Need help on how to pick out a good watermelon? You’ve come to the right girl. When it’s watermelon season you could definitely find me in the store knocking on all the watermelons, and I’ve had multiple people stop me to ask what I’m doing. Well, so that you can start looking like and being a pro watermelon picker, here are 3 tricks to make sure you’re picking a good one.

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The Short Version: How to Pick a Good Watermelon

If your watermelon…

1. Sounds hollow

2. Looks like it has a dark creamy yellow patch and

3. Feels heavy

…then it most likely tastes good!

The Long Version: How to Pick a Good Watermelon

1. A Good Watermelon has a Hollow Sound

Listen for a hollow sound when you knock on the watermelon. That’s right! With your knuckles give several watermelons a couple knocks to compare the sound of each. The ones that have a hollow sound are going to be ripe and taste much better than the ones that give a dull thump. My mom shared this secret with me so it’s my favorite watermelon tip!

2. A Good Watermelon has a Dark Creamy Yellow Patch

Look for a dark creamy yellow patch somewhere on your watermelon. If you think about it, this makes sense…. watermelons were once sitting on the ground ripening on the vine, so the ones that have a more prominent and darker-yellow ground patch are the ones that were left to ripen longer than the ones that are a more white-colored patch (or in some cases no patch at all).

3. A Good Watermelon Feels Heavy

Feel to see if the watermelon is heavy. Water is pretty heavy…. think about how heavy a gallon of water feels verse an empty gallon. So in the case of watermelons, the heavier your watermelon is (relative to other watermelons the same size), the better! This means it will be packed with juicy goodness.

Bonus Trick for Picking Out Other Melons

I haven’t found this trick very helpful for picking out watermelons, but with other melons like cantaloupe and honey dew this next trick is essential! A good melon should smell sweet. Find the end of the melon that has the circle (where they cut it off from the vine) and give it a good sniff. The sweeter the smell, the sweeter tasting your melon will be.

Have a wonderful watermelon-filled summer! And please leave any other watermelon tips and tricks you know in the comments below.

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