Nothing I love more than a nice, ripe, sweet watermelon. I eat like 1 a week. But nothing I hate more than cutting into my melon and it not being ripe.

 

Is there a trick to picking out a ripe melon?

Thump on it. If it sounds hollow, it's ripe.

I loooooooooove watermelon.

ewwwwwwwwwwww watermelon ewwwwwwww

Thump on it. If it sounds hollow, it's ripe.

 

My old man's first job was at Reeve's Produce down in Ludlow. Among other things, he was the "tree hand" around Christmas time, and he worked on the produce truck that they used to idle up and down the streets of Ludlow with to sell fruit and vegetables. As a result, all 4 of his kids have at the very least two things that we've had passed down from him: an insistence on real Christmas trees in our living rooms, and the know-how to pick out ripe produce.

 

Swamprat was right about thumping on it. A good hollow sound is produced when the watermelon is nice an full of water (seeing as they are like 95% water). It's like rapping on the side of a full milk jug, versus rapping on the side of one that's only 2/3 full. They'll both make sound, but one makes a much more definite resonant and hollow sound because the liquid inside transfers the sound waves nice and evenly throughout the container - be it milk jug, or watermelon rind. That being said, the heavier the watermelon, the better. A nice ripe watermelon has as much water in it as possible...and is thereby nice and heavy.

 

Also check the spot on the underside - where the watermelon was sitting on the ground - to see if it is white, green, or yellow. White or green mean it isn't fully ripened yet. You want yellow.

 

Last, the green of the rind should be as dark as possible. Watermelons get darker the longer they sit on the vine.

I don't care for watermelon. I think I'm the only family member that doesn't. I LOVE a good, ripe canteloupe, preferably with a little salt.

I just don't understand salt on cantaloupe or watermelon...and I've tried it. I know there are a LOT of people who do it, but it's just not right in my book.

I just don't understand salt on cantaloup or watermelon...and I've tried it. I know there are a LOT of people who do it, but it's just not right in my book.

 

I like salt on my watermelon.

I don't care for watermelon. I think I'm the only family member that doesn't. I LOVE a good, ripe canteloupe, preferably with a little salt.

 

I'm cool with watermelon and will eat it from time to time, but I'm with you on the canteloupe, good stuff right there.

I just don't understand salt on cantaloupe or watermelon...and I've tried it. I know there are a LOT of people who do it, but it's just not right in my book.

 

I like salt on my watermelon.

 

 

 

I can eat it without, but definitely prefer salt on both.

I don't care for watermelon. I think I'm the only family member that doesn't. I LOVE a good, ripe canteloupe, preferably with a little salt.

 

Side note, three tips for finding the ripest cantaloupe:

 

1) Put your nose right up against the rind and smell it. It should smell sugary sweet, even through the rind. Cantaloupes are a muskmelon and give off a smell - "musk". If the sweet smell is particularly strong, though, you've got an over-ripe cantaloupe on your hands.

2) The netted striations on the rind get deeper once it has ripened. If the rind feels relatively smooth, then it isn't time yet.

3) A soft cantaloupe is an over-ripe (mushy) cantaloupe. The spot on the end of the melon opposite of the stem is the first spot to soften at all. This end should be slightly softened on a nicely ripened cantaloupe, but the rest of the melon should be firm.

 

 

A couple other things, cantaloupes will continue to ripen more even after they are picked, so if it doesn't seem quite ready yet, go ahead and sit it on a windowsill in your kitchen for a day or two and it will ripen for you. Also, we all like nice, cold slices of cantaloupe, but if you refrigerate it, even before it's cut, you should put it in a plastic bag...or at least in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Refrigerators will dry them out and make the flesh leathery in no time flat. If you only eat half of the melon, leave the seeds and seed pulp in the half that you're saving for later, and cover the entirety of the melon half it tightly with cling-wrap. The seeds will help keep the melon from drying out.

 

A couple other things, cantaloupes will continue to ripen more even after they are picked, so if it doesn't seem quite ready yet, go ahead and sit it on a windowsill in your kitchen for a day or two and it will ripen for you. Also, we all like nice, cold slices of cantaloupe, but if you refrigerate it, even before it's cut, you should put it in a plastic bag...or at least in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Refrigerators will dry them out and make the flesh leathery in no time flat. If you only eat half of the melon, leave the seeds and seed pulp in the half that you're saving for later, and cover the entirety of the melon half it tightly with cling-wrap. The seeds will help keep the melon from drying out.

 

Learn something new everyday...thanks!

Learn something new everyday...thanks!

 

:thumb: That's what I was going for.

Seedless watermelon is the greatest advancement in the history of agriculture.

Edited June 14, 201214 yr by Xtiger69
spelling error

Seedless watermelon is the greatest advancement in the history of agriculture.

 

Haha, THE greatest advancement? Man...that's a bold statement.

 

I would have to put the seedless grape, and the honeycrisp apple in there to compete with the seedless watermelon for that prized honor.