Prue Leith's Hack For Cutting Avocados Uses An Unexpected Baking Tool

Avocados have been the brunt of plenty of jokes, as a food that's deeply associated with millennials and internet fame — avocado toast anyone? Yet, despite their steady cultural relevance, we're still uncovering new ways to work with and master the buttery, fatty fruit. In her just-released book titled "Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom: Really Good Food Without the Fuss," Prue Leith, beloved judge on the "Great British Bake Off" and renowned restaurateur, teacher, food journalist, and author, provides just that: time-saving tricks and why-didn't-I-think-of that hacks. For example, mastering the art of cutting an avocado, no knife required.

While it seems like everyone has a hot take or tip for working with avocados, Leith's is one we bet you haven't tried before. According to her, cubing an avocado is not a task meant for a knife or specialized avocado-slicing gadget that'll only take up space in your drawer, but a metal cooling rack. That's right, when you have ripe avocados calling your name — which we all know means you have mere minutes to use them up — whip out that baking rack you'd normally use to cool fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies to achieve easy, mess-free avocado cubes.

Prue Leith recommends forgetting everything you thought you knew about handling avocados. Grab yourself a bowl, a metal cooling rack, and a ripe avocado, halved and with the stone removed (she recommends removing it by giving it a firm whack with a large knife, then twisting). Set the cooling rack atop the bowl and press the halved avocado, flesh-side down, against the grid of the rack with enough force to squeeze the flesh through the metal, creating cubes that fall right into the bowl. Leith suggests scraping out the emptied shell lest you waste any precious avocado. Then, you're ready to add seasonings, mash it into a guac, or enjoy the cubes atop a salad. 

Leith minces no words when it comes to time-saving, workaround hacks. While she obviously loves cooking, she shares that she "cheats all the time," and gives permission to those short on time or who simply don't love cooking to do the same. One such cheat is nixing the standard way of cubing an avocado, which typically involves handling slippery, mushy flesh or slicing toward your hand while holding the halved fruit. Never mind the quandary of knowing which knife is the right one, as cutting an avocado with a metal knife can actually spoil the delicate green meat and speed up decay. A method that requires no new purchases, zero knife work, and no dirtying of a cutting board or potentially nicked hand? Consider us converted.