Melon season is here! The warmer weather brings with it delicious honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon. While these highly anticipated fruits are tastiest (and usually more affordable) during late spring and summer, you’ll still need to check for ripeness to ensure you’re choosing the sweetest, juiciest fruit of the bunch.

Unlike berries, it can be difficult to identify a ripe melon from appearance alone. But with some helpful cues, like sound and feel, you’ll be able to more accurately select melons that are ready to enjoy the second you get home. 

Cantaloupe

Ripe cantaloupe should be a nice yellow-orange color—not green. The fruit will also have a sweet and slightly musky aroma when it's ready to be eaten.

Check the Stem

When you're shopping for cantaloupe, look at the stem end first. You shouldn't see the stem itself—and if it is there, that means the melon was picked before maturing. That end of the cantaloupe may have a slight indent, which is actually an indicator that the fruit came away from the vine easily when it was ready to be picked.

Weight

A ripe cantaloupe will feel heavy for its size. "Press the bottom of the melon (the opposite of the stem side)," says Anna Ziata, chef-instructor at the Institute for Culinary Education. "It should give slightly, then return back up." An underripe cantaloupe won’t give at all, while an overripe one will leave an indentation. 

Sound

Another way to test for ripeness is to pick your melon up and shake it. "If you hear a rattling sound when shaking the fruit, this indicates a detached seed cavity which means the fruit is over mature," says Nick Moless, principal global produce buyer for Whole Foods Market.