How can you tell cantaloupe is ripe

Although you don't eat the rind, the knife can introduce external bacteria to the fruit as it travels to the center through the rind. Eric Mohrman is a food and drink, lifestyle, and travel writer living in Orlando, Florida. He spent 10 years working front- and back-of-house in restaurants, adding professional experience to his love of eating and cooking. How to Know if a Cantaloupe Is Ripe A simple three-point inspection lets you know whether or not you're dealing with a ripe cantaloupe:.

Sniff it. A perfectly ripe cantaloupe emanates a fragrant, sweet, vaguely musky scent that's easily detectable through its thick rind. If you don't smell anything, or the aroma is really faint, the fruit isn't ready yet; if it has an unpleasant odor, it's already headed downhill toward rotten. Shake it. All those seeds you have to scoop out are loose in a ripe cantaloupe. Give the melon a few shakes. If you can feel seeds flopping around inside, that's an indication that the fruit is mature.

If there's no sign of movement in there, the cantaloupe needs more time. Squeeze it. Press down on the stem area at the top of the cantaloupe with your thumbs. It should be firm, not hard as a rock, giving a little with pressure. Cantaloupe is a seasonal fruit and warm spring weather brings the right time to start purchasing cantaloupe.

To select a ripe cantaloupe, look for tan cantaloupe with light green lines across it, and avoid choosing melons with brown or soft spots. The melon should be firm but not too soft or too hard. Smell the melon at the stem core where it was cut and it should have a good cantaloupe smell; those without smell are under-ripe, and those with unpleasing odor are over-ripe.

It is important to understand that not all melons behave the same when it comes to ripening. Some, like watermelon, do not continue to ripen once harvested.

Therefore, flavor will not improve nor will they become sweeter—t is what it is at harvest. However, cantaloupe and similar fruit will continue to ripen after harvest. Once into the ripening process, fruit will gain sugar, flavor will improve and flesh soften.

For the consumer, this means watermelon and similar fruit can be eaten as soon as you bring it home no matter what time of the year it is. However, cantaloupe and similar melons bought in winter probably need to be held at room temperature for a few days or more to allow it to improve. The most reliable way to determine if a watermelon is mature is to observe it while it is still on the plant.

The ground spot is where fruit was in contact with the soil. It is easy to recognize since it will not have the same stripes and color of the rest of the fruit—it will have a more solid color. A mature watermelon will have a yellow ground spot Photo 1. If it is light yellow or even white, make another selection.

Honeydew melons are the hardest to know when they are mature. However, like cantaloupe, they continue to ripen off the plant. To eat a honeydew early is not a bad experience, but you do not want to wait so long that it goes bad. The fruit does not provide the signals watermelon and cantaloupe do. For honeydew, you have to rely on the grower picking it at a good time no matter the season since once you cut it open you have to eat it or refrigerate it.