How to pick a cantaloupe that’s ripe, flavorful, and delicious! Learn the secrets to choosing the perfect cantaloupe at the market.
How to Pick a Cantaloupe
Tips for Choosing a Ripe Cantaloupe
Now that spring is here it’s time for delicious melons….one of my favorites is cantaloupe. Did you catch my post about all of the health benefits of cantaloupe? Well, go check it out…seriously, during spring and summer I eat cantaloupe every single morning with my breakfast because of all of the benefits!
Did you know that cantaloupe is one of the most popular melons in America? While cantaloupe is deeply loved by so many, it’s equally disappointing when you get a cantaloupe that either isn’t ripe yet or has passed its prime. So to make sure you don’t suffer from this disappointment, here are some tips for how to pick a cantaloupe.
Don’t Miss: How to Pick a Watermelon and How to Pick a Honeydew for the most delicious fruit salad ever!
How to Pick a Cantaloupe
- Color
- When picking out the perfect cantaloupe, you want to use your senses. Let’s start with sight. Look at the color of your cantaloupe. You want one that has more yellow tones to it. Pay close attention to the colors between the webbed portion of the cantaloupe. If it’s still green it’s not ripe; it was picked too soon.
- Sound
- Now you need to give the melon a little listen. Holding it in your hand, knock a few times on the side of the cantaloupe. If it’s deep and thick, then you have a good dense and full cantaloupe. If it has a high-pitched sound, then it isn’t ripe.
- Feel
- You need to know how the cantaloupe feels in your hands too. You want it to be firm, but not too firm. Squeeze it gently on its ends. If there’s some give to it, it’s good. However, if it’s mushy and wet then it’s past its prime. If it’s too hard with no give then it’s not a ripe cantaloupe.
- Smell
- This might be the most important of your senses when choosing the perfect cantaloupe. You want one that is very aromatic and sweet smelling. The sweeter, the better. If you don’t smell any aroma, then the cantaloupe is not ripe. If it’s an unpleasant odor, then it’s no good. If you do nothing else but smell, then you should still be able to find the most flavorful cantaloupe possible.
- Taste it!
- Of course this isn’t something you can do in the grocery store or at the market, but clearly the best way to tell if a cantaloupe is at its freshest is by tasting it. Hopefully you have used your other senses in the ways described above so you don’t get a mouthful of tasteless cantaloupe. That would be a big disappointment.
The thing when picking out the perfect cantaloupe is to remember the nursery rhyme Goldilocks and the Three Bears. You don’t want it too firm or too soft. You don’t want it too green or too yellow. You don’t want it too strong smelling or not smelling enough. It needs to be just right. Then you will know that you have found the absolute perfect cantaloupe.
Also remember, once a cantaloupe is picked from the vine it will not get any riper than it is at that moment it was picked. So don’t buy a slightly unripe cantaloupe thinking that if you give it a few days it will get better.
Now that you know how to pick the perfect cantaloupe make sure you read on to find more tips on how to pick a mouthwatering watermelon and how to pick a honeydew melon.
Also, I love this melon baller set for cutting up cantaloupe….it makes the perfect size melon balls for Miss Jellybean and Little Man…plus the seed scooper makes getting all of the seeds out simple and mess free!
I hope these tips help you know how to pick a cantaloupe that’s just right! Do you have any tips for choosing a perfect cantaloupe? Share in the comments below!
