How to Know When Sugar Baby Watermelon Is Ready to Be Picked
How to Choice the Best, Juiciest Watermelons
It can be a little catchy to know beforehand what you'll notice when you piece open up a whole watermelon. But if you know what to look for, you lot've got a better chance of picking a ripe one.
The start people always to crack open a watermelon must take thought they hit the jackpot (let's set aside the fact that jackpots might not have been a thing back so). Full of h2o to quench the thirst and meaty fruit to fill the tummy, plus it comes in its ain weatherproof package? Thank you, Mother Nature!
But it'southward that solid rind that makes information technology difficult to approximate what'southward inside: 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 Option a Good Watermelon
Look for a Yellow Patch
Watermelons abound on vines that run forth the ground, developing a light-colored patch on their undersides where the dominicus doesn't accomplish. Selection up a watermelon and look for that patch, also called a field spot.
If information technology's flossy yellowish, that indicates the melon was ripe when it was picked. If information technology's white or green, information technology was probably picked too presently and isn't ripe. And no, watermelons practice non ripen after they're picked.
Expect for the xanthous patch that indicates ripeness. |
Choose a Heavy Melon
A ripe watermelon will feel heavier than you expect when yous lift information technology. That weight is due to the high water content — upwardly to 92 per centum. As a watermelon ages, information technology really loses water weight and becomes dry and mealy. So if it feels too low-cal, it's but non right.
Consider the Complexion
Since watermelon cultivars can range in colour from very dark light-green 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 brandish of the same kind of watermelon, simply look for a adequately polish pare.
A piddling flake of gnarlyness is okay — later on all, it spent its life lying in a field — but there should not exist cracks, bruises, or mushy spots. The overall surface should be matte instead of shiny (too shiny means it'south not ripe). And bank check for that yellow field spot.
Give It a Knock
Some folks swear by this: A ripe watermelon will sound hollow when you tap information technology. If it's mushy inside, the audio will be muted.
Follow the Bees
Despite your all-time efforts at choosing a perfect melon, you might still terminate up with a watermelon whose inner flesh has croaky wide open. This condition is called hollow centre, and while it might be disconcerting to wait at, it doesn't affect the taste or quality of the melon. Agricultural scientists used to think it was caused past irregular growth periods in the field, only now they suspect a lack of pollination resulting in a failure of seed production.
Fun Fact #i. Watermelon seeds were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt from 1332 to 1323 B.C. It was common practice to place watermelons in royal burial chambers to provide nourishment in the afterlife.
Types of Watermelon
So that'southward how to tell if a watermelon is ripe. Now let'due south look at some watermelon varieties.
Watermelon doesn't just come up in cherry-red. |
| Credit: Meredith
Ask a child to depict a watermelon, and yous'll probably get the usual green on the outside and cerise on the inside. Only, with more than 1,200 varieties out there, watermelons come in many shapes, colors, and flavors (not all are sweetness).
- In Nippon, farmers have developed a foursquare watermelon, designed for easy storage in your fridge. And they didn't stop in that location; they've got cone- and heart-shaped watermelons, too. Customers pay big for the novelty, of course.
- And though one of babyhood'due south greatest pleasures is seeing how far yous can spit watermelon seeds, crossbreeding has produced watermelons without seeds.
Fun Fact #2. Yes, you tin roast watermelon seeds the aforementioned way you can roast pumpkin seeds. Afterwards all, they share the same family tree.
How Long Does Watermelon Terminal?
Watermelon is picked off the vine when it'due south ripe, so it's best to eat it within a week of ownership it at the grocery store.
- If you bought it fresh from the field or in a farmers' market, information technology could last up to three or 4 weeks uncut. If you can't swallow it right abroad, store information technology in a cool place.
- A piece of cutting watermelon should be wrapped well in plastic, stored in the refrigerator, and eaten within one or two days.
- Serving sliced watermelon at your cookout? Put it on ice to keep information technology nice 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 about four hours a mean solar day tending to his melons. (Probably to continue them from attacking.)
Is Watermelon Expert For You?
Watermelon is both succulent and nutritious. It's a good source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, and it'south ranked as an anti-inflammatory fruit. Plus yous're bitter into naturally hydrating electrolytes, and vitamins A and C for healthy skin and hair. A loving cup of watermelon contains a mere 46 calories, which you 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 can make watermelon ice cubes past cutting up the fruit into squares and freezing them on a lined blistering sheet. In one case the cubes are frozen, transfer them to a nil-top freezer bag. They're bang-up for chilling drinks only not for eating — they lose their crisp texture in the freezing process.
Related
- Brand the Most 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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