How to Cut a Watermelon Without Flooding the Counter

Yes. Rinse the rind under running water and dry it before the first cut, because the knife drags the outside of the rind through the flesh. Clemson's factsheet notes a ripe melon's skin goes dull, and that dull surface holds soil from the field. A vegetable brush on a rough rind is worthwhile.

Look at the underside for a large cream or white ground spot, check that the skin has lost its gloss, and, if it came with a stem, look for a brown, dried tendril, which is how Clemson's extension service describes a ripe melon. The thump test is popular but it is not in that list.

You can, but watermelon is 91% water and 6% sugar, so an unsealed wooden board soaks up juice and turns sticky. Put a rimmed baking sheet under it to catch the run-off, wash it in hot soapy water straight after, and dry it standing on edge.

It holds the run-off from halving, quartering and peeling, which is where most of the loose juice comes from, roughly 0.5 to 1 cup (120 to 240 mL) from a 10 lb (4.5 kg) melon. Tip it into a glass between steps. Cubing the peeled slabs releases much less, so the flat side manages that.

The surface is smoother than wood, so it can feel slick, and a wet rind slides more. Put a damp towel under the board so the board cannot move, cut 0.5 in (1.3 cm) off each end of the melon so it stands flat, and keep the cut face down when you quarter it.

Steel is harder than wood or plastic, so it dulls an edge faster than an end-grain block would. One melon is a handful of long strokes, so it is not the job that wears a knife; a daily pile of onions is. Keep the steel board for wet and raw work and use wood for high-volume chopping.

One at least as long as the half melon you will lay on it. A supermarket melon of 8 to 15 lb (3.6 to 7 kg) is 10 to 14 in (25 to 36 cm) long, so a half is 5 to 7 in (13 to 18 cm) and fits a Medium 12 x 8 in (30.5 x 20.3 cm) board; the Large 15.4 x 11 in (39 x 28 cm) takes a whole half with the groove clear.

Up to 2 hours at room temperature, or 1 hour when it is above 90 °F (32 °C), which is the perishable food limit the UC Master Food Preservers quote. Serve from a bowl on ice and refill it from a cooler, rather than putting the whole melon out at once.

Yes, for smoothies and slush. The NCHFP lists melon for freezing as slices, cubes or balls, packed unsweetened or in a 30 percent syrup with headspace. Freeze the cubes on a tray first so they do not clump. Thawed watermelon is soft and watery, so use it straight from frozen.

Yes. The pale inner rind is firm and bland rather than sweet, and it is often pickled or stir-fried. Leaving 0.5 in (1.3 cm) of it on the cubes does no harm, but it drops the sweetness of a mouthful, so most people trim to the pink and keep the white for pickles.

A 10 in (25 cm) chef's knife or a serrated bread knife of the same length. Either reaches the centre of a 10 to 14 in (25 to 36 cm) melon in one stroke; an 8 in (20 cm) blade works on a small melon but needs two passes on a big one.

Yes, and it starts the cut through the rind more easily than a plain edge, since the teeth grip the waxy skin. A 10 in (25 cm) bread knife leaves a slightly rougher cut face on the flesh, which weeps a little more, so switch to a plain chef's knife for the cubes.

Cut 0.5 in (1.3 cm) off each end first so the melon has two flat faces, then stand it on one end and cut straight down. A melon on its side rolls under the blade; one standing on a flat end cannot.

Lengthways for peeled slabs and cubes, because a lengthways quarter gives a slab 10 to 14 in (25 to 36 cm) long that cuts into even planks. Across is for rounds and wedges, which are for eating from the rind.

Halve the melon across, lay each half cut face down, and cut it into 1 in (2.5 cm) thick half-rounds, then cut each round into 3 or 4 triangles. Do this over a juice groove; each half-round opens two wet faces.

Cut the melon into 1 in (2.5 cm) rounds, then cut each round into a 1 in (2.5 cm) grid, leaving the rind on the outer pieces as a handle. A 10 lb (4.5 kg) melon gives about 40 sticks with a rind end to hold.

About 1 in (2.5 cm) for standard cubes, which lets each plank cut into 1 in (2.5 cm) sticