How to Tell When a Spaghetti Squash Is Ripe
- 1). Check the color of the spaghetti squash's skin. A white or green-tinged skin indicates an under-ripe squash. Ripe squash should have a bright or golden yellow skin.
- 2). Pick up the squash and check the skin surface for black indentations or bruising that indicate a damaged or overripe squash. A ripe squash should have a skin with few marks except on the side where it rested on the ground while growing.
- 3). Press your thumb onto the skin. If you're dealing with an overripe squash, your thumb will leave an indent in the skin or you will feel the skin push in. If you're dealing with a ripe squash, you will feel a firm surface.
- 4). Push your fingernail slightly into the skin and smell the squash. If the squash has a strong, bad or "off" smell, don't buy or eat it -- it's overripe.