How to Pick Out a Good Watermelon

Motherhood · June 23, 2014

Who doesn’t love watermelon??

In the summer time, I’m especially obsessed with this sweet and refreshing fruit, and I often think about how wonderful life would be if I had it in my fridge all year long! 😉 There’s just something so yummy and summer-y about this fruit and it’s one that never lasts long in our home. Over the years, I’ve learned a few tips and trips for picking out a good watermelon and I wanted to make sure you knew what they were so you could use them too. I know people often say that buying a good watermelon is hit or miss, but it doesn’t have to be if you look for a few things when you’re picking out your melon.

Delicious, Red and Juicy!! That’s how a watermelon should be, and if you follow these tips it should help in picking out a sweet melon. 😉

HOW TO PICK OUT A GOOD WATERMELON:

Look for the Large Yellow Spot – This is where the watermelon was laying in the field. Make sure it’s a decent size and is yellow.
Give it a Good Thump – You want to make sure it sounds hollow.
Dull Outside – You want to make sure the outside of the watermelon looks dull and not shiny. A shiny watermelon means its not ripe.
Lift it Up – You want to make sure it’s heavy for it’s size, which means it has a ton of water in it (what you want!!)
Nice Oval Shape – A uniform-shaped watermelon shows that it got the perfect amount of sunshine and water.
Bee Stings and White Scars – Look for these little guys. These little marks show that it’s sweet enough that even the bees were trying to get to the inside. The stings look like brown lines or dots on the melon.

Not sure about you guys but watermelon is a must for the Fourth of July, so I’m hoping these tips will help you to pick out a good watermelon for Independence Day. 🙂

Another thing we like to do for the Fourth and during the summer is make Watermelon Juice – SOOO good!

For more tips/tutorials that might come in handy this summer, check out:

ENJOY!

Meet The Author: Kristyn Merkley

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

Comments

[email protected]

Great Tips! Pinned!
[email protected] recently posted..Garage Organization & Giveaway

Whitney

Thanks for the tips! I always send the hubs to pick out a watermelon, he knows how to pick em’! I’m terrible at it!! Pinned!

[email protected]+Tatertots+&+Jello

Great tips! Pinned 🙂

xoxo

Heather M

Thank you for the tips! I knew about some and have used many of them but I am really going to use a lot of the other ones! Watermelon is my favorite thing too! It’s actually the best part of summer in my book!

tavette

Thanks for the tips. I knew only half of them – the yellow spot, thunking it and the heaviness of the melon. Now I know to get dull vs shiney and to WANT the dings and lines. Great info.

Tavette – S. Fla.

Sara

I have always wanted more information about picking a good melon out! I love finding the bee stings! I have found some that look like trail marks on it…and they are black and stick up a little (like a scab). Those are the BEST melons! They are hard to come by!
Thanks for helping me understand how to get a good melon!

Crystal

Great tips! I usually get lucky by just thumping, but the last one I got was bad. I had no ideas those marks were from the bees trying to get in. I’m going to use these tips when I get one this weekend. Thanks so much for the help!

Debi+Vintinner

Thank you for all your tips!!

Leslie

I’ve always had a hard time picking good melons. Thanks so much for these tips. Now if you could only tell the secrets to picking a good cantaloupe/honeydew!

mykael

Why would s bee sting a growing fruit? Can they get something out? Don’t bees die when they sting?

Shelly Murphy

Awesome info – thanks! I new about some of these and can usually pick a good one, but some I’ve never heard before so I’ll definitely be using those tips! Oh, and I’m gonna have to try that watermelon juice!

[email protected]

Kim {Pinspired Home}

Great tips! I’ll be keeping these in mind this week. Watermelon is on sale for less than $4. 🙂
Kim {Pinspired Home} recently posted..Sweet and Smoky Dry Rub Barbecue Ribs

Kim+{Pinspired+Home}

It worked! I used your tips (and examined probably a dozen or more watermelons) and the watermelon was the best one I’ve had this season! 🙂 Sharing this tip with my fans on Facebook!

Lil' Luna

YAY!! I LOVE hearing this!! We did the same thing for yesterday’s melon and it was the sweetest and juiciest one we’ve had too. 🙂

Jessica Roth

Great useful info! My mom’s tried and true way has to do with where the stem connected to the melon. If it’s flush or rounded, as opposed to concave, then it’s a good one! I’ve started using that and she’s right! I’ll probably add some of these to hone in the process! Thanks. 🙂
Jessica Roth recently posted..Fitness Friday

Lil' Luna

That’s a great tip – never heard of it before but will try it this week with the other tips. Thanks!!
Lil’ Luna recently posted..Buttery Baked Chicken

Sarah E @TheTeacher'sWife

I love this post! I’m always so uncertain when it comes to picking watermelons! I can’t wait to give these tips a try!

