Why Those Little Spots On Your Watermelon Are Actually A Good Thing

Watermelons may be among the cheapest of fruits (what else can you buy for 50 cents a pound?), but those suckers sure are big. If you're going to be schlepping around a 20-pound melon, much less finding space for it in your fridge, you'll want to make sure you're not saddled with a dud. There are different ways to pick out the best watermelon at the store, including thumping it (It's supposed to sound deep and hollow) and using the two-finger trick to determine that the stripes are as far apart as they should be. Another way involves looking for little black spots. Counter-intuitive though it may seem, these are actually a positive sign.

These watermelon freckles are called sugar spots and it's not just a cute name. The spots indicate that the watermelon flesh is sweet enough that some of the sugar is starting to ooze out into the rind. On some melons, sugar spots appear more like brown webbing, but either black spots or brown lines mean the melon should be a ripe and juicy one.

There's also one big spot that can help you pick a sweet watermelon using only your eyes (maybe your hands to roll it into position). This would be a large yellow patch that marks where the watermelon lay on the ground while it was growing. If you can't find any such patch or it's so pale the watermelon's stripes are clearly visible underneath, this is an indicator the watermelon was picked before it had a chance to fully ripen so it won't be at its sweetest.

Other spots, however, may mean a watermelon is overripe. If it has brown or white patches that feel soft to the touch, it may have started to rot. In this case, the flesh may taste bitter. If there's mold, it can cause breathing problems or some other allergic reaction.  If you've already bought the melon and there are only a few small soft spots, you might be able to cut them out and salvage the rest of the fruit; but if it goes soft all over or starts to smell bad, it's a goner, for sure. Needless to say, if you notice any signs of spoilage on a watermelon that's still in the store, leave it there and choose another one.