How to pick cantaloupe: Look, feel and smell for this to get a ripe melon

Fruit is a must-have at summer picnics and cookouts, but it won't do much good if it's mushy or underripe. Navigating the produce aisle is an art. You've got to know what to look for well before you cut into the fruit at home.

Cantaloupe presents a particular challenge. Not only can you not tell what the fruit will look like on the inside, but the melon doesn't continue to ripen after being picked. It’s essential to grab one that was harvested at peak ripeness.

Know your melons: Cantaloupe 101

Before you pick a winner, you've got to know your way around a melon. These two things are true for any type of melon:

• Melons should feel heavy for their size: A denser melon is packed with more juice, more sugar and more flavor
• Melons have a stem end and a blossom end: The stem end connects to the plant and the blossom end is where the flower grows. The stem end curves in like a belly button and the blossom end domes out.

Take your time to compare and handle several melons before you pick one. Settle for a happy medium – you want a melon that’s firm but not too firm, fragrant but not smelly.

How to pick a cantaloupe

1. Look at the rind: Avoid green cantaloupes, which aren’t ready yet. A ripe cantaloupe will have a yellow-beige color.

2. Look for a stem: Cantaloupes naturally detach from the plant when ripe. If there’s a stem intact, it was likely cut from the plant before it reached maturity.

3. Give it a light squeeze. Feel all around and press your thumb into the blossom end. The perfect cantaloupe should be firm with a little bit of give. If it’s hard like a watermelon, it’s not quite ripe.

4. Knock and listen: Unlike a watermelon, a hollow sound means this cantaloupe is not ripe. Instead, you want a low tone.

5. Give it a smell: Cantaloupes should have a robust and sweet fragrance. If you smell anything rotten or garbage-like, the fruit is starting to rot.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to pick cantaloupe: Look, feel and smell for this to get a ripe melon