# avocados - it ain't easy bein' green... ???



## maryjane1975 (May 8, 2012)

Hello! Got any good methods for holding prepped avocado during service for 4 oz guacamole to order, sliced for sandwiches, etc?  

my volume is sporadic until Memorial day hits, trying to come up with a good way to prep a few, hold them (lemon juice in a 6 pan on the sandwich line?), mash & make guac to order, or make a guac and hold it for one service w/o it turning brown by 6:30.  

Somebody told me if you leave the pits in the mix it will keep it from oxidizing... ??    

I am 99% convinced the only way to do it is to order, but would love to find an alternative, when we're busy we go through 6 or 7 pounds of guac a service.

thanks so much and have a great night


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Have you tried the vac packed avocados?


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## maryjane1975 (May 8, 2012)

no, because the owner has a b*ner for fresh...but I do have a vacuum sealer...


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

From whole avocado to diced is what, 20, maybe 30 seconds?

Why try to fix something that isn't broke???


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## maryjane1975 (May 8, 2012)

ya i hear ya - trying to work around a 2 man staff w VERY limited skills, the more I can prep the better for now, but will train the kid on how to process the avocado to order if that's the best way to go.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

i think the avocado pit thing is an old wives tale. if you keep it airtight by pressing plastic wrap directly on the guacamole it should keep it green.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

rbrad said:


> i think the avocado pit thing is an old wives tale. if you keep it airtight by pressing plastic wrap directly on the guacamole it should keep it green.


I agree with the pit bit.

Plastic wrap WILL work for the short term, I found it more trouble than it is worth. If you are only using a half per serving, simple invert (cut side down) the unused half, in skin and uncut, on a smooth plate/pan/surface, save the wrapping for something else, it takes time to wrap and unwrap.

Teaching the necessary steps should not take much.


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

maryjane1975 said:


> no, because the owner has a b*ner for fresh...but I do have a vacuum sealer...


Won't work. The avocado packers use some sort of ultra high pressure pasteurization. I like em because there is almost zero waste and very consistent. Don't have to play the avocado lottery either.

Last time I worked a station that had guacamole, I would only make enough to get me through an hour or so (I'd keep a pan of the diced onion, tomato, whatever, ready in the lowboy so I just had to spoon some in to the avocado, mash and check seasoning). That way it's not sitting around getting dark, and I'm not going nuts making 2 and 4 oz of guac to order.


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## twyst (Jan 22, 2012)

thetincook said:


> Won't work. The avocado packers use some sort of ultra high pressure pasteurization. I like em because there is almost zero waste and very consistent. Don't have to play the avocado lottery either.
> 
> Last time I worked a station that had guacamole, I would only make enough to get me through an hour or so (I'd keep a pan of the diced onion, tomato, whatever, ready in the lowboy so I just had to spoon some in to the avocado, mash and check seasoning). That way it's not sitting around getting dark, and I'm not going nuts making 2 and 4 oz of guac to order.


A regular vacuum sealer does work just fine for keeping avocados green, I use one at home to keep avocados/guac green for days. As long as no air is hitting your avocado its going to stay greeen, Im just not sure its worth the trouble to portion it all out and vacuum seal it for a professional setting when it could be done a la minute with much less hassle.


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

A little extra acid on top and some plastic wrap works just Ducky. At worst you loose a little off the top. 

Now I have Tom Petty stuck in my head............Last dance with Mary Jane....

Dave


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Anyone play around with Vitamin C?


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Yup, IMHO, 'tain't worth it.


thetincook said:


> Anyone play around with Vitamin C?


Think:

Cut, twist, pit, maybe 10 seconds, probably closer to 5 seconds
Reserve 1/2 face down on plastic wrap, plastic sheet, quarter sheet, score cross hatch and scoop the other half, another 5-10 seconds
Mix with guacamole base (mise en place), 5-10 seconds
Total time per serving, 15-30 seconds, total servings per hour 120-240. Cost of labor @ $12/hour = &0.05-$0.10 per serving, probably less than the plastic wrap, vacuum bag, vitamin C.


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## rbandu (Apr 30, 2012)

@thetincook -- I was actually just about to mention the vitamin C powder.  Ordinarily my guac would start to turn gray after 3 days or so.  Since I began adding vitamin C powder to it, it will hold for the better part of a week, if it needed to.  Obviously the top layer's going to be discolored, but everything underneath it stays nice and green.  This works especially well for certain specialty items that I prep ahead of time for a large rush (Cinco de Mayo is our busiest day of the year) such as avocado eggrolls that are next to impossible to hold air-tight.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

OK. I'm agreein' w/ _*Pete*_ here. It don't take no abacus to make guacamole. His set-up recommendation is a good way to go. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want any guacamole that's been sitting prepped _for 3-days to the better part of a week_. You're welcome to eat it, but it aint'e going on _my_ plate. I'm funny like that.


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## rbandu (Apr 30, 2012)

Fair enough.  I realize some people have the luxury of eating exclusively a la minute things.  My menu Is currently Tex-Mex; we plow through guac like a boss.  I make my guac daily, and we sell it all.  I was merely stating that if it came down to storage issues, the vitamin C does actually help, for overnight preparations that can't be held air-tight.  For this past Cinco, we did $16k in food sales from 6pm to 10pm.  The prep for that day was monstrous.  Wash off your hate!


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

No! Give in to your hate!


