I Asked 4 Farmers How to Pick the Best Cantaloupe, And They All Said the Same Thing

It’s powerful to disclaim a slice of a contemporary, ripe, juicy cantaloupe throughout peak season. (That’s June by means of August, by the best way, with the most effective of the bunch popping up in mid-July, based on cantaloupe farmer John Gingerich.) Still, a good quantity of Allrecipes followers have written in to inform us that they method cantaloupes with a little bit of skepticism—and we actually perceive why. After falling sufferer to at least one (or a number of) too many sub-par restaurant fruit salads that includes unhappy, flavorless honeydew, cantaloupe, and grapes, this subset of dwelling cooks have admitted that they have an inclination to have belief points

Unlike tender fruits like berries and peaches, cantaloupe rinds are fairly adept at camouflaging the standard of the fruit hiding out inside. But that doesn’t imply it’s unattainable to inform which melons are pleasant…and that are duds. During the center of harvest season, we caught up with a handful of cantaloupe farmers and business consultants to attain their secrets and techniques for the right way to separate the most effective from the remainder.

Meet the Farmers

• John Gingerich, a Summertown, Tennessee-based cantaloupe farmer
• Katy Green, a San Diego, California-based produce area inspector at Whole Foods Market
• Coy Hancock, hydroponic farmer at The Hancock Farm in Bartow, Georgia
• Hunter Slade, a Cordele, Georgia-based gross sales consultant for Syngenta Vegetable Seeds, who works instantly with many cantaloupe farmers on a weekly foundation throughout rising season

The Best Way to Choose the Sweetest Cantaloupe, According to Farmers

Before we dive into the best methods to inform if a cantaloupe is ripe, it’s necessary to notice that there are two principal forms of cantaloupes, based on produce area inspector Katy Green: Melons that “slip” from the vine and melons which might be  “clipped” from the vine.

• Slip melons have a few quarter-sized circle and indentation at one finish of the melon, the place the vine was once hooked up. These naturally launch from the plant when they’re mature and able to eat.
• Clipped melons have a brief stem attachment on one finish of the melon. Clipped melons don’t launch from the vine and have to be lower primarily based on a fast willpower of maturity by the harvester.

Because clipped melons are sometimes picked earlier than they’re absolutely ripe, they don’t emit a robust scent—and don’t provide a lot taste. So a straightforward strategy to choose the most effective cantaloupe is by giving it a scent, hydroponic farmer Coy Hancock, seed gross sales rep Hunter Slade, and Gingerich agree. When you decide up a cantaloupe and scent the blossom finish; the other aspect from the place the stem was hooked up. A ripe cantaloupe ought to provide a candy, fruity, floral and flippantly musky scent. Compare the aroma of the cantaloupe you’re holding with a number of others within the stack. Select the sweetest-smelling on, Gingerich recommends.

“I always smell them at the store until I find one I like! It might feel a little silly, but your nose knows,” Hancock says.

Other Signs of a High-Quality Melon

These extra options that may often provide a clue {that a} cantaloupe is worthy of a spot in your cart:

• Perform a spot examine for a stem. As we talked about, clipped cantaloupes are much less prone to be ripe and prepared. “On the farm, we know a cantaloupe is ripe when it slips right off the vine,” Hancock explains. “At the store, look for a clean, slightly indented area where the stem used to be. If there’s still a bit of stem attached, it was probably picked too early and won’t ripen any further.”
• Do a pores and skin examine. Healthy cantaloupes are coated in coarse netting that’s constant across the melon, Slade and Green affirm. “If it’s overly smooth or the melon feels too soft, skip it,” Hancock says. As for the colour between the sunshine tan netting, “it should be mostly a creamy, light orange or golden color. If it’s mostly green, the melon isn’t ripe yet,” Hancock says.
• Give it a raise. A cantaloupe that’s dense and feels heavy for its dimension usually has extra juice—and extra taste—than its neighbors which might be the identical dimension however lighter, Green and Slade inform us.
• Knock, knock. Pretend such as you’re knocking on a door, solely achieve this on the rind. The finest cantaloupes provide a deep, strong, resonant sound. Underripe or overripe ones typically sound extra excessive, full and hole.

What to Avoid When Selecting a Cantaloupe

Watch out for these crimson flags that your fruit could be “off:”

• Soft or mushy spots
• Green pores and skin
• An hooked up stem
• Sour, fermented, or in any other case foul aroma
• Bruises, cracks, or cuts
• Toothpaste (bluish inexperienced) colour below the netting

How to Enjoy Cantaloupe, Farmer-Style

Green is a agency believer that “if you get a really great cantaloupe, there’s not much better than eating it fresh.”

Hancock agrees, including {that a} chilled ripe cubes of cantaloupe hit the spot, “especially for breakfast on a hot summer morning,” he says. “I know some folks like to get creative by grilling it, turning it into soup, or making jam, but for me, simple and sweet is the way to go.”

If you might be craving extra artistic methods to maximise your melon haul, strive these simple cantaloupe recipes: