When you think about that a watermelon is 92% water, it’s not surprising that the fruit is an authentic staple throughout the most popular months of the year. Not every melon is as delicious as it is hydrating: All too frequently you bite into a piece just to find that the within is mealy, dull, and extremely unappetizing.
Chances are you’ve been catfished like this before. How do you avoid it from taking place once again? Identifying a yummy melon may appear like a magic technique or fragile farming art, however there are really some simple methods to select a great one so you do not squander your cash– and you can experience all of its rejuvenating, antioxidant-packed goodness without needing to choke down a loser. Here’s what you require to understand.
1. Rounder is much better …
Melons are available in all various sizes and shapes– some are little, some huge, some oblong, some round– however the “great and fat” ones are most likely going to be your best choice, Lee Wroten, a Georgia-based watermelon farmer and the present president of the National Watermelon Promotion Board, informs SELF. “If they’re genuine long and genuine slim, they have not been offered time on the vine to plump up and actually complete and reach their complete maturity,” he states.
2. … And so is much heavier.
In regards to weight, pick melons that are heavy and thick for their size. “If you wish to be clinical, choose 2 similar-size watermelons and weigh them on the supermarket scale,” Julie Garden-Robinson, PhD, RD, a teacher and extension expert at North Dakota State University, informs SELF. Heaviness, she keeps in mind, is a strong indication of juiciness– and who desires a dry melon?
3. Try to find contusions, scars, and other imperfections.
Next, examine the skin to make certain it’s not too filthy or harmed, according to Wroten and Dr. Garden-Robinson. While little nicks and scrapes will not impact the quality of the flesh, Wroten states, a “good, tidy watermelon” influences more self-confidence than a run-down one– and a greatly bruised melon might be softer and mushier at the bad websites. (If you do take place to purchase a melon with some bruising, it’s not completion of the world. Just like an apple, you can constantly slice around the bad areas, Wroten explains.)
4. Examine the color on the bottom.
You understand that shady spot on the bottom of a watermelon? Well, it has a name– the field area– and its color is a trustworthy factor of ripeness, according to Wroten.
Essentially, the field area describes the melon’s point of contact with the ground while it was connected to the vine. Yellow field areas show the fruit “ripened in the field,” Dr. Garden-Robinson states. By the exact same token, white field areas recommend “the melon wasn’t permitted to develop on the vine,” Wroten states. And an immature or underripe melon is less most likely to taste great.
5. Offer it a great knock or more.
Every watermelon that hands down the conveyor belt throughout the product packaging and grading procedure at Wroten’s farm gets “thumped,” he states.