How To Pick A Good Ripe Watermelon
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During the summer months, watermelon becomes a staple in most homes. With its juicy deliciousness it makes an excellent midday snack and it makes a great addition to a flavorful fruit salad. However, it can be quite disappointing when you take a bite of that watermelon that looks so good only to have it not taste very good, and the reason for its bad taste is because it’s either unripe or overly ripe watermelon.
To avoid that disappointment, here are a few tips on how to pick a good ripe watermelon:
1. Find a watermelon that has really bright skin, feels firm, and is completely symmetrical. You don’t want to pick one that has a shiny appearance as that indicates that it’s unripe. An unsymmetrical watermelon could mean that it had trouble growing so it may not be ripe all the way through.
2. Look for the field spot. If the watermelon is ripe, it will have a creamy yellow spot on one side of it. This spot is where the watermelon sat on the ground as it grew and ripened. The brighter the spot is, the longer it stayed on the vine. If the spot is almost white or not there at all, the watermelon was picked too soon and is not ripe.
3. Picking the heaviest watermelon out of other watermelons the same size indicates that it has a lot of water in it, which is good because that means it is ripe.
4. Hold the watermelon close to your ear and knock on it while listening for the sound the knock produces. A dull thud sound means it is not yet ripe. If there is a hollow sound, the watermelon is ripe and ready to take home.
5. Make sure there is no stem on the watermelon. If there is a stem, the watermelon was picked too early and you should choose a different one.
The more watermelons you pick out at the grocery store, the better you get at picking the good ripe ones. But until you develop that intuitive feeling towards which watermelon is better, follow the tips above to maximize your chances of picking a great tasting ripe watermelon :) For more tips on picking good fruits, see how to pick a ripe mango and how to pick a good avocado. And if you need help cutting the watermelon, check out my step-by-step guide on how to cut a watermelon.
