Buying A Watermelon

[Pam R]

I'm at the grocery store a few days ago and the huge watermelon displays have caught my eye.

Using my normal watermelon picking technique, I gently tap the watermelon the way my mother taught me. Using the back of my hand, I knock on it, listening for the 'hollow' sound. You know.

I go through 3 watermelons, not satisfied with any of the sounds. The 4th one is a keeper. It's oddly shaped, like a pear, but it sounds sweet.

I'm lifting it out of the bin when I hear another customer yelling "No no. Wrong shape." I look up - yep, she's talking to me. I look at the melon and back at the lady and say "But it sounds good."

She's not buying it. "Wrong shape. You want a round one."

She's thrown me. I put back the pear shaped, perfectly hollow-sounding melon and go for a dull-sounding rounder one. Tasteless and a little slimy. That's what that got me.

What I should have done was buy both of them to compare.

Please - tell me how you choose a watermelon. Does shape matter?

[k43]

This works for winter squash:

The stem (which should always be present) should be dry and corky. This tells you the squash stayed on the vine until it was almost ready to fall off, which happens at full maturity. (This don't work for sumer squash, which just get huge and tasteless.)

The color of the rind should be deep and vibrant, which shows the full development of the pigments that come with maturity. And for the same reason, it should be matte rather than shiny. It's normal for watermelons to have a pale stripe where they rested on the ground.

Like you, I get bad and good hollow-sounding watermelons, and shape -- sphere, zeppelin, pear -- also seems irrelevant. Obviously, I avoid anything with soft spots.

Small and medium ones seem better for me, but a big one is too much for me and my wife.

[Busboy]

Look at the crap that most people buy in the grocery store and then resolve now and forever to trust your own judgment.

[SuzySushi]

I cheat:

I smile sweetly at the produce guy and ask him to pick one for me!

Or I buy a half watermelon that's already been cut, so I can check how red and firm the flesh is, and whether it smells like melon.

[MarkIsCooking]

I never buy any fruit that has already been cut. While it may allow you to see inside, there is a huge degradation that starts once the skin/flesh of a fruit or veggie has been cut into.

I don't know where you live, but all summer long there are lots of place in New England where you can buy fresh watermelon that has not endured long truck rides from who-knows-where.

-mark-

[SuzySushi]

I never buy any fruit that has already been cut.  While it may allow you to see inside, there is a huge degradation that starts once the skin/flesh of a fruit or veggie has been cut into.

I don't know where you live, but all summer long there are lots of place in New England where you can buy fresh watermelon that has not endured long truck rides from who-knows-where.

-mark-

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I live in Hawaii, and the watermelons I buy are grown at a local farm.

[russ parsons]

there are three main families of melons: netted melons (muskmelons and cantaloupes), smooth melons (honeydew), and watermelons (a different species, actually). Each takes its own tips. With watermelon, the best indicators are color (the green should be deep and vibrant); the "couche" (the spot where the melon was resting on the ground; it should be creamy colored, not white); and the old "tap" test (it should sound like a hollow-core door rather than a solid wood one). The last is a little hard to get at first, but it is probably the best: as the melon matures, the seed cavity begins to open up, which produces the hollow sound.

[michael_g]

there are three main families of melons: netted melons (muskmelons and cantaloupes), smooth melons (honeydew), and watermelons (a different species, actually). Each takes its own tips. With watermelon, the best indicators are color (the green should be deep and vibrant); the "couche" (the spot where the melon was resting on the ground; it should be creamy colored, not white); and the old "tap" test (it should sound like a hollow-core door rather than a solid wood one). The last is a little hard to get at first, but it is probably the best: as the melon matures, the seed cavity begins to open up, which produces the hollow sound.

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Harold McGee differs when it comes to color (On Food and Cooking, p. 369):

"External signs of quality are a substantial heaviness for a melon's size, yellow skin undertones indicative of chlorophyll loss and thus ripeness, and a solid resonance when thumped."

Just happened to be reading that page today. Before having read this, I'd always gone for the more vibrantly colored melons. Taste test?

[Toliver]

there are three main families of melons: netted melons (muskmelons and cantaloupes), smooth melons (honeydew), and watermelons (a different species, actually). Each takes its own tips. With watermelon, the best indicators are color (the green should be deep and vibrant); the "couche" (the spot where the melon was resting on the ground; it should be creamy colored, not white); and the old "tap" test (it should sound like a hollow-core door rather than a solid wood one). The last is a little hard to get at first, but it is probably the best: as the melon matures, the seed cavity begins to open up, which produces the hollow sound.

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Yeah, what he said.

It's probably an old wive's tale but I've also heard a good indicator of a sweet watermelon is the "bee spit" on the outer skin. It looks like dried plaster/mud.

Here's a picture of a watermelon with the outer skin blemish that I am referring to (not sure how long the link will be valid):

Watermelon

[Pam R]

Look at the crap that most people buy in the grocery store and then resolve now and forever to trust your own judgment.

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That's another way to do things . . . She threw me! I will keep repeating to myself "don't listen to strangers in grocery stores . . don't listen to strangers in grocery stores . . ."

I cheat:

I smile sweetly at the produce guy and ask him to pick one for me!

I'm not so sure that the produce guys at some of the stores I frequent would know how to pick one . .

I never buy any fruit that has already been cut.  While it may allow you to see inside, there is a huge degradation that starts once the skin/flesh of a fruit or veggie has been cut into.

I don't know where you live, but all summer long there are lots of place in New England where you can buy fresh watermelon that has not endured long truck rides from who-knows-where.

-mark-

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I'm not a fan of buying cut ones either. Honestly, I don't know if I can buy local watermelons. If they are available, it won't be until much later this summer.

there are three main families of melons: netted melons (muskmelons and cantaloupes), smooth melons (honeydew), and watermelons (a different species, actually). Each takes its own tips. With watermelon, the best indicators are color (the green should be deep and vibrant); the "couche" (the spot where the melon was resting on the ground; it should be creamy colored, not white); and the old "tap" test (it should sound like a hollow-core door rather than a solid wood one). The last is a little hard to get at first, but it is probably the best: as the melon matures, the seed cavity begins to open up, which produces the hollow sound.

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Thanks for the info Russ. So my tapping is the right way to go. I never knew about the colour issue, but I'll try it out.

If I ever see that lady again I'll tell her that shape isn't an issue. Or else I'll say thanks and then stick with the one I wanted.