Cantaloupe often tastes like that. It really depends on the variety of the melon. It probably still wasn't fully ripe.

Generally you can take something like that back to Kroger and get your money back.

It's the wrong season for good cantaloupe, IMO.

I get more that taste like that than don’t taste like that.

We had a really good cantaloupe this week. I think it was from Costa Rica.

I find that off taste in cantaloupes that have molded a little, which is usually easy to spot at the navel. Our stores sell cantaloupe picked so green that they never develop a good flavor, and so many they sell have that black mold. A cantaloupe that has been allowed to ripen somewhat has a belly button where it was picked from the vine. If that spot is flat or still has part of the stem attached, it was picked too green to really develop good flavor. The past few years, all our grocery stores sell cantaloupe with stems still attached, so I quit buying them. Produce clerks have told me that mold on the rind does not affect flavor, but it does.

Yes I have had that happen- I call it the nail polish remover taste. I don't really know what it is that makes it get that taste. Nothing I can see makes it look any different to me.

Cantaloupe is my favorite fruit. As I say, when it's good, it's so so so good. I also find that while I often like fruit at room temperature, cantaloupe is definitely one that should be chilled.

I too am a cantaloupe lover. I think it tastes best when at room temperature or slightly cooler. My favorite serving of a cantaloupe is when it's at room temperature and just cut. After that, it goes into the fridge but when I want to eat some, I put the serving into a bowl and let it sit out for 15 minutes or so to lose its deep chill.

I think that's true of most fruits, the taste is brightest when not too cold.

I think the "snift test" is an old wives' tale. For a few fruits, it can indicate ripeness. A family friend in the produce business told me long ago to pick cantaloupes with the densest sensation of weight and the deepest pockets in the netting pattern. For ripeness, you push gently on the stem end.

The best ones I have had were home grown,thus spoiling me. I dont remember the last time I had cantaloupe. I'm waiting in impatient anticipation for big,fat,dark,sweet cherries to appear in stores.

The last time I had a good cantaloupe was in Fallon NV, where I grew up. They grow Hearts of Gold and they were the best.

I've been craving Glenda's cantaloupe bread! Its really good! No good looking cantaloupe around here right now.

Cantaloupe bread?! Never heard of it! I'm off to find out more about it!

We've been getting good cantaloupe at Costco lately. They aren't as good as summer cantaloupe, but they are pretty darn good for this time of year.

Delicious! Cantaloupe bread

Posted by glenda al on Mon, Jul 24, 00 at 10:46
It is absolutely super. So moist.

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cantaloupe (about 2 cups), cut into 2" chunks and pureed
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
.

Mix eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Add pureed cantaloupe to mixture.
Sift dry ingredients. Add to liquid.
Pour into 2 greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans (I spray them with Baker's Joy). Bake 325* for 1 hour or until done.
Enjoy!
MINE BAKED IN 50 MINUTES. I also let it set on a cooling rack in pan for 10 minutes.

I also make a cantaloupe custard pie!

I heard that cold tempers the sweetness, so that whatever it is you're eating will taste sweeter at room temperature. It seems to be true. If grapes are bitter, I let them come to room temperature before eating. If the brownies are too sweet, keep them in the fridge and eat them cold. I need to try this with peanut butter cups. I used to love them but they are too sweet any more.

I never buy cantaloupes until they are in season. I think that wherever they import them from at this time of year, they are picked too soon and never fully ripen. If you leave them out to ripen properly they just rot before they taste good. I'd rather wait until summer when they are grown closer to home and ripen fully. A good, ripe cantaloupe is hard to beat!!

And I prefer all my fruit at room temp or close to it. The exception is apples, which I like slightly chilled.

amylou, there were dark, sweet cherries for sale at one local grocery recently, imported from New Zealand. At $6.99 a pound, I can wait until the local cherries show up!!

Gardengal,they are ALWAYS that expensive or more so here,because cherries do not grow well here. Last year,I spent a vulgar amount on fresh cherries. But that doesn't bother me. I don't really eat fresh fruit throughout the year, just lots of veggies. But I allow myself as many fresh cherries as I want. They are best in June and july,i think. So good.

I had another cantaloupe today, branded Del Monte and from Guatemala. Not as good as the last one I had but pretty good just the same.

Sorry some of you are having bad experiences, I wonder how the suppliers decide what goes where and when.

" I'd rather wait until summer when they are grown closer to home "

That may depend on where they're grown. The link shows California production is 75% of the US output. The production season has already started.

From Guatemala to any of the southern and southwestern US states is closer than from California's Coachella Valley to the US Northeast. For many, proximity to the growing areas isn't a reality any time of the year.

Cantaloupes from California

The better local markets here tend to feature or focus on local suppliers. The Yakima Valley is an outstanding fruit producing area - apples, sweet cherries, pears, plums peaches, apricots and nectarines and cantaloupes, muskmelons and watermelon are all produced in abundance. At under 150 miles from the greater Seattle area, that's about as close as one can get!!

I'll wait till they are in season at buy them locally grown. Much better! For me, that is! Have a terrific farm market nearby that is open only during the growing season. Best fruits and vegetables around.

I haven't taken the time to research this yet, but just the other day I was watching an old "Good Eats" show and Alton Brown said that what we call cantaloupes here are actually musk melons. He said the only true cantaloupes are in Europe, namely France. Anyone else know anything about this? I'm too busy and lazy right now to prove it by searching further. Anyway, it does seem early to get good melons although I'm seeing them in the stores. My biggest melon treat is when the King o' the West honeydews come in, they are so good. I don't know what month it is, I just keep an eye out and they aren't handled by all the stores - here the only one I've seen them in is Publix.

Sometimes you take your chances this time of year with melons. I had a side fruit salad at lunch today with cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes and strawberries and all pieces were delicious and sweet. I seldom buy a whole one in the grocery store though because they don’t smell right, or ripe enough, to take a chance. DH doesn’t care for it, so I will sometimes buy a package of a half if it looks deeply colored. Not always good but usually.

I think I'll try and grow them again this year. Last time I grew them they didn't do well. I think we have just been having too much rain the last couple of years.

I use the look, listen, touch test to find a ripe one. Look - the least green possible. Listen - shake melon by your ear. If you can here the seeds rattle. It is ripe. Touch - the stem area should have some give.

I can grow them, but the raccoons or opossums always get to them just before they are ripe and eat their half. I gave up and just buy them.

We get delicious cantaloupe from the local farmers market, but the growing season is short here. They start to show up in mid July and are pretty much done by the end of September.

Gardengal, are Hermiston watermelons still available? They were the best I've ever had, all these years later.