How You Know When Watermelon Is Ripe
How to Pick the Best, Juiciest Watermelons
It can be a little tricky to know beforehand what you'll find when you piece open a whole watermelon. But if you know what to expect for, you've got a better hazard of picking a ripe one.
The first people always to crevice open a watermelon must have thought they hit the jackpot (allow's gear up aside the fact that jackpots might non have been a thing back then). Total of water to quench the thirst and meaty fruit to fill the breadbasket, plus it comes in its own weatherproof packet? Cheers, Mother Nature!
But information technology'southward that solid rind that makes it hard to estimate what's within: Is it ripe and juicy or dry and mealy? Here's how to tell if a watermelon is ripe, plus tips for storing watermelon and favorite watermelon recipes.
How to Pick a Good Watermelon
Look for a Yellow Patch
Watermelons grow on vines that run along the ground, developing a light-colored patch on their undersides where the lord's day doesn't reach. Pick upwards a watermelon and look for that patch, also called a field spot.
If information technology's creamy xanthous, that indicates the melon was ripe when information technology was picked. If information technology's white or green, it was probably picked too soon and isn't ripe. And no, watermelons do not ripen after they're picked.
Await for the yellow patch that indicates ripeness. |
Cull a Heavy Melon
A ripe watermelon will experience heavier than you expect when you elevator it. That weight is due to the high water content — upwards to 92 percentage. Every bit a watermelon ages, it actually loses water weight and becomes dry and mealy. So if it feels also light, it's just not right.
Consider the Complexion
Since watermelon cultivars can range in color from very dark greenish with no stripes to quite pale with streaky green stripes, the greeness of the rind isn't the best indication of ripeness. If you're looking at a whole display of the aforementioned kind of watermelon, just expect for a fairly smooth pare.
A little bit of gnarlyness is okay — after all, it spent its life lying in a field — but in that location should not be cracks, bruises, or mushy spots. The overall surface should be matte instead of shiny (too shiny ways it's non ripe). And bank check for that yellow field spot.
Give It a Knock
Some folks swear by this: A ripe watermelon volition sound hollow when y'all tap information technology. If it'south mushy within, the sound will be muted.
Follow the Bees
Despite your best efforts at choosing a perfect melon, you might still end up with a watermelon whose inner flesh has cracked wide open. This status is called hollow eye, and while it might be disconcerting to expect at, it doesn't affect the sense of taste or quality of the melon. Agricultural scientists used to think it was acquired by irregular growth periods in the field, only now they suspect a lack of pollination resulting in a failure of seed product.
Fun Fact #ane. Watermelon seeds were constitute in the tomb of Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt from 1332 to 1323 B.C. It was common practise to place watermelons in royal burial chambers to provide nourishment in the afterlife.
Types of Watermelon
So that'due south how to tell if a watermelon is ripe. At present let'due south look at some watermelon varieties.
Watermelon doesn't merely come up in reddish. |
| Credit: Meredith
Ask a kid to depict a watermelon, and you'll probably get the usual dark-green on the outside and scarlet on the inside. Simply, with more than 1,200 varieties out there, watermelons come up in many shapes, colors, and flavors (not all are sweetness).
- In Nihon, farmers have adult a foursquare watermelon, designed for easy storage in your fridge. And they didn't finish in that location; they've got cone- and middle-shaped watermelons, too. Customers pay big for the novelty, of course.
- And though one of childhood's greatest pleasures is seeing how far you can spit watermelon seeds, crossbreeding has produced watermelons without seeds.
Fun Fact #2. Yep, you tin roast watermelon seeds the aforementioned way you lot tin can roast pumpkin seeds. After all, they share the same family tree.
How Long Does Watermelon Last?
Watermelon is picked off the vine when information technology's ripe, and so information technology'due south best to eat it inside a week of buying it at the grocery store.
- If you lot bought it fresh from the field or in a farmers' market, it could last up to three or four weeks uncut. If you can't eat information technology right abroad, store it in a absurd place.
- A piece of cut watermelon should be wrapped well in plastic, stored in the refrigerator, and eaten within ane or 2 days.
- Serving sliced watermelon at your cookout? Put it on ice to proceed it overnice and cold for food safety.
Fun Fact #3. A monster melon from Tennessee holds the world tape for the heaviest watermelon. Grown in 2013 and weighing in at 350+ pounds, information technology was the pride and joy of Chris Kent, who spent nigh four hours a day tending to his melons. (Probably to go along them from attacking.)
Is Watermelon Good For You?
Watermelon is both delicious and nutritious. Information technology's a good source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, and it'southward ranked as an anti-inflammatory fruit. Plus yous're biting into naturally hydrating electrolytes, and vitamins A and C for healthy peel and hair. A cup of watermelon contains a mere 46 calories, which yous can burn off by tossing a huge watermelon around for 10 or xv minutes.
Fun Fact #iv. Can you freeze watermelon? Yes and no. You lot can make watermelon ice cubes by cut up the fruit into squares and freezing them on a lined blistering sail. One time the cubes are frozen, transfer them to a zippo-top freezer bag. They're great for chilling drinks only not for eating — they lose their crisp texture in the freezing process.
Related
- Make the Well-nigh of Watermelon Flavour With These Favorite Recipes
- Gorgeous Watermelon Drinks to Bust Your Thirst All Summer
- Get all the watermelon recipes.
Source: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-pick-watermelon/
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