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If you love this summer fruit as much as I do, you’ll have found yourself wondering how to cut a watermelon. Whether it was how to cut watermelon slices or how to cut a watermelon into cubes, this fruit’s tough rind can make the cutting experience quite interesting.
Watermelon is a versatile fruit that can be a useful primary ingredient in various recipes. Some of my favorite recipes incorporating this wonderful fruit include watermelon and mint salad, as well as watermelon Caprese salad.
But before you can use watermelon in any type of recipe, knowing how to cut a watermelon is an essential skill. So let’s dive into the various ways you can cut watermelon.
How To Cut Watermelon Slices
Slices are by far the easiest form of cutting watermelon since it only involves cutting the melon into large, approximately equivalent portions. But even for this relatively straightforward watermelon shape, there are a myriad of potential pitfalls while cutting the fruit.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to cut watermelon and avoid all the potential pitfalls:
- Step 1 – Carefully cut off the two tips of the watermelon. You want to remove enough of the ends to show red flesh but not so much that you’re removing a large portion of the actual edible part.
- Step 2 – Turn the watermelon onto one of the flat planes you’ve just created. One of the greatest difficulties of cutting a watermelon is that it is round and tends to roll. By removing one of the rounded edges or both of the rounded edges, you create a flat surface on which to place the watermelon without it rolling away.
- Step 3 – Using a sharp knife, start at the center point of the watermelon’s top, and make a long vertical cut till you reach the flattened plane at the bottom of the watermelon.
- Step 4 – Repeat step 3 but on the opposite side of the watermelon. Pay careful attention because the watermelon may split into two halves much more quickly than anticipated.
- Step 5 – Place one of the watermelon halves on the flat side that you’ve just created. Use the knife to cut that half into slices of your preferred width. Simply make horizontal cuts across the width of the watermelon, as far apart as you’d like your slices to be thick.
Cutting a Watermelon Into Wedges
Once you know how to cut a watermelon into slices, you’re a short step away from making watermelon wedges. Simply follow the five steps provided above to create watermelon slices, then add this additional step:
- To create watermelon wedges: Turn a slice on its flat side, and cut it into two or three wedge-shaped portions. The size of the wedge depends entirely on your preference.
How To Cut a Watermelon Into Cubes
Cutting watermelon into cubes is very similar to cutting it into slices or wedges. However, there’s an essential additional step that allows you to change the presentation entirely. Here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Step 1 – Place the watermelon on one of its long sides. Use a sharp knife to remove the two rounded edges at the tips of the watermelon. As with the wedge-cutting process, you want to remove enough so the flesh is exposed but not remove an inordinate amount of edible flesh.
- Step 2 – Turn the watermelon onto one of the flat edges you’ve just created. Use your knife or a peeling tool to remove the watermelon’s rind. Work from top to bottom, removing consecutive rows until you’ve exposed all that beautiful pink (or yellow) flesh.
- Step 3 – Now that your watermelon is peeled, go ahead and cut it into two halves. The peeled watermelon will be much easier to cut than one with its rind still attached.
- Step 4 – Place the two halves on their flat face, and cut them into wedges of your preferred size.
- Step 5 – Doing one at a time, place each slice on one of its two larger faces and cut it into strips. Aim to make the strips as wide as your wedge is thick.
- Step 6 – Now, change direction, and cut across the slices to form cubes. If you make all your cuts around 1 inch from the next one (wedges, slices, and the final cube cut), you’ll end up with a stack of cubes that are almost perfectly square.
- Step 7 – Repeat steps five and six until all the wedges have been cut into cubes.
Tips for Ensuring That You Produce the Best Possible Cubes and Slices
There’s more to cutting watermelon than merely knowing which steps to follow. Here are my top tips for ensuring that you have the best possible experience while cutting a watermelon into slices, wedges, or cubes:
- Ensure that your knife is always sharp – Watermelons have a very strong rind, and a sharp knife will make all the difference.
- Use the right type of knife – While any type of knife will work for a watermelon that’s already peeled, you want something special for a melon with a rind. It might be tempting to use a cleaver or another type of knife that has a fairly blunt nose. However, if you want the best possible choice, choose a medium to large knife with a sharp point.
- Choose the watermelon carefully – Cutting watermelon well depends as much on the quality and ripeness of the watermelon as it does on your abilities. You should:
- Look for a watermelon that is uniformly shaped without any deep cuts, scars, blemishes, or signs of having popped. Watermelons are a field crop, so there will always be minor blemishes, but ensure that there are no major blemishes.
- Look at the field spot (which is where the watermelon lay on the ground while growing). In a ripe watermelon, it will be a rich, creamy yellow.
- Use a cutting board with runnels – Cutting watermelon can be a messy process, especially if the fruit is nice and ripe. A cutting board with runnels will prevent the juice from flowing all over your nice, clean table.
- Ensure that your work area is clean and clutter-free. Cutting watermelon can be a fairly hazardous experience at times, especially before you give the fruit a flat surface. A clutter-free table will allow you to work easily with the fruit without feeling cornered.
Conclusion
Cutting watermelon into slices, wedges, or cubes is fairly simple. It’s simply a matter of knowing which technique to use. I hope that you found this article helpful and are ready for all the watermelons that Summer will send your way this year.
If, like me, you love fruit as a whole, you might want to try out some of my other fruit-based recipes as well. There’s no doubt that fruit can be one of the most versatile ingredients out there, lending itself to meals, desserts, and snacks with equal tenacity.
I have a diverse array of fruity recipes, varying from oddities like fruit pizza and fruit pizza cookies to more traditional options like mixed berry pie and cherry pie.
You may also enjoy delectable desserts like lemon blueberry cheesecake and apple turnover.
Whether you choose a dessert or a simple snack, you’re sure to enjoy it.
