The Best Way To Store Watermelon To Achieve Ultimate Freshness

When you bring a watermelon home to eat right away, you'll want to make sure you choose the sweetest, juiciest melon you can find. Or, if you're planning ahead, you can buy a not-yet-ripe melon and let it rest for a few days so it'll be delicious by the time you're ready to slice it open. There are a few tips and tricks to finding the perfect watermelon that you can use to pick your fruit.

When you plan to eat the fruit will have the biggest impact on how it should be stored once it's brought into your kitchen. If you're eating the nutritious fruit soon after bringing it home, you can keep it at room temperature on the counter until you slice it up, so long as the temperature is right. Then, after it's sliced, it should be kept in the fridge in an airtight container. But if you're planning to let your watermelon wait for a bit before digging in, it should be kept intact in the fridge.

If you're ready to eat your ripe watermelon within a few days of bringing it home, it's fine to store the fruit on your kitchen counter — so long as your house doesn't get too warm. If it isn't too hot, it's unlikely that the fruit will spoil before you have time to enjoy it.

Still, excessively warm temperatures could be detrimental to the watermelon's quality, and cooler is generally better. In fact, the ideal temperature range is between 50 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Watermelon.org. At room temperature (around 70 degrees Fahrenheit), watermelons last for about a week.

If you aren't ready to eat your watermelon yet, you can simply stick the entire thing in the fridge. The cooler temperatures will allow the fruit to ripen a little slower, so you can wait a little longer before slicing into it. The watermelon should also be stored in the fridge if you slice it up into cubes or wedges before you're ready to eat the entire thing. An airtight container in a cool environment will keep your fruit tasting as fresh as possible before you snack on it.

Though the fridge is great for keeping the fruit fresh, freezing temperatures could have negative effects on the quality, too. Although watermelon can be frozen and even make for a tasty treat on a hot summer day, allowing the fruit to thaw out can create some unfortunate results.

However, the rind breaks down after being frozen. So instead of being a solid, thicker piece to hold onto while eating a slice, it could wind up feeling pretty mushy. Additionally, freezing the watermelon could cause it to lose some of its vibrant, pinkish-red color, and the flavor may be a little more muted.

Depending on when you plan to eat your ripe watermelon, you may need to assess the best way to store the fruit before you slice it up. Keeping it on the counter for a few days or storing it in the fridge at a cooler temperature are both good ways to keep it tasting fresh and juicy, so long as you account for how soon the fruit will be enjoyed.