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## rbandu (Apr 30, 2012)

This is where I say that I can feel the hate inside you, and that a powerful Sith you'll become etc.  I still say wash it off.  For cleanliness.


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## kingfarvito (May 7, 2012)

maryjane1975 said:


> Hello! Got any good methods for holding prepped avocado during service for 4 oz guacamole to order, sliced for sandwiches, etc?
> 
> my volume is sporadic until Memorial day hits, trying to come up with a good way to prep a few, hold them (lemon juice in a 6 pan on the sandwich line?), mash & make guac to order, or make a guac and hold it for one service w/o it turning brown by 6:30.
> 
> ...


Fresh for sammiches you can just cut on the fly. It takes maybe ten seconds for someone that knows how to do it to cut and fan half an avo. As far as the gauc goes, just add lime juice to it when you make it, this adds flavor and helps to preserve it. In this case you should make it fresh daily and pull only what you need to fill a 1/6 pan, the rest will stay in a large container with plastic wrap pressed down on to the surface of the gauc. If you don't use it for a few hours it should be fine with a bit of a stir.


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## grasscouch (Apr 17, 2012)

a pinch of citric acid helps and the gladwrap trickis gd in a skinny tall container to reduce the surface area.


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

DuckFat said:


> A little extra acid on top and some plastic wrap works just Ducky. At worst you loose a little off the top.
> 
> Dave


Whoops. I meant to say I use this method to hold through a single shift. I've never found the need to make guac over and over in a single service. The plastic wrap gets pushed down to eliminate air gaps.

Dave


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## durangojo (Jul 30, 2007)

dunk in ice water or rinse under cold water....then wrap in saran......lasts for quite a few hours.

joey


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## deepsouthnyc (Mar 14, 2009)

All of these are good solutions, but I don't like the idea of adding acid or vitamin c powder to keep avocados from turning. Vitamin C powder has a certain tannic taste on food in small amounts and even worse in larger amounts. We use it specifically for turned artichokes that are going to be cooked immediatley. 

My favorite solution is using an immersion circulator. We circulate avocados directly in a water bath at 40C for 1 hour. It neutralizes the enzyme that discolors the avocado. The temperature it is "cooked" at doesn't change the actual texture of a raw avocado. We do submerge in an icebath after the hour mark.

We use this technique so we can make curls of an avocado for our wild fennel, blood orange and avocado salad.


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## zoebisch (Apr 9, 2012)

DeepsouthNYC said:


> My favorite solution is using an immersion circulator. We circulate avocados directly in a water bath at 40C for 1 hour. It neutralizes the enzyme that discolors the avocado. The temperature it is "cooked" at doesn't change the actual texture of a raw avocado. We do submerge in an icebath after the hour mark.
> 
> We use this technique so we can make curls of an avocado for our wild fennel, blood orange and avocado salad.


Very interesting, denaturing the enzyme, I like it. Does this alter the flavor (I am guessing at that low of a temperature no)? I would imagine you don't keep them terribly long, but on average how long before discoloration using this method? I am really liking this idea and my wheels are turning...


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## deepsouthnyc (Mar 14, 2009)

They won't discolor, but they do "dry out" after hours on end. We generally setup 10-12 orders before a big push. It doesn't have an effect on taste at all, nor texture.


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## twyst (Jan 22, 2012)

DeepsouthNYC said:


> All of these are good solutions, but I don't like the idea of adding acid or vitamin c powder to keep avocados from turning. Vitamin C powder has a certain tannic taste on food in small amounts and even worse in larger amounts. We use it specifically for turned artichokes that are going to be cooked immediatley.
> 
> My favorite solution is using an immersion circulator. We circulate avocados directly in a water bath at 40C for 1 hour. It neutralizes the enzyme that discolors the avocado. The temperature it is "cooked" at doesn't change the actual texture of a raw avocado. We do submerge in an icebath after the hour mark.
> 
> We use this technique so we can make curls of an avocado for our wild fennel, blood orange and avocado salad.


I can not wait to try this! Its going to open up a lot of new possibilities with avocados!


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

DeepsouthNYC said:


> My favorite solution is using an immersion circulator. We circulate avocados directly in a water bath at 40C for 1 hour. It neutralizes the enzyme that discolors the avocado. The temperature it is "cooked" at doesn't change the actual texture of a raw avocado. We do submerge in an icebath after the hour mark.


Are you using baking soda or any thing in the water?

Dave


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## deepsouthnyc (Mar 14, 2009)

No, just tap water. This is whole avocados, unpeeled, plunged into the water bath.


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## liza (Jul 10, 2011)

Baking soda in the water should work or a little lemon juice or vinegar.

BUT here's a thought,

disposable pastry bags? Make the guac. ahead of time and fill plastic pastry bags. tie off tightly and then cut off the tips when you get orders?


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

_*LOL.*_ This thread just keeps cracking me up. It's like a governmental committee creating a $500 project to change a $3 light-bulb.


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## zoebisch (Apr 9, 2012)

I was looking at these alternative methods, sparked by the thread. One other method is apparently to go under high pressure (800 M Pa....that's what the document said...not sure if it was a typo? that's like what 8000 atmospheres?) and this supposedly does it. I am guessing those commercial ones listed above use this. I was also intrigued to find that both Honey, Bromelain and Papain are all potentials to experiment with.  Here's the document I was reading.


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