Picking the Perfect Watermelon

I have never really known what the secret is to picking a good fruit like watermelon.  There is a trick to it, but what is it?   It seems that different folks have different ideas about how to do this the correct way. I always thought that you just thump the watermelon to see if it's ripe.  My mother in-law told me yesterday that you look for the crusty areas on the outside of the watermelon.  She said that these are the areas where the juice has escaped and insects feed on the juices.  I came home and did a little research.  I found an article on About.com that states the exact opposite.  Apparently you are to look for a watermelon that doesn't have bruising or dents.  Out with that theory!  According to this article, you should thump the watermelon because you CAN tell if it is ripe this way.  If it sounds hollow when you thump it, you're getting close to the perfect watermelon.  You also want to look for yellowing on the skin, this is another sign that it's ripe.  If the stripes of the melon go all the way around, it is not ready yet.  Put it back and find one that has the yellow spot.  But that's not all, there is one more tip to picking the sweetest, juiciest watermelon.  If it feels very light in weight, what is it missing?  Well, water of course!  So let's review...

Picking the perfect watermelon

1. No bruising, dents, or scars
2. Yellowing on the skin, missing stripes
3. Hollow when you thump it
4. Heavy, we don't want a dry watermelon!!

There you go, you are now armed with the knowledge to pick the perfect watermelon.  It's summer, it's hot, so get to the store and pick a great melon for your smoothies!  Enjoy!