How to Pick the Best Watermelon (4 Easy Steps)

Have you ever wondered how to pick the best watermelon? Does thumping the melon really work and what exactly are you supposed to look for when buying a melon?

One of my favorite treats of summer is the cold sweet taste of a slice of juicy watermelon. It’s a light and refreshing treat on hot (humid!) summer days. As much as I love watermelon, I have always had a difficult time picking the best watermelon.

I remember as a kid trying to pick the greenest watermelon because I thought the darker the color the better the watermelon would be. We would knock on the melons having no idea why, but everyone did it so there must be a reason.

Jared has always been able to pick the best produce. The watermelons, pineapples, and other fruits he picks are always the sweetest and most flavorful.

How to Pick The Best Watermelon

A couple of years ago I started questioning how he was picking the fruit and learned a few tricks. Jared worked in the produce department of a grocery store during high school and learned a few helpful tricks for picking some delicious fruit!

Pick a Watermelon with a Sunspot

You want the melon to have a nice big SUN SPOT also known as a field spot. The field spot should be a creamy yellow color. The darker the color the better! If the melon has a white spot it was picked before it was ripe, a ripe watermelon will have a cream or yellow sunspot.

Repeat with me “avoid the sun spotless melons, find a melon with a creamy or yellow sunspot.”

Watch for Beads of Sugar

You won’t always find melons with beads of sugar but when you do get that melon. Bees will sting a sweet watermelon and the more stings the sweeter the melon.

So how do you pick a sweet watermelon? Look for the bee stings. BEE STINGS cause small black beads of sugar to form on the melon. So be sure to look for these little black beads on your next watermelon.

Listen to the Watermelon

The SOUND of the watermelon when you tap it should have a nice hollow ring. Bum Bum Bum. The pitch shouldn’t be too low or too high.

If the pitch is too low the fruit could be mushy. If the pitch is too high the fruit could be more firm. You should tap a few different melons to get a good ear for it.

Check the Weight

A watermelon should feel heavy for its size. When comparing two watermelons similar in size, the heavier melon will typically be riper and juicier.

A melon that feels light for its size will most likely be mushy and not very juicy.

Yield: 1 Watermelon

How to Pick the Best Watermelon

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Picking a good watermelon can be challenging unless you know what to look for. Here are a few simple tips to help you pick a sweet and delicious melon.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• Watermelon

Instructions

1. Look for a Sunspot that is creamy or yellow.
2. Keep an eye out for sugar beads from bee stings.
3. Thump and listen for a nice hollow sound.
4. Pick a watermelon that is heavy for it's size.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 9Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 0g

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