Q: What cantaloupe do you pick up in the grocery store? Are you supposed to squeeze them? Smell them? Weigh them? Shake them? And what are they supposed to feel like if you squeeze them? Smell like if you smell them? Weigh if you pick them up? Or Sound like if you shake them?

A: Did you ever watch people in the grocery store at the melon table? Does everyone have their own technique? Do you think they know what they are doing? Well with cantaloupes there are 3 major signs of full maturity:

1. The stem should be gone, leaving a smooth, symmetrical, break on the melon. If all or part of the stem base remains or if the stem scar is jagged or torn, the melon is probably not fully matured.
2. The netting or veining should be thick, coarse and corky and should stand out over the surface.
3. The skin color between the netting should have changed from green to a yellowish buff, yellowish gray or pale yellow.

Look for signs of ripeness, for a cantaloupe may be mature, but not ripe.

A ripe cantaloupe will have a yellowish cast to the rind, have a pleasant cantaloupe odor when held to the nose, and will yield slightly to light thumb pressure on the blossom end of the melon.

What should you AVOID?

Over-ripeness shown by a pronounced yellow rind color or a softening over the entire rind or a soft, watery flesh. Small bruises normally won't hurt the fruit, but obviously you would want to avoid large ones. Mold growth on the cantaloupe---mainly in the stem scar with wet tissue under the mold--- indicates decay.

So if you love cantaloupe---maybe the next time you shop for one, the job will be a bit easier.