A Step-By-Step Guide to De-Pitting and Slicing an Avocado

In 2017, the Times of London issued a PSA about “avocado hand”: “serious stab and slash injuries that are the result of failed attempts to penetrate the fruit’s hard outer casing with a sharp knife before encountering a resistant inner stone.” Yikes.

Avoid avocado hand with these steps on how to de-pit and slice an avocado, courtesy of Rebecca Goldfarb of the Social Table, who showed us the proper avocado-cutting technique using an eight-inch Schmidt Brothers chef’s knife.

1. If the avocado still has a nib at its top from where it was attached to the tree, remove the nib before starting to cut.
2. Placing a nice high grip on the knife, slice into the avocado from its top, knifing down straight to where the pit is.
3. Spin the avocado (not the knife) and continue to slice through to the pit, creating a cut that goes all the way around the avocado.
4. Set the knife aside and cup the avocado in both palms. Twist your palm or palms to detach the avocado halves and open them up.
5. Hold the avocado half that has the pit in the palm of one hand, and, placing your grip on the back couple of inches of the knife, pop the blade into the pit, cautiously yet with enough force that the blade sticks into the pit.
6. Using the knife blade, twist the pit so that it comes out of the avocado.
7. Use a paper towel to carefully remove the pit from the blade. Discard the pit.
8. Switch to a small serrated paring knife to cut the avocado into slices.
9. Take one of the avocado halves in the palm of one hand, and use your knife to create a series of slices from top to bottom that are deep but don’t cut through the skin.
10. Gently squeeze the avocado half to loosen the slices.
11. Grab a teaspoon and work it around the perimeter of the avocado half, until the slices can be removed from the skin.
12. Repeat steps 9 through 12 on the other avocado half.