Lindsey

I always pick the watermelons for our family (raised on a farm, I knew all these tips). But if my husband has to for reason, I always tell him to get the ugliest one! Lol. He does pretty good with just that tip!

Lil' Luna

LOL – good tip!! The ones with the scrapes and cuts are always the best!

Kristin @ Yellow Bliss Road

Ok so I’ve heard of a few of these but the bee sting one is new! And I never thought to pay attention to the shape. I just bought a watermelon the other day and it was awful! Now I guess I need to go try again!!
Kristin @ Yellow Bliss Road recently posted..Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta Salad

willsmom

Thanks for sharing your tips! They worked!!! I picked the perfect watermelon!!!

Julie

In the UK we get these little round things in the shops that are called watermelons, they are lovely, sweet, juicy and delicious. When I was about 22 I first visited the US and realised that we are not getting the same watermelons that you all do. Yours are MASSIVE! I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes, I didn’t believe they were the same thing – we had to buy one and cut it up just to make sure (it was) Some 20+ years later I still think of it every time I am in the supermarket and see our slightly pathetic looking watermelons, I have serious US watermelon envy!
Great tips btw – I’m sure they translate to our puny watermelons too.
Julie recently posted..Refashions Part 1: T-shirts and Tops

Katie

Great tips! thanks for the post, I had no idea how to shop for the good watermelons. I would love it if you linked this up to my Motivate Me Monday linky party on IT’S A ginger SNAP.

Free Instagram Followers

Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up.

Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
Free Instagram Followers recently posted..Free Instagram Followers

hosting that speeds up your site

If you have your own backups, you can get things back up
and running following and loss of power or data.
VPS is a bit more expensive than shared hosting, but in the long run, its benefits will overshadow the added expense.
It is visibly the cheapest and most cost efficient kind of web hosting.
hosting that speeds up your site recently posted..hosting that speeds up your site

[email protected]

Thanks for the great tips, Kristyn!

punch hero cheats Android

In competitive PVP titles like RIFT you may need to use a hack yourself to balance the playing field.
But here we finally see a game which was in development hell, called Metal Gear Rising:Revengeance (not
real word), which drops Stealth and focuses more on action.
You can order the products from Amazon in the following links:
‘Titanfall’ and Xbox One.
punch hero cheats Android recently posted..punch hero cheats Android

amanda emerson

Thanks for the tips! I knew to thump the watermelon and make sure it sounded hard but some of the others are new to me. 🙂 Hopefully they will be on sale this week! 🙂

Diana

Did you know if you place a piece of straw (I break a piece off a straw broom) and place it across the middle of a watermelon, the sweeter and juicier the watermelon the straw will move (by itself) so it aligns vertically on top of the melon? No or little movement? Don’t bother buying it. Moves a lot? Guaranteed a winner.
Not sure how or why it works, but it does EVERYTIME!

Lil' Luna

WHAT?!?! I’ve never heard that but will have to give it a try!

marcia

Thanks for the tips. Sweet watermelon….can’t wait 🙂

Rachel King

Any help on picking cantalopes?

Lil' Luna

Hmmm, unfortunately, I’m not the expert on cantaloupes. I will have to do some research and write a blog post about it. 😉

Carol Thomas

Look for where the cantalope was attached to the vine. Then, smell it. If it smells sweet– it’s a keeper. If there is no smell or an off smell– pass. You should want it to smell like what you want it to taste like. That is how I buy my cantaloupes.

Lil' Luna

Thank you Carol!! I’ll have to try that next time!! Hope that helps anyone 🙂

PaytonB

Bees do not sting watermelons; I don’t know why this myth keeps getting spread around.

Chris

I was raised in an Italian family, that LOVED produce, lol. I remember being with my mom at the store and she was getting a watermelon. I asked her ” How do know which one? ” she told me, ” Always try to get the most heaviest one you can get! The heavier, the most juiciest! Also, look around the melon. Sometimes there are bits of sugar drops that are like black crust on the melon. ” That’s probably where the bee stings were. Some of the watermelon juice drain out and dried up into sugary crystals. So now, when I wanna watermelon, That’s how I do it. Best of produce luck, lol. GOD bless! Chris.

Marie Mar

Your blog and your recipes are fabulous. And, I just had to tell you that my great grand-daughter is named Luna. But, granny calls her “little Lulu” 🙂

HOW TO PICK OUT A GOOD WATERMELON:

For more tips/tutorials that might come in handy this summer, check out:

Meet The Author: Kristyn Merkley

Stay Up To Date!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Comments

Heather M

tavette

Sara

Crystal

Debi+Vintinner

mykael

Lindsey

willsmom

Diana

marcia

Rachel King

Carol Thomas

PaytonB

Chris

Marie Mar

Currently Trending

Featured On

Stay Up To Date!