Re: Cut up watermelon vs 1/2 or 1/ 4 of a watermel... - Page 4

Cakers3 · ‎06-17-2015

I don't buy the pre-cut fruit, either.

Realistically I know those thick rinds add to the price but the precut fruit is just as expensive, if not more. You really don't get much more in those plastic containers.

And those plastic containers are another no-no for me.

I don't mind cutting up my own fruit.

This is just my experience.

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh

Pqfan · ‎03-09-2010

Watermelon doesn’t taste the same as when I was a kid. I wonder what they did to it?🍉

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@chrystaltree wrote:
I always thought I was paying more by buying the cut up watermelon but I do it for the conveniece. Also I can make sure I get the ripe red sweet melon if it's cut up. I hate it when you buy a whole one and it's ripe enough. My local grocery store had a huge bowl of of it, bigger than usual so I bought it and hid it so that my Easter guests wouldn't get into it...LOL I love watermelon.

@chrystaltree BAD BAD bunny!

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Pqfan wrote:
Watermelon doesn’t taste the same as when I was a kid. I wonder what they did to it?🍉

@Pqfan Because when you were a kid (depending on your age) you might have gotten melons grown closer to your home.

Melons today are grown to ship longer distances, hence the bigger rind and the fact that they probably ripen slower so that they won't rot in shipping time. Or maybe never get as dead ripe quickly as they used to.

You often are better off finding locally grown ones if you can in the summer.

Same thing with tomatoes--shipper tomatoes are never as good.

Pqfan · ‎03-09-2010

@Sooner wrote:
@Pqfan wrote:
Watermelon doesn’t taste the same as when I was a kid. I wonder what they did to it?🍉
@Pqfan Because when you were a kid (depending on your age) you might have gotten melons grown closer to your home.

Melons today are grown to ship longer distances, hence the bigger rind and the fact that they probably ripen slower so that they won't rot in shipping time. Or maybe never get as dead ripe quickly as they used to.

You often are better off finding locally grown ones if you can in the summer.

Same thing with tomatoes--shipper tomatoes are never as good.

@Sooner Thanks! I will give this a try.🙂

Krimpette · ‎03-09-2010

I used to go through a whole watermelon a week. I'd let it sit out on my sunny kitchen table for a day, then cut it up and place the pieces in refrigertor bags. I would then drain off the juice every day or so such that the pieces didn't get soggy. But I've gotten tired of cutting it up and sometimes not getting a really tasty one. Hence, I now tend to buy the pre-cut periodically. I alway bought the seedless, but boy...they sure seem to get smaller and smaller every year! (And I'm not talking about those mini-watermelons).

jellyBEAN · ‎04-03-2010

As a single person I thought by purchasing the melon cut up, that would be the way to go. But, once fruit is cut and xposed to air, oxidation begins and the fruit starts to ferment, thus it doesn't taste fresh, will sometimes even taste sour.

Around me I prefer to buy a WHOLE watermelon, which is not sold by the pound, but say $5 for a watermelon - cheaper or pricier depending on what time of the season it is and just cut in half. The one half I wrap with a cling wrap and place it cut side down on a large plate thus preventing too much oxidation. The other half I cut into quarters but only take the one quarter I'll be eating and wrap the rest and again try ti piece it back together and lay face down on a plate. Yes, area will still be xposed, but the next time I'm ready to eat I cut from there.

I think the reason it doesn't taste the same is because so many melons are now seedless, so they don't have the robust flavor 'regular' watermelons do. If I can find a watermelon with seeds, I'll buy that. Also I always knock on my melon and listen for that hollow sound, and the weight of it should be heavy relative to its size. This will ensure a juicy watermelon. But its all about the sweetness which I have a hit or miss with even though I always check the grow spot for yellow color. I read just recently the twig/stem should be dried out looking, not green, this ensures that the watermelon wasn't picked before it has ripened.

I bought a medium sized seedless watermelon at Walmart about 1 1/2 weeks ago. One more serving of it left. It was from Mexico, good size, hollow sound, yellow ground spot, and it was plenty juicy, but not quite sweet enough. Was OK, certainly edible, but maybe just a bit too early in the season. I paid $6.97? Which was a little high, but the prices will come down as the season gets going. Can't wait!

One more thing, and I'm not sure this is true - the more oblong/longer melons are the males, the rounder ones are the females. The females are juicier and sweeter than the males. So I'm gonna take this into consideration the next time I'm picking one out.

Flowers are nature's way of laughing

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

If you buy a whole watermelon then find it's way too much and you have leftovers, try freezing the rest and use the frozen pieces in your smoothies or put frozen melon cubes in your favorite summer beverages instead of using plain ice cubes.

fitfuninformed · ‎10-06-2010

Not to burst anyone's bubble here but a tip from the wise: Fresh cut up fruit bowls, containers, etc. are almost 99% certain to have had sugar added. The fruit is cut on the premises usually but thereafter sprinkled with ordinary table sugar. It is undetectable to the human eye and most people always say "the pre-cut or cut-up is always consistently sweeter." Well, there you go.

lovesrecess · ‎03-14-2010

I always wait until they have the whole seedless watermelons on sale and buy one...cut it up myself....DH and I can eat a good one in no time at all...especially if the weather gets hot! I sometimes will give part of it to a daughter or a neighbor if it is more than I think we can finish.....I stay away from the cut-up bowls of it from the grocery store....too great of a risk of e. Coli.