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How To Pick The Best Fruits At The Grocery Store
Oh—and this one’s actually useful if you’re looking for a watermelon: look at the stem, or what is left of it. If it’s still green, it probably had to come off too soon. The brown and dried-up tails have had ample time to ripen properly before coming off the vine—those are the ones you want. Not the largest one. Not the shiniest. It just has to be the right size, with the right spot, and that dried little tail.
Pineapples
Now, pineapples are tricky. You would think that the more bright and yellow it is, the more ripe it is, right? Wrong. That’s sort of the trap. The only rule is that it can’t be super green. That is the only red flag, honestly. If it’s too immature, it’s also probably going to be sour and kind of dry in the middle.
Folks tend to also pluck on the center leaves to check the ripeness; this is not a bad method, but there is a sweet spot. If you give it a slight tug and it comes out easily with a bit of resistance, you’re fine, but if it slides out without any downward pressure (that is what I mean by no resistance) it might be overripe and mushy in the middle. Basically, if it comes out like it wants to shed its leaves, it is probably beyond fresh.
Okay, next, give it a squeeze; not a squeeze like you’re juicing it, just a gentle push. If it is rock solid, not ready. If it feels like a soft stress ball? Also not good. You want it with a little give, like almost a bruise if you were really trying, but is still presentable.
And now I’m going to give you a weird, and arguably the most reliable test: smell the bottom. Seriously. Flip it over and get a whiff. If it smells like a sweet, fresh pineapple? It’s probably ripe. If it doesn’t smell like anything? It’s not ready. And if it smells too sweet—like, sickly sweet, or syrupy? It could be starting to ferment in there that’s bad news bears.
Cantaloupes
These are a bit easier if you know what to look for, but frankly they are the one I make the most mistakes with by far, for whatever reason. Initially, you want to look for any clear damage. Not just scratches but more like bruises or anything moldy or mushy. If it is already growing something, you can simply put it down.
Next is to examine the skin color. If there is still green color present, you probably want to wait on it. You want something that is in the beige, tan color range with a slight hint of green, that’s good. Too much green means not ripe, too pale and soft means most likely overripe.