Exactly how I do it. So easy.

Alton Brown (from Food Network's Good Eats) recommended the same technique using a chef's knife. Perhaps a good addition: To remove the pit from the knife safely, he said to pinch the blade from the rear and push the pit off, rather than trying to pull it off and cutting yourself if your grip should slip.

I do it that same way too. Minimizes the chances of wasting avocado flesh!

i cut mine into fourths. easy peasy. and considering that large hass avacados are now almost 3 bucks a pop in my area (south texas) im not wasting a damn bit of the avacados!

*applauds* Justin R. I try to get people to get the pit off the knife like this all the time, I have seen so many people gouge their hands from slipping on the pit.

I do it this way too. And afterward a quick rap on the edge of the kitchen sink frees the pit from the knife so I don't have pull it off with my hands.

If the avocado is still a little under-ripe and the flesh is clinging more tightly to the pit then I do the quartering thing.

I use this technique as well, to get the pit off of the knife I simply tap the handle of my knife against the trash can and it pops right off into the trash! No risk of slicing my hands!

i use the chef's knife method and to dislodge the pit i place it against the cutting board and twist the knife to the right, popping it out

I'm with everyone here, except I do not hold the half of the avocado pit while aiming the knife at it. I just aly it in the counter and whack away. Since you don't need to bury it very deep, I don't us a lot of force, and have managed never to cut my hand. Yay!

I second the knife method, and tap to remove as well. No fingers in the blade vicinity!

Emma,
This was a trick question ¿N'est pas?

i dislodge the pit by banging the knife right under the blade (where the handle meets the blade) against the edge of the garbage can. which about 5% of the time causes it to fly everywhere BUT the garbage, but still no hand-cutting ...

I concentrate really really hard while staring at the avocado pit. If I do it right, it just pops out on its own. If I'm doing extra well, it walks its little rolly self into the trash can.

I use the heel of the knife as pictured, and a gentle whack of the handle on the compost bucket gets it right off. No finger/hand danger involved.

When I slice a ripe avocado, that slice will easily come off the pit. No need for fancy tricks. It just comes off on it's own. Period.

I catapult the pit out with a fork.

I dig my fingernails into the pit and twist. The knife method always makes me nervous.

I used to have to pit tons of these a day as a cook at a vegetarian restaurant, and we'd always slice in half then impale with the knife as mentioned. I found some small pleasures in then smashing the pit - still on the knife - into the cutting board, slicing it through and dislodging it from the knife (and often onto the floor, but it was waste either way). This also avoids the risk of cutting your hand while prying the pit off the knife.

That's how i do it too, budnick! So satisfying!

I always slice in half and then gently squeeze the avocado. I never seem to have to use so much force that it squishes the flesh, and the pit pops right out.

As fi_burke said, I never hold the avocado in my hand when I'm whacking the chef's knife into the pit. Not only do you not need to hold the avocado steady enough sink the knife deeply into the pit, but it's actively undesirable to sink the knife in deeply, since that just makes it harder to remove from the knife. You just need the blade to nip into the avocado enough to twist loose.

And I also use the pinch method to remove the pit from the knife. It's easy, tidy, and super-safe.

I cut mine into quarters. It makes it easy to get the pit out and to peel the avocado. We were told to do it this way when we went to a cooking class in Cozumel Mexico.

I use ripe avocados. No tools neccesary.

I used this method for years, but two years ago while working at a restaurant I was de-pitting several avocados in preparation for the evening's shift and I got an avocado with a lose pit, (unbeknownst to me) brought the knife down to catch the pit, the pit shot out of the avocado and the knife severed the nerves in my thumb. It's still numb around the scar. I would caution anyone using this method to ensure that the pit won't come out on it's own first.

same technique, much smaller knife than the one pictured... a little overkill for such a tame little fruit, no? Unless, you're into pit smashing (which sounds oddly satisfying btw) - then by all means, whack away!

Easy, tap the sharp edge of the knife into it, rotate slightly and it comes right out.

Really? I had no idea it was supposed to be this much of a problem! I just kind of pry the pit out with a butter knife, putting the end of the knife on the pit just above the flesh and it pops out no problem and the flesh stays untouched.

There was a lot of news coverage about the emergency room being filled up with people removing the pits this way. They had all severe cuts on their palms. One of the doctors even admitted that she had hurt herself this way. So, even though I see how this is probably a very professional looking way to do this, it's probably safer to amateur it with a spoon or similar in my opinion. :)

I think people are just applying too much force, or are using knives that are too dull (and are slipping). It doesn't take much to lodge the knife in there just a little (enough to twist the pit out). Once I have it on my knife, I use the thumb of the hand I'm holding the knife with to push the pit off - to do this, you need to hit the pit with the knife right near the handle. This also gives you more control over where the blade roes.

Though sorry to hear about people's accidents, it makes me laugh and imagine people attacking the avocado pits in their hands with all of the trappings and battle-cry of a warrior. My sweet little grandmother has been cutting up avocado like this weekly since the beginning of time and has never cut herself once. Doesn't it go without saying that you should just be careful when using a knife?

I was taught the aforementioned method. Part of the key to this is a "light" tap. My problem is that I like to try and sprout the pits afterwards. My mom has a 15 foot tree in her living room from doing this. So I try not to cut too deeply. Though the outside of the pit may not be the important part for sprouting.

As I'm a very weary knife user, I prefer not to use this method. Instead, I slice the avocado length-wise into thirds. This leaves the pit open on both sides with a ring of avocado around it. Then I simply push the pit out of the ring. Done.

I do it this way too - really the trick is to NOT hold the avocado when you do this. You don't need to. Place it on the counter and gently whack it with your chef's knife as directed. This method holds no dangers.

Don't get too cocky either - because I unthinkingly decided to do this with the tip of a paring knife once and landed in the emergency room with a hole in the middle of my hand. They told me that this is one of the most common injuries they get in the emergency room in NYC. Really dangerous too - as you could sever nerves in your hand.

Simple technique. My son calls it the "tortero" technique, as it is quite common to see people making tortas using the light tap with the knife to dislodge the pit. Some of the more apt will dislodge the pit, cut some slice of the pulp, put it in the bread and in the same motion dislodge the put from the knife, in the very same motion. Quite impressive.

Here's a good instructional video of this being done: http://www.thewelldaily.com/new-york/article/taideds_go-to_guacamole

There are two ways to remove the pit from the knife:
1) Open a drawer. Put the pit+knife in the drawer, with the handle outside of the drawer. Close the drawer. Keeping the drawer closed with your left hand, pull the knife (Minus the pit) out of the drawer. Forget about the pit and leave it for someone else to find.

2) Smack that knife right through the pit!

Have fun ;)