how can you tell when melons are ripe?

Question

(watermelon and casaba melon)

Answer 1

Watermelon. Look at the side that was on the ground. It should be cream to yellow in color. If still white, not ripe. To thump I use this rule. If it sounds like thumping your head, not ripe. Like your stomach, too ripe. Like thumping your chest, just right.
Casaba is different. The stem does not slip off the melon like a cantaloupe. The sniff test, smell the stem end, should have a melon smell but I can't always tell that way. The color should be fairly uniform, lighter on the ground side. A very ripe ( the way I like Casaba ) you can hear or feel the seeds slosh if you shake it.

Answer 2

In a store, you can tell by the smell. Most melons such as honeydew and cantaloupe have a nice melon smell on the blossom end. With watermelons it is the thump test, yes. On the vine melons are ready when the stem slips readily off of the vine.

Answer 3

that is the oldest question in the book and i hear it asked several times. the way i was always told by my granfather ( who was a produce manager) was you can do it one of 2 ways

1. if its a harder melon, like watermelon or honeydew....you can do the thump test.....the deeper the thump the better

or if its a cantelope you might be able to do the thump, if not you can press on one of the ends....if its soft (mushy) its over-ripe, or if its hard. its not ripe enough

best of luck to ya

Answer 4

I only know if watermelons are ripe. To find out, you have to cut one up which has seeds. The ripeness depends on the color of the seeds. If they're beige colored, it's not ripe. If the seeds are black, it is ripe. It's as simple as that! Hope this helped!