Can you eat brown guacamole? Let’s see the guacamole shelf life!
Every New Year’s Eve, you set a resolution that you will eat healthily and stay fit. You immediately grab your phone and search for food recipes that can make you healthier. However, there are times when you get caught in a dilemma whether to eat for better skin, stronger bones, or greater immunity. These are the moments you start searching for a magic ingredient to come to our rescue.
Have you ever wondered about a recipe that can become a companion to your tacos and a soulmate to all your favorite snacks?
Well, look no further because guacamole is your first step towards attaining your New Year’s resolution. Guacamole is a dip and a sideline to all your favorite snacks. This creamy dip is purely made from one of the most precious fruits in the world: Avocados. A heavenly fruit that acts as an all-rounder when it comes to taking care of your health.
The guacamole is rich in health benefits and, when consumed, provides endless vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes to the body. Guacamole is highly concentrated in antioxidants which are incredibly beneficial for the skin, hair, nails, and eyes. Guacamole is prepared from a magic fruit with many invigorating properties to strengthen the human body and mind.
Can you eat brown guacamole?
Have you ever experienced a time when you became too obsessed with a new recipe and ended up making a considerable surplus of it in your kitchen? Well, the same goes for the recipe of guacamole.
Since guacamole is purely made with fresh Avocados, which contains an enzyme in its flesh that, when exposed to oxygen, turns the upper layer of the Guacamole brown and unpleasant in appearance. This is the reason why your guacamole turns brown hours after you finish preparing it. However, the question that arises here is whether it is safe to eat brown guacamole.
The answer is Yes!
You can eat brown guacamole, and it is entirely safe to consume it because even though the process of oxidation has changed its color, the flavor and its nutritional benefits remain unchanged.
The brown guacamole is safe to eat as long as you have correctly stored it in your refrigerator.
How long is guacamole good for?
Once you have made the perfect guacamole, you want to store it for as long as you can. However, just like all other foods, guacamole also has a finite life. You can, however, extend its life by keeping it in the fridge and freezer.
Room temperature
Temperature plays a crucial role in preventing guacamole from turning brown and elongating its freshness. The variation in the temperatures affects the life of guacamole.
Guacamole lasts for around 2 hours at room temperature before it starts getting brown and unpleasant. Room temperatures are about 21-22 degrees Celsius. This shows that guacamole cannot resist and thrive at such a high temperature; therefore, it can only last 2 hours.
In the fridge
Guacamole lasts for 3-4 days when you put it in your fridge. The fridge’s temperature elongates the freshness and goodness of guacamole.
In the freezer
When you put your excess guacamole in the freezer to enjoy it at a later time, it tends to last for 4-5 months. Yes, you heard it right! The freezer stretches the lifespan of the guacamole so that you can enjoy your food whenever you like.
The temperature of a freezer is below -18 degrees Celsius. This shows that as the temperatures go down, the guacamole’s lifespans increase.
Why does guacamole turn brown? 5 Reasons
There are times when your brain starts questioning things, and you have no answers to feed it. Therefore, before your brain starts asking why your guacamole turns brown, know what answers you could feed it. There are many reasons why your guacamole has the tendency to turn brown. The most common reasons are:
1) Enzymes
Enzymatic browning is one of the sole reasons why your guacamole turns brown. The enzymatic browning generates the production of melanins which contribute to your brown guacamole.
This is the same melanin that causes pigmentation among humans. It is considered bad in fruits like apples and avocados.
2) Oxygen
The air around us contains oxygen which plays a crucial role in turning your guacamole brown and unpleasant.
The oxygen reacts with the enzymes in the guacamole and turns it brownish in color. When the enzymes contact the air outside, oxidation starts, which then starts to bring a brown color to the upper layer of your guacamole.
3) Temperature
The warm temperatures support and boost the process of browning in guacamole. This is the reason why freezing your guacamole would prevent it from browning for a few more days.
4) Alkaline conditions
When your guacamole comes in contact with the air, the conditions in your guacamole become alkaline and start to favor the process of oxidization.
Therefore, it is suggested to use lime juice to prevent browning.
5) No protective barrier
The upper layer of your guacamole is susceptible and has no barriers to protect itself from oxygen in the air.
This sensitivity is the reason why your guacamole turns brown within hours.
This is the reason why water is sprayed on guacamole to form a protective layer to prevent browning.
How to prevent guacamole from turning brown?
It is pretty upsetting to see your hard work turn brown. Well, you work for hours in the kitchen to prepare your favorite guacamole only to find it brown and unpleasant after some hours. Have you ever wondered the ways through which you can prevent your favorite go-to recipe from turning brown?
There are many answers to this question as there are many ways to save your favorite sideline from becoming prey to the vicious oxidation effect.
1) Add lime juice
Adding lime juice to your guacamole would prevent alkaline conditions due to its high acidic properties. Hence, it would prevent the oxidation process, thus saving the guacamole from turning brown.
2) Plastic Wrap
Wrapping your guacamole with plastic would prevent it from browning with oxygen exposure. A tight seal of plastic would mean no air could get inside the guacamole.
Therefore, the enzymes in the guacamole would not be able to react with oxygen, so your sideline would be saved from turning brown.
3) Add Water
Putting water on your guacamole would help it sit on your dense, fatty food. This would act like a shield protecting the guacamole from the outside atmosphere and prevent it from turning brown.
4) Air-tight containers
Putting your freshly made guacamole in an air-tight container would help prevent oxygen from entering your sideline. This would prevent the process of oxidation as no oxygen would be able to enter the container. Hence, your guacamole would be saved from turning brown.
5) Make it flat
When you are done making your batch of creamy, rich guacamole, then press it hard against the kitchen floor and flatten the entire guacamole so that no air pockets are left inside it.
This would help reduce the oxygen content from your guacamole which would elongate its lifespan. Lesser air pockets would mean lower levels of oxygen present in your sideline, which would help prevent the oxidation in the guacamole. It would help in stretching the greener side of your dip.
Can I store guacamole in the fridge?
The moment you crack open that Avocado to make your favorite sideline, it’s a race against time before it goes brown. The question that arises here is whether it is possible to store guacamole in the fridge.
The answer is an absolute yes!
You can store guacamole in the fridge, and it would last for 3-4 days without getting bad.
This shows how temperature plays a critical role in the freshness of your guacamole.
The fridge’s temperature is below 4 degrees Celsius, which means when guacamole is stored below that temperature, it tends to remain intact and greener in color.
Final words
Although Avocados are known as heavenly fruits, everything comes for a limited time, and so does your favorite guacamole recipe. Guacamole has many health benefits. It helps to strengthen your hair and nails and make your skin radiant and youthful. Guacamole is loaded with Folate and vitamin E, which helps prevent cardiovascular diseases and strengthen the heart’s muscles.
If your vision is compromised, then guacamole is there for the rescue. It is filled with vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for the eyes. People in their old age and suffering from various issues like cholesterol and indigestion can also help themselves without using medicines through guacamole.
All these benefits under one roof are nothing less than a miracle in disguise. So what are you guys waiting for?
Grab the freshest Avocados and start making your own batch of guacamole before the firecrackers light your skies again. You regret not completing your previous New Year’s resolution. Don’t waste another year. Have a Happy Guacamoles!
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