Tips For Picking a Sweet Watermelon

A nice cold Watermelon on a hot summer day is a very popular and healthy snack. Wheather you are at the local farmers market or the grocery store, do you know what to look for when picking out a watermelon? How many times have you taken a watermelon home, put it in the refrigerator and then found out it was not ripe yet? How many times have you cut into the watermelon and found out it was over-ripe and mushy inside? Here are some tips picking out a watermelon.

Look for the field spot or yellow belly. That area shows where the watermelon was laying on the ground while it was attached to the vine. It the watermelon is ripe the color should be creamy or yellow almost the color of butter. If it is not ripe yet the spot will be more white than yellow.

Another way you can tell if the watermelon is ripe or over-ripe is lightly tap on it with your knuckles. If the watermelon is ripe it will have a deeper sound. If it is over-ripe the sound will be kind of hollow. That means the "flesh" inside is getting soft and maybe beginning to spoil.

Appearance and weight is also important. A good watermelon will be dull, not shiny. Shiny watermelons means the "flesh" is not ripe yet. If you did not plan on serving it for a while yet then shiny would be okay! Finally, look for a heavy watermelon. An average watermelon is 92 percent water and that makes them juicy. A heavy watermelon means a juicier watermelon!