Avocados are mighty. You can do many things with them. Make guacamole, add them to a sandwich, make vegan sushi like this Green Roll, and even hide them in the Ultimate Vegan Brownie. What’s more, they can replace butter in baking for a healthier take on a recipe. To get you started on your avocado venture, try these 7 Cool Ways to Use Avocados in the Summer.

Watch the video above as Stephen Gibbs, executive chef of Hands On Gourmet, teaches you his tips to prevent an avocado from browning!

For more tips and tricks on pitting, ripening, saving avocados, check out the advice below:

1. Cutting & Pitting Avocados the Correct Way

How do you pit an avocado you ask? Well, you “tap the pit firmly with a knife to lodge it there, and twist the pit out,” according to Lifehacker. Remember, this only works for ripe avocados. With this trick, there’s no more need in losing all that precious avocado inside with other methods, like scooping out the pit with a spoon.

Here’s how you cut and pit an avocado — the correct way:

2. Ripen an Unripe Avocado Quickly

Have you ever accidentally bought avocados that weren’t ripe and then realized, “oh no, how am I suppose to make guacamole in time for my party?!” Well, you’re in luck. There’s a trick we have for you, from the Tasting Table, on how to ripen that stubborn, unripe avocado of yours.

“Just put them in a paper bag with a banana,” said the Tasting Table.

“Bananas naturally release ethylene gas, which speeds up the avocado’s ripening process,” said Kalisa Martin, the Tasting Table’s director of operations.

Here’s a demonstration:

3. Finding Perfectly Ripe Avocados for Same Day Use

From Northwest Edible Life, here’s the trick: “Before you commit to a specific avocado, look for all the external signs of ripe-but-not-rotten. With a Hass avocado (the variety we tend to get on the West coast), the skin should be very dark green-to-black and bumpy. The fruit should feel heavy and firm, with no obvious smooshy parts or flat areas. Now here’s the trick. Once you’ve got a good candidate, take a sneak-peak at what’s inside. Discreetly flick the dry stem off the fruit.”

If the inside of the stem is dark brown, grey, or black, the avocado will be no good. If the inside of the stem area is bright green or yellowish, you’ve got a winner. It’s that simple!

Here’s more tips for picking the right avocados:

4. Keeping Guacamole Fresh for Longer

What do you do when you want to keep guacamole in its bright green state for longer? The secret is in one key ingredient: water. When guacamole is exposed to air, it oxidizes and, thus, turns into an unappealing brown state. For fresher guacamole, The Kitchn has tips on helping your guacamole stay green. First, add your guacamole into a air-tight container. Be sure to press out all of the air bubbles. Then, precede to add about 1/2 inch of water to cover the top of the mixture. Water helps keep oxygen out, and thus, you can refrigerate and enjoy your guacamole for up to three days.

Another method from Lifehacker is to mash up that avocado to make plain guacamole. Place the mixture into a sturdy ziplock, add lemon juice, zip, and freeze. This method can leave you with fresh guacamole for up to a year!

Here are some more tips:

What are you waiting for? Get out there, buy some avocados, and make some guacamole!