How to Store Melons? Several Options
Melon comes in many shapes and sizes. All with their own color and taste. Melons have been eaten for thousands of years, including by the Egyptians. They are large fruits that take up quite a lot of space. In this blog, we will discuss how to store melons for a long time.
Here are some storing tips for Melons:
- Not ripe melons can be stored in the fruit bowl for 1-7 days
- Ripe melons just stored in the fridge for 2 days
- Cut melon, wrap in foil and refrigerate for 2 days
- Pieces of melon in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2 days
- Only freeze melon for a maximum of 2 days, no longer.
You can store melon in different ways. These different ways are discussed in this blog. The Watermelon, Galia melon and the Cantaloupe melon are discussed separately later in this article.
How to Store Melons?
We have to store almost all types of melons in the same way. The melon is a fruit that generally has to ripen for a while when purchased. The ripening process continues if the melon is kept at room temperature.
Place the melon, which has yet to ripen, on or next to the fruit bowl and certainly not in the refrigerator. The melon cannot ripen because of the cold temperatures.
You can store a melon for a maximum of 7 days in the fruit bowl.
If you want to eat the melon, you can of course put it in the fridge for half a day or a few hours. Melon is nice to eat in the summer when it is cold.
If you leave the melon too long, it can rot. You can see this immediately when broaching. The pulp is glassy and slimy and it emits a sickly smell. The outside of the melon is usually already wrinkled and has rough lines. Do not eat this melon anymore, but throw it away.
Store melons in the refrigerator
It is better not to keep a very ripe melon in the fruit bowl, because then the ripening process continues. With a ripe melon, we want to stop the ripening process. We can do this by putting the melon in the fridge.
Due to the cold of the refrigerator, the ripening process stops and we can keep the melon for a while. The melon can then be kept in the refrigerator for another 2 days.
Preserve Sliced Melons
A sliced melon should never be kept outside of the refrigerator. We must always keep these in the refrigerator.
Cover the melon with some foil and put the melon in the refrigerator. Pieces of melon must also be wrapped in foil and kept in the refrigerator. We can keep the sliced melon in the refrigerator for another 2 days.
You have to cover the melon with foil, because the melon can take on the flavor of other products. This does not benefit the melon. In addition, the melon gives off a very sweet scent that can also be absorbed by other products. So cover that melon!
Keep melons in the freezer
You can also keep melon in the freezer. The quality and taste deteriorate rapidly, but you can freeze a melon. To do this, clean the melon first. Remove the skin and seeds.
Then cut the melon into pieces and put it in a freezer bag. Then put this bag in the freezer. You can keep it like this for 12 months, but the taste and texture deteriorate quickly. If you want to freeze a melon, do this for a short period, a maximum of a week.
If you want to serve melon in the evening, you can of course freeze the melon. Frozen melon on a stick or skewer is a delicious snack, especially in summer.
How to Store Watermelon?
Watermelon consists of 95% water. When the melon has yet to ripen, it is best to store it on or next to the fruit bowl. See the chapter above on ‘How to Store Melon’.
However, watermelons are bought to eat right away. If this is the case, keep the melon in the refrigerator. Nothing tastes better than a cold piece of watermelon on a hot summer day. You can keep the watermelon in the fridge for 2 days.
Also Read this: How to Store Mushrooms
You can recognize a fresh watermelon by its sound. Beat the melon when you buy it in the store. A ripe watermelon should sound dull. If the watermelon sounds hollow, it is not yet ripe. The watermelon should also feel nice and heavy and firm, then it is ripe. You cannot smell or feel whether the watermelon is good. This is possible with other melons.
Since watermelon is very large, you can now also buy pieces of melon on the market and from the greengrocer. These must therefore be kept in the refrigerator. Leave them in the foil and immediately put them in the fridge when you get home. You can keep them like this for 2 days.
Keep Watermelon in the Freezer
This is not the best place to keep watermelon. The watermelon consists of 95% water and when you freeze the watermelon, the structure and taste change very quickly.
You can freeze the melon for a day. Nothing tastier than pieces of frozen watermelon on a stick or skewer. Especially in the summer, this is a tasty and healthy snack.
How to Store Galia Melon?
The Galia Melon is a cross of 2 different melons and was developed in Israel. Today, the Galia melon is grown in Israel, Brazil, Spain and Honduras.
You usually buy a melon to eat right away, so you want to buy a ripe melon. You can recognize a ripe melon by the sweet scent they give off. The sweeter the scent, the riper the melon.
You can also perform the pressure test. Press on the bottom of the Galia melon, this is opposite the side with which it was attached to the tree. If you can press this, the Galia melon is ripe.
Again, keep the unripe Galia melon out of the fridge. The Galia melon can then still ripen in the fruit bowl. However, this is also time-bound and you can keep the melon for 7 days.
Ripe Galia melon can be kept in the fridge. The ripening process is stopped by the cold. You can keep a Galia melon that you keep in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days.
You can also store sliced or pieces of Galia melon in the refrigerator. Cover the melon with foil and put the pieces of melon in a sealable container. This way you can keep the melon for 2 more days.
Keeping the Galia melon in the freezer is not an option. It is possible, but taste, texture and color deteriorate quickly. If you want to freeze it 1 day in advance to make ice cream, this will still work fine. Furthermore, just do not freeze and eat it well.
How to Store Cantaloupe Melon?
The Cantaloupe melon is named after the place Cantaloupe in Italy where the melon was grown for the Pope. Cantaloupe melon is the sweetest of the melons and therefore often used in desserts.
The Cantaloupe melon today comes from Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Israel, Panama, Spain, Italy and France.
A fresh Cantaloupe is of course the best and you can also buy it in the store. A ripe Cantaloupe melon gives off a wonderful sweet scent. You can also shake the Cantaloupe melon for a while, when you hear the seeds rattle, the melon is ripe and can be eaten immediately upon arrival.
If the Cantaloupe melon is not yet ripe, keep it at room temperature. You can then store and ripen the Cantaloupe melon for about 1 week.
Once the melon has ripened, keep it in the refrigerator. This is possible for 2 days at the latest, because then the quality will quickly deteriorate.
You can also keep sliced and chunks of Cantaloupe melon in the fridge. Make sure the melon is covered and that the pieces are in a sealable container. The strong scent of the melon can be absorbed by other products and that is not pleasant for those other products.
It is also preferable not to freeze this melon. For a short period, 1-2 days, but not for the long term. Taste and texture are quickly lost.
