My favorite fruit is watermelon with pineapple coming in as a close second. I am picky about how ripe and sweet my watermelons are, because they aren’t cheap! I like to make sure I am taking home a good one.
I love them so much that I have done some research on how to choose the best ones! And it has nothing to do with knocking on them…
1. Pick the heaviest one
The most ripe and most sweet watermelons also contain the most water, so they will typically be quite heavy. You can weigh them on the grocery store scale, however, I usually just handle a bunch until I find one that feels really heavy despite its size. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, but heavier does. If you have three watermelons that are the same size, choose the heaviest!
2. Look for a white/yellow area
You will notice some watermelons have a creamy colored or yellow large spot. This is where the watermelon was sitting as it was growing and ripening on the ground. The darker the spot means the longer it was allowed to ripen. This is what you want! Don’t choose watermelons that are all green just because they’re pretty, these are the ones that were picked before they were ripe. The fruit will not be near as juicy and sweet.
3. Look for brown “webbing”
This is the brown, course web looking material found on the rind. This is caused when bees pollinate the flower and scar the membranes that later forms the fruit. The more pollination = more webbing = sweeter fruit!
Essentially, the uglier the watermelon, the better it’s going to taste! Enjoy!!
