Reliable Method for Selecting Watermelons

[Harold in CR]

And here I was, just ready to go "Pick" the correct one and enjoy, while y'all were doing all this scientific calculating stuff.

[TylerDurden]

Then they do the Watermelon ripeness destructive test That's got to be the best part.

Enter the sledge-o-matic...

[Hillhater]

. My secret? I wait for a 60 ish year old woman to start picking through the watermelon pile. As she appears about done, I ask her: "Could you pick one for me?" She usually points to one of the last 4 she discarded and says: "That's a pretty good one." I thank her, pick it up, pay for it, go home and enjoy it!

Of course there is a fatal flaw in this method...
If we all did this, eventually all the "Melon experts" would literally die off !..leaving a whole generation of unskilled Melon selectors who had never learned the skills from their elders !

[salty9]

Does the selection criteria presented above apply to melons on the vine? The reason I ask is that I have some baby Sugar Baby melons growing and if any survive our endemic gophers, skunks, opossums, raccoons,deer and bear I want to pick it at its peak of flavor. If the difference between ripe from the vine and store bought is equivalent to that of sweet corn fresh off the stalk it will be worth the effort.

[Harold in CR]

I'm not a fruit scientist. Fruit does not ripen after being picked.

OK, why is nearly all fruit COMMERCIALLY harvested, always picked "green" ?? I'm surrounded by fruit, nearly year round. It always has that "green" tang, just before it gets ripe. Pick fruit early to ship it.

All I can say, is, I can pick the best melons, regardless of species, right at the vine. In the store, you have to settle for the best of the lot.

Last time I was in Florida, I got a couple mush melons, and, my Daughter could not tell the difference. I purposely picked a "Green" one, smell means nothing, and we compared, after getting home. I had gotten the best from the stand, and she saw it.

A person needs to have several to work with, to learn the art.

Ykick said it well, a DULL sound is dead ripe, getting hollow inside. A SOLID sound is green. It's the same as putting different levels of water in identical glasses. Tap each one and you get a different sound-tone- plunk, whatever you want to call it.

All the non-believers can come down and get free lessons.

[John in CR]

Yeah, but watermelons suck down here. Give me a big gulf coast watermelon any time, as long as I can slap them myself, and if it's been rainy I don't even bother.