Follow These 3 Steps to Choose the Perfect Watermelon
It is summer now, so you probably want to take advantage of a fresh watermelon now that the season is coming. But how can you tell which melon is the most ripe and sweetest, and which are best left at the grocery store? Here are three steps to choosing the perfect watermelon, courtesy of Texas A&M Agrilife .
This year’s harvest
If you’ve tasted watermelon before and noticed that it’s especially sweet, you’re not wrong. Juan Anziso , a professor at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, said this year’s harvest of watermelons, especially those grown in the Rio Grande Valley, is above average in sweetness. In fact, there is a special scale that determines the degree of sweetness of the fruit, called the brix counter . For watermelons, a score of 10 means that the watermelon is medium sweet, and an 11 means it is “very sweet.” The harvest this year is between 11 and 13.
But even though watermelons are incredibly sweet this summer, that doesn’t mean you can just grab any from the grocery department. Here are three things to do in order to choose the best watermelon.
1. Find the yellow belly.
Since you can’t cut up a watermelon in a store or farmers’ market to see what it looks like on the inside, the next best way to test ripeness is to look for a spot in the field. This mark shows where the melon was on the ground when it was attached to the vine. Here’s exactly what Texas A&M advises looking for :
If the melon is ripe, the field should be a large yellow spot on one side of the melon. If ripe, the color should be creamy, almost buttery yellow. The larger the yellow belly and the creamier the color, the longer the melon has matured on the vine. However, if the spot is smaller or appears whiter than yellow, the melon may not be as ripe.
2. Touch the lower abdomen.
If you’ve ever seen people hitting or tapping on a cantaloupe, they are probably trying to find a ripe melon (or just have a very strange hobby). To use this technique, lightly tap the melons on the lower belly. If the watermelon has sung, it will have a deeper sound. If it is overripe, it will have a dull or flat sound, which may indicate that the flesh is starting to soften and deteriorate.
3. Don’t choose the most beautiful
When it comes to watermelons, you’ll want to find ones that are dull and heavy, but not the most photogenic. If the watermelon is glistening on the outside, it means that it has not yet sung. And if it’s heavier than the rest of the melons available, that’s a good sign. Since watermelons are 92% water , a heavier melon is likely to contain more water, making it juicier.