The 2-Second Test For Buying The Best Cantaloupe

Buying fresh produce is always a bit of a gamble. If done right, you'll enjoy the most flavorful, healthy fruits and veggies available, but if done wrong, it's easy to end up with unpleasant tastes or textures, short shelf lives, and wasted food. This can be especially difficult with items like cantaloupe, where it's impossible to see the edible interior flesh without slicing through the thick rind. Fortunately, there's a nearly instant, relatively foolproof test to help find the best cantaloupes, and all you need is your hand and nose.

Simply lift the cantaloupe to your face and inhale. In this one gesture, you'll evaluate two key factors. First, you'll check for the proper smell. Various observers have described it as sweet, musky (though different from a muskmelon), or floral. A fermented or otherwise foul smell is indicative of an overripe melon or a cantaloupe that has gone bad. However, a lack of odor means it needs more time to ripen. Make sure you're sniffing at the blossom end where smells will be more noticeable rather than the stem side.

The second analysis you can perform within two seconds of lifting a whole cantaloupe involves its weight. Ripe melons typically feel heavy for their size, so leave lighter ones behind.

If either of these two factors seem off, it's worth checking out the remaining selection for a better alternative. However, those in doubt have a few other ways to assess a questionable cantaloupe that require only a few more seconds of your shopping time. Do a visual scan of your melon; ideally, it should have a tan skin covered in a yellowish or beige scaly netting. Green skin or a smooth exterior netting are both signs the cantaloupe is underripe.

Fruit shoppers can also use their ears. Gently shaking the cantaloupe shouldn't produce a rattling sound indicative of seeds that have already detached from overripe fruit. Knocking on the fruit should produce a low, deep sound due to the extensive amount of juice inside.

Although there are many things you should know before buying another cantaloupe (such as how to prepare and serve it), there's no doubt that selecting a ripe one is one of the most important. However, even the busiest shoppers can dedicate the few seconds required to find the best of the bunch.