Link to some common folk wisdom
Has anyone ever actually put these tests to the test to see whether there’s anything to it?
Yes, you can tell how ripe watermelon is by its shape and coloring, but I still use the thumping method to tell if it is ripe or not.
I look for the dark field spot and webbing. I tend to end up with good watermelons.
I look at the leaf and tendril closest to the watermelon; if they’re dead or nearly so, the watermelon’s ripe, or ought to be.
This technique is of no use to people buying watermelon at the grocery or otherwise not harvesting them in the field, though.
Color and pattern varies with variety, which may screw up that technique. Heavy weight for the size may be useful.
For seedless melons, the MOST yellow field spot. That’s all I ever use and it’s never failed me.
I can pick a ripe honeydew and cantaloupe but watermelon has always been a mystery to me.
I try all the different tests to pick a good melon. I get about 80% great watermelons and about 60% great cantaloupes. I don’t even bother with honeydews, they are dead to me.
As far as using “great” as a descriptor; to me, melons are either great or they are chicken treats. I can’t see eating a mediocre melon.
The “guide” linked to by the OP isn’t that great.
The Best Watermelons on the Planet are, of course, Hermiston melons (from NE Oregon). They are elongated and hardly “watery” and the underside spot is yellow, not orange. In fact, I’ve never seen an edible melon that was clearly orange.
As to the stripe pattern, that’s very variety dependent, not that great of an indicator.
Thumping works fairly well but that takes experience and ones with cracks inside throw it off.
The big problem I’ve had with watermelons for several years is there no easy way to tell if they are so pumped full of pesticides that they have a strong chemical taste.
I’ll second looking for the largest pale yellow patch. This means it spent more time in the field not exposed to the sun.
I’ve never had a Hermiston. I’d be curious to try one alongside Blacktail Mountain.
Have you got a producers’ farmers’ market anywhere near you? If so, try there, and talk to the growers.
I knock on a watermelon.
I can’t hear worth a damn, so I depend on the vibration I feel from my knocking. A dead thump means leave that watermelon alone. I look for an even, strong vibration.
Actually, the best watermelons were selected by the little girl who lived next door to me when I was growing up. Starting from when she was little more than a toddler, her daddy would take her to a place selling melons straight from the fields. She would walk over to a melon and point, and her selections were always, ALWAYS perfect!
That girl has grown kids of her own now. I don’t know if she still has “the touch.”
~VOW
Didn’t they used to take core samples?
Honestly, with any sort of produce I just sniff it. If it smells like the item it is, it’s ripe.
I’ve found that the ones that are the darkest green with a very pale ground spot are the sweetest. So that’s the first thing I look for. Next, I pick it up. If it’s heavy for its size, that means it’s full of water, which means it’ll be juicy.
First, I would like to thank everyone for the responses.
Next, I would like to apologize for my poor wording in the OP, as no one has answered what I was really looking for. A better wording would have been:
“Has anyone ever done any controlled/double-blind experiment to determine which, if any, actually pass scientific rigor?”
If I’m still alive and still care about it in a few years, I’ll repost it worded a little differently, but thanks, anyway!
When I want to pick a really good watermelon, I make sure to read its resume carefully and check its references. If all goes well, I bring it in for a formal interview. I’ll administer a brief test of general knowledge as well as a test regarding what it is we do around here. But figuring out if this watermelon is the one I want to pick often comes down to a gut feeling. It’s a vibe, really.
Buy organic.