![]() ![]() To test this criteria, we went further than the average picker and measured the melons by the weight as compared to volume. ![]() I interpret “heavy” as heavy for its size, and not heavy compared to the rest, or else I will almost always come home with the largest watermelon! Nearly every farmer you talk to will tell you to “pick a heavy one” when choosing watermelons. We tested each melon 8 times, with each twig being tested once on each side of the watermelon. In a room with minimal wind, we tested the theory by placing the straw in the center, perpendicular to the stem / blossom end orientation. If the melon is ripe, the straw will turn to a 45-degree angle if it is green, it will not move.” The subsequent January issue proposes the straw test works by the electrical force present in the watermelons.įor the straw test, we obtained 3 broom straws from 2 different brooms, and a “green” Johnson grass twig harvested just before the test. A picker places “a broom straw horizontally across a watermelon. Many watermelon aficionados continue to trust this unique method after many decades of use.Ī November 1945 issue of Popular Science describes the method of the straw test. The straw test was surely the most interesting and fun to try. The Straw Test for Ripe Watermelon: Myth or Fact? An instrument would not be able to help us judge the relative ripeness of a watermelon. We found that we needed the other melons to determine qualities such as pitch and color. We could have used scientific instruments for each test, but if the results are too close for us to distinguish by our senses, then they are no good to us in the field or in the kitchen. This is really the true measure we are after anyway: the tastiest melon, right?įirst, we used our senses to determine appearance, bottom color (yellow spot), firmness, and pitch. Granted, that’s a subjective measure, but I have a pretty good palate. I then took a bite of each melon to give it the taste test. ![]() This instrument measures the percentage of sugar content in the melons. So how serious were we about these tests? We actually measured our watermelon ripeness scientifically with a refractometer.
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