The Internet's Finest Tropical Fruit Discussion Forum!"All discussion content within the forum reflects the views of the individual participants and does not necessarily represent the views held by the Tropical Fruit Forum as an organization."
I'm just not finding them with seeds anymore. Do you think they have more flavor?
I buy mostly seedless. I just ate a slice. They're wet and refreshing, all I expect from a watermelon. My main complaint is some are too hard. The flesh is too hard. But that's better than a slightly over ripe seeded with soft mealy flesh.I've grown a lot of varieties both seeded and seedless. The best of those, Star Brite, is seeded. It has large seeds and not too many. I'd much prefer seedless over seeded with what seems like thousands of small seeds, such as Sugar Baby. I'd much prefer seedless over any seeded that's over ripe. Seedless has a longer shelf life, a primary reason they dominate retail trade.
Seeded. Do you also have the impression that even the seeded one got worse these days? Is it because farmers go for varieties with longer shelf life?
I've yet to eat a really good seedless watermelon. Although i have to say that most of the seeded ones, though better, are not top of the line either. But i'm kind of a watermelon snob because i used to grow watermelons commercially. Unfortunately the watermelons that have taken over the main markets tend to be the worst of the lot, and are only favored because they have thick rinds that transport well without cracking. The situation is similar to Tommy Atkins becoming most popular commercial mango grown. To eat really excellent watermelons you have to go to an area where they are locally grown and eat ones that are not selected for international trade.
Seeded have better flavor by far. Seedless are not really seedless, the seeds are just softer AND harder to remove. When you bite into them it changes the flavor. I don't like the cucumber like flavor notes the seeds add to a watermelon. Most of us have been cutting watermelons wrong our whole lives. If you cut a seeded watermelon properly, it can essentially be seedless. 1. Lay the watermelon on its side and cut off the ends. 2. Cut remainder of watermelon into 2-4 thick slices shaped like a round cake that will pretty much fill up a plate. 3 Cut thin wedges downwards radiating out from the middle about 1/2 to 2/3 inch thick as if you were cutting a round cake. The knife will do most of the seeding as you cut, the majority of the rest will be exposed on the edges of the slice and can be removed just by rubbing the knife along the sides of the cut wedge. Adjust thickness of wedges based on size of watermelon to get uniformly seedless slices. I get the better flavor and ability to take big bites out of a seedless but thin wedge of fruit.