cents apiece.

Wow, 10 - 20 cents each?  I can only dream....Here in the NorthEast we're lucky if we can get them for a buck a piece.

Seriously. What kind of dream world is this? No less than a dollar a piece here unless they somehow end up in the discount area in the back of the store.

I'll get on this train--the cheapest I've ever seen is $5 for 7 small ones at the farmer's market--and I live in the land of avocados

I will also get on this train.

I have seen 10 avocados for $1, in June when I was in Cali for vacation. Drove the pacific coast from SF to LA and there are many farms that have signs on the side of the road that say 10 for $1 (artichokes too!). But I've never seen anywhere close to that price in a grocery store after you've inserted 'x' number of middle men who take their cut. Here in Canada they are about $1.50 each, or if you feel dangerous you can buy a bag that has 5-6 of them which brings the unit cost down to about $0.80 for smaller ones. But then you're playing the ripeness game. Eating avocados at every meal. Substituting them for butter. Insulating drafty windows. And yet you're still left with like 2 mushy ones!

Gen Y Finance Journey

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #19 on: August 07, 2013, 09:40:57 AM »
When you see 10 for $1 avocados (or artichokes), they're the miniature ones, and they're at farm stands. I almost never see a large avocado for less than $1 at the grocery store. I also never buy them when they're more than $1. :)

Rural

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #20 on: August 07, 2013, 12:10:34 PM »
Avocados are on sale here for a dollar each approximately 3.5 minutes out of every year. Thus I buy two avocados a year.

mpbaker22

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #21 on: August 07, 2013, 05:33:22 PM »
I have 4 avocados in my refrigerator right now.  They were 4/$1 and it's the cheapest I've seen all year.

kikichewie

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #22 on: August 08, 2013, 09:18:24 AM »
Well, all I can tell you is it is a frequent occurrence to find ten haas avocados from Mexico for a dollar at publix In Florida.  You also don't need to buy all ten, but can just get what you need.  It's frequent enough that I refuse to pay more.  Paying a lot more and needing to plan ahead for when I'm going to eat them just doesn't work for me.

Oh, and saying 20 cents was just me being generous.  I've never seen them five for a dollar that I can specifically recommend, just ten.

If I were more into avocados, I'd buy a bunch and freeze them.

Undecided

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #23 on: August 08, 2013, 02:41:47 PM »
If I were more into avocados, I'd buy a bunch and freeze them.

The more into avocados one is, the less likely one will be happy with frozen avocados.

MrsPete

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #24 on: August 08, 2013, 07:03:00 PM »
Here in the South, I'm happy to pay .99 for an avocado.  I didn't even know you could buy them pre-pitted.  Isn't removing the pit Alton Brown style just plain cool?  Who'd want to skip that small moment of life? 

I saw something just as bad a couple days ago at the grocery store:

I was buying bleach, which was 1.99/gallon of store brand.  They now offer a small bottle (maybe a quart?) of "Ready-to-Use" bleach, which the package clearly says is DILLUTED.  It sells for $3.29.  I think we all know that diluted means "mixed with water".  So who's going to pay more for a smaller bottle of watered-down bleach? 

kkbmustang

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #25 on: August 08, 2013, 07:07:11 PM »
Here they are $1-1.50 each. But aside from the price, what must they put on them to keep them from turning brown?

jp

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #26 on: August 09, 2013, 01:07:54 PM »
Just another 'funny' about avocados....my Aunt-in-law was telling me about the fancy gadget she bought to pit avocados, so I remarked, "yeah, I own a knife and spoon, too".  I proceeded to tease her every chance I got about how difficult this avocado was to pit, boy if they only made a fancy gadget, and ooooh, how my wrist hurts from turning the spoon to scoop it!  It made for a fun weekend (for me anyway!).  She's notorious for buying stupid stuff.

You don't even need a spoon.  Just hack into the pit and twist, comes out perfectly every time. 


wepner

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #27 on: August 09, 2013, 07:52:45 PM »
If I were more into avocados, I'd buy a bunch and freeze them.

The more into avocados one is, the less likely one will be happy with frozen avocados.

sad but true

Zamboni

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #28 on: August 09, 2013, 09:44:59 PM »
Sadly some folks just don't learn the most basic food preparation growing up. 

I was at the grocery store recently and there was this young couple at the corn table.  Corn was 4 ears for $1, but right there on the table they had some pre-shucked ones plastic wrapped on foam (like they do with meat) that was $2.99 for 3 ears.  The girl was fingering the pre-packed ones and glancing nervously my way.  Then the guy said something about getting the cheaper corn as he ran off to get something else.  As soon as he was around the corner she asked me how I was picking the ears, and then what to do.  There was a waste basket not too far, so I just pulled it over and showed her how to shuck an ear of corn really quick.  She seemed quite grateful, and her husband/boyfriend was none the wiser that she didn't have a clue.  She shucked one too while we stood there and I said "yes, perfect, just like that!  Easy, right?"  So I wonder how many people just don't have these basic types of life skills? 

To maximize moisture and fresh flavor, one really shouldn't slice an avocado or shuck corn until right before one is going to use it.  Also, many of the folks who stock specific areas at grocery stores can be quite helpful if you aren't sure how to determine ripeness of a melon or cook something like a piece of fish.  Just ask!

limeandpepper

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #29 on: August 09, 2013, 10:43:32 PM »
I'm in Australia and prices of avocados here vary wildly according to season and where you buy them. I've seen them as high as $4 per medium sized avocado during a troubled crop, but that's over now and I have recently been able to get mini cartons of 5 - 7 small ones for $2 on special, which is quite decent. Pre-pitted avocados are ridiculous. I've also seen avocado puree before, not as silly but still not something I can imagine wanting to spend on when it's so easy to mash them up yourself.

Other silly things I've seen at the shops recently include:

- Pre-sliced, un-peeled apples in plastic packaging. Um, why not just buy a whole apple and wash it and eat it and throw away the core?

- Peeled, hard-boiled eggs in plastic packaging. I suppose this could be handy for someone who for whatever reason doesn't have access to a kitchen... but still.

And both the above things, unsurprisingly, include preservatives of some sort to keep them "fresh".

I only really threw myself into prepping and cooking food when I moved out of home but even then I've always been fine to learn how to do things by trial and error. And these days with a wealth of information on the internet it's so easy - I am okay with being adventurous and buying something unfamiliar because I can just google it later and learn how to store and use it.

Zamboni

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #30 on: August 10, 2013, 05:19:08 AM »
Quote
And these days with a wealth of information on the internet it's so easy

Yes! It's a great time to be alive.  I've learned all kinds of crazy cooking tips (especially how to make things from scratch or use the microwave to speed things up) on the internet, and I'm not exactly a cooking show diva.

In fact, here's a perky, handy video on how to cut, pit, and peel and avocado:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BExkUoPiURk
There were multiple other step by step guides with photos as well.

And, proving that there's always more to learn, an adorable white-haired gentleman schools Zamboni on how to prepare corn (bonus marks for catchy banjo music, nearly 8 million views!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnBF6bv4Oe4

MrsPete

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #31 on: August 12, 2013, 06:10:44 PM »
- Peeled, hard-boiled eggs in plastic packaging. I suppose this could be handy for someone who for whatever reason doesn't have access to a kitchen... but still.
Once during a multiple-week road trip, we bought these.  We intended to slice them up for sandwiches, something we do frequently  at home . . . But the prepared boiled eggs were just rubbery and tasteless.  It was straight back to peanut butter and sandwich meat for us! 

Hunny156

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #32 on: August 12, 2013, 08:28:12 PM »
One of my neighbors recently had some hand surgery due to an avocado incident.  I'm not sure how she managed to slice her hand open that much and that deep, but she did.  According to her surgeon, he does a lot of surgery due to those wayward avocado pits!

She saw the avocado pit remover tool shortly thereafter and purchased one.  I guess these tools and prepared products are made for people like her.  I imagine the pitted avocados are cheaper for her in the long run, as compared to surgery...

Gerard

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #33 on: August 29, 2013, 03:37:59 PM »
The more into avocados one is, the less likely one will be happy with frozen avocados.

Except in Vietnamese milkshakes:
http://www.food.com/recipe/vietnamese-avocado-shake-148702

Oo, I want one now.

Elaine

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Re: Fresh avocados? Or pay triple for them to be pitted for you?
« Reply #34 on: December 02, 2013, 01:20:53 PM »
Pro-tip from a cook:
1. Cut avocado in half, right around the pit (leaving it in and leaving the skin on).
2. Put half with avocado pit still in it on cutting board.
3. Swiftly bring a knife down on the pit, use a large chef's knife. It will get stuck in the pit. Now you can pull the knife upward and hence pull out the pit.
5. Now peel your avocado.