Ok, so how in the heck do you know how watermelons are ripe? I was told if the outside was a dark green, they were ripe. I have yet to pick out a ripe watermelon!!!! Help!!!!!
Awesome! So when i thump it, it needs to sound hollow and the flat spot needs to be yellow. Great!
Tori H, i know exactly what you mean. I always go to the farmers market to get mine and they pick it out for me and i never watch how they chose the ripe ones or i never bothered to ask. Well last week when i went, they were all out. so i had to run to hyvee and i am like great.. now what? i dont know which ones are ripe.. and of course i bought one that wasnt. :(
thanks for all the great tips!
My husband was told (by an avid gardener) that you want to pick one with a big, yellow spot b/c that means it was on the vine long enough to become fully ripe. It works ~ he brings home the best watermelon!
Busy:
It should sound hollow when you thump it and the flat spot, where it grew on the ground, should be yellow, not white.
Thump it. If it sounds hollow it's ripe. I just pick up a watermelon without any sort of screening and have never gotten one that was not ripe. Sometimes I get one that is too ripe.
I thump. Hollow = great.
So complicated, right?
I go there to the grocery store, and thump it too.
Who knows why.
My kids ask me why I do that and I say I don't know "That is how you choose one..." as though I am an expert. LOL!
Seems like that is the thing to do.
Then I look at it.... each one... and see if it looks ripe to me. Usually one with yellow on it somewhere.
Then I hold it in my hand, and sort of bob it up and down, I don't know why.
Then if it seems solid to me, then I choose it.
A grocer once told me that, well per picking oranges, pick the ones that are heaviest. That means it is juicy inside. And that has been true for me. But that is with oranges.
But so I do that with watermelons too.
Duh.
And if I still don't know which one to pick, I tell my kids to pick one. And that's the one we buy. We've gotten good ones!
My dad always knocked on it, and depending on the sound he would know.
I still have no clue what it's supposed to sound like though.. .lol.
If you knock on one, it should sound hollow.
A better test (beware the odd looks you might get) is to hold it, close your eyes, and run your fingers around the center of the watermelon (the fattest part.) A ripe melon will not feel smooth in the center, but ridgy.
When I am picking one out of my own garden, I look for one that has gone completely flat where it laid and turned very pale. I don't know if that translates into store bought melons or not.
I work for a farmers market. An old farmer told us to scratch the rind with your finger nail, if it scratches easily it is ripe. If you can't scratch it then it isn't ripe. I use the scratch test and go with the one that has the best yellow spot. I haven't had a bad one yet since using the scratch test! Seriously!
I look for a large yellow spot. Usually they're good!
Ask the produce worker to pick you out one...thats what I do.
I do know you are supposed to knock on melons but I do not know what I am supposed to be listening for? Ha!
You have to look for the flat spot, which is the spot where the watermelon grew on the ground. It looks white until it's ripe, and then when it's ripe it turns yellow.
No need to thump or check how green the rounded part of the melon is. None of that is accurate. That's how my mom taught me and they confirmed it on the Today Show a few mornings ago. :-)
You thump them on the side (yes, I am serious). It should give a good thump when you hit it. I don't know how else to describe the thump.
More hollow the thump the better the melon...my grandma taught me. Haven't picked a dud in years!!
Great question, I'm glad you got so many helpful answers b/c I didn't know either! I have been buying all my fruit at the farmer's market this summer (except for the blueberries we picked ourselves ;) and I have been soooooo happy with the results. Everything has been sweet, juicy and perfectly ripe! This is the first summer I have done that and I can't believe it's taken me this long!
I go by smell at where the stem was, if you smell yummy ripe melon then it is probably good. Also, the knock test. Hold it up to your ear and knock on it. If it sounds hollow, then it is good.
ha i was wondering this exact thing yesterday when i picked out a watermelon for our 4th of july picnic!!
thanks for asking this great question!
My grandpa used to look for bee stings to find a sweet watermelon. I used to pick the nicest shaped green one, but after I realized that wasn't the secret I started picking out the most undesirable looking watermelon and that has proven to give me sweat watermelons.
