Hi all, I'm wondering, if I pick my own or buy a watermelon, does it continue to ripen?
Somtimes I buy a watermelon and it's not ripe enough so I'm wondering if there is any benefit to just leaving it for a week before cutting it open.
---pete---
Never noticed it. Look for a big whitish yellow patch on the bottom. IMO, the uglier and scabbier that patch, the more chance it tastes good. I can't tell ripeness by smell the way I can with cantaloupe, but some folks say that the less a watermelon shines the more ripe it is.
If they aren't too unripe, use the unripe ones for watermelon sweet pickles or relish.
Watermelons do not continue to ripen once they/ve been removed from the vine, so there/e no benefit in waiting.
------ Ok, thanks.
--pete--
On this topic of watermelons, I've also been wondering about the Seedless Watermelons sold in grocery stores. I'm wondering how they create Seedless Watermelon and if they are less healthy or less nutritious than natural seeded watermelon.
I know it's more convenient to have no seeds and the Seedless variety seems extra sweet compared to seeded watermelon, but it makes me wonder what the trade off is in relation to health & nutrition.
---pete--
More or less. I'd call it a hollow sound, but that is splitting hairs. You are hearing the hard rind and watery inside. I've not had as much success with thumping on watermelons as on the smaller melons with a defined seed cavity. The only real way to tell ripeness is to take out a slice and taste it. :-) If you get an unripe one from a store, complain to the produce manager, and have him open the next one you want, so you can both taste that it is ripe. If he won't do this, get the store manager or change stores - a produce manager is supposed to be more than a glorified stock boy. If the store got stuck with unripe melons, that is not your problem, and a good produce manager will pull them for credit rather than lose customer confidence. If you are growing watermelons, the simple answer is to wait for the maturity days listed on the seed packet, no matter how hungry you are.
Well some picked fruit ripen because their skins continue to produce ethylene long after they were picked. Watermelon isn't one of those fruit, however it is sensitive to ethylene; Unfortunately it becomes soggy instead of ripening :)
So don't store watermelons with fruit that emit ethylene (apple, banana, mangos etc) and pick a ripe one by cutting a thin sliver and looking to see how red it is. Street sellers here do that. They cut a tiny square and if you want to examine the melon, he'll pull out the sliver and show that to you. It's not a health risk 'cause the sliver is heaved back in and it seals the innards.
Harry, at the local produce store this morning, I tried picking a watermelon by choosing one with the most yellow and scabby looking patch. This evening I opened it up and it was nasty. The rind had a yellowish color to it and the flesh was overly ripe and rotting inside. It tasted terrible. I wish I had thumped on it to hear what a rotten one sounds like but I didn't. Anyway it was so bad I had to put the whole thing in my compost bin.
I think there is something good to your technique but it has to be combined with something else like thumping. Maybe thumping the melon and hearing a dull thud would indicate it's rotten inside. However, if it made a hollow or ringing sound it would indicate the flesh is more firm.
Any expert fruit pickers out there?
PS: The store is too far away to go complain or get a new melon. I just like to learn how to select a good one in the first place. Watermelons are toughest to select a good one.
---pete---
Boy, that sucks. :-( All I can think is that the field was overripe and someone went in for a last pickings before the melons went for hog feed or were tilled under. Sorry about that.
That is a good idea. I'd also be complaining to the produce store.
Bad luck. Next time see whether they will cut the melon at the store for you, before you buy. They might cut a small pyramid out of its centre and let you try it. If it's no good, why would they want you to still buy it? No harm in asking.
Yes, I can usually pick a good one by tapping on it, but it would be too difficult to explain the different nuance. Try tapping on the lot next time, just to see whether you can distinguish any difference. Ask the store owner to tap on them and select a good one for you. I sure wouldn't go for a scabby yellowed one!!! They'd be well past their best. You want a tight glossy dark green one.
-- John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)
True. In fact people used to store them in a cool dark place, like a closet, and eat them in December.
As to thumping, I listen for a deeper hollow sound vs a solid sound and
9 times out of 10 I'll get a good melon. Looking for a pale underside doesn't always work since many farmers will roll the melons during growth to get a pretty marketable look. Also, my experience is the darker green the rind is, the sweeter the melon so I rarely buy the pale green ones.Bob
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