How to choose, store & use Watermelons

Watermelons are delicious low-calorie treat with numerous benefits. A fruit from the plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, develops from a vine-like flowering plant. It has its origins in West Africa.

Everyone loves a juicy watermelon in summertime, don’t we?

Melons are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which makes them relatives of squashes and cucumbers. Although often grouped together, most sweet melons fall into two broad categories: watermelons (Citrillus lanatus) and muskmelons (Cucumus melo). Melons come in a medley of varieties; watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe.Don’t be confused by the American custom of referring to cantaloupes as muskmelons: all cantaloupes are muskmelons but not all muskmelons are cantaloupes !

Summer brings in many types of delicious, succulent  melons to the farmers market. Local farmers choose rare and heirloom varieties and let them slowly mature on their vines until perfectly ripe so that their sweet, subtle tastes can be savored as summer slips into fall. These stars of the summer are bursting with juice and flavor when dead ripe and delicate.

There are almost 50 varieties of watermelons, similar in taste but vary in size, flesh color (mostly pink or red but also yellow, white, and orange), seedless or seeded. Red flesh is rich in the antioxidant lycopene–the highest per serving of any fruit or vegetable.

Watermelon can be pickled, candied, fermented, or made into a syrup, and its sprouted seeds are a nutty tasting, protein-rich snack. Delightful in fruit salads or just cut in wedges on their own, melons make wonderful desserts.

Delicious on their own, melons add sweetness to salads, cold soups, drinks, and sorbets. Although melons are refreshing when served chilled, refrigeration diminishes their flavor so serving at room temperature is ideal. Or try grilling them: cooking concentrates their sugars.

How to choose Watermelons:

Hint : When choosing a melon, you’ll use most of your senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. Seek out symmetrical melons with a “filled-out” look. Weight offers hints about taste: a melon that feels heavy for its size holds lots of juicy flesh. Melons don’t become sweeter after harvesting, but the texture and aroma can continue to improve.

• First, look at the stem scar. A smooth, hollowed scar indicates that the melon was harvested ripe. If a piece of the stem remains, it may have been harvested too early. 
• Pick it up: The watermelon should feel heavy for its size, irrespective of whether it is big or small.
• Look for the webbing : The weblike brown spots on the watermelon, means that the bees touched the pollinating parts of the flower many times.The more pollination, the sweeter the fruit is.
• Look for the yellow spot: A ripe watermelon has dull, not shiny, skin, and the lighter colored part of the rind, where the melon rested on the ground, should be yellow or creamy, not green or white. A light tap to the rind should produce a hollow sound.Watermelons develop a splotch where they rest on the ground. When this splotch is creamy yellow, it’s ripe.
• For thinner-skinned melons, exert very gentle pressure on the base of the melon opposite the stem end. If the skin is easy to depress, the melon is ideal for eating. 
• A musky aroma, produced by enzymes that generate more than 200 different esters, also signals ripeness.
• Give it a thump: Tap the underbelly of the watermelon. A ripe one will have a deep hollow sound. Under-ripe or over-ripe melons will sound dull.
• Farmers differentiate watermelons by gender. ‘Boys’ are bigger and have elongated shape and have watery taste, while ‘girls’ have a rounded shape and are very sweet.

How to store Watermelons:

• Set an uncut watermelon in a dark, cool location for no longer than about four days..
• Wrap a cut watermelon half tightly with plastic wrap and store in your refrigerator for up to three days.
• Store cut watermelon pieces in an airtight container in your refrigerator.

How to use a Watermelon :

• Eat it plain as wedges
• Grill it
• Cooler
• Juice
• Salsa
• Salad
• Sorbet
• Fruit Bowl /Basket
• Smoothie
• Gazpacho
• Ice-cream
• Margarita
• Popsicle
• Spritz
• Mojito
• Puree
• Granita
• Lemonade
• Aqua FrescaYogurt Parfait
• Kebabs
• Chilled Soup
• Enter in a carving contest

Sharing in the links below, some of my published posts on Watermelons, for your interest.

• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/watermelon-feta-mint-salad/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/watermelon/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/honeydew-sorbet/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/watermelon-chia-juice/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/watermelon-cooler/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/homemade-watermelon-popsicles/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/watermelon-lemonade/

For more tips on ‘How to Choose, Store & Prepare’ Seasonal Produce, check out the links below to my blog posts about them, then you will never have to wonder if you picked the right veggies for the week’s cooking .

Here goes …….

• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-store-prepare-cabbage/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/watermelon/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-store-prepare-cauliflower/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-store-prepare-bananas/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-store-prepare-cucumber/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/beetroot-how-to-choose-store-prepare/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-store-prepare-carrots/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-and-store-radish/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-store-prepare-spinach/
• https://stirringmyspicysoul.com/how-to-choose-and-store-your-strawberries/

Now that you know all about Watermelons, how do you have them in summertime? Share in your comments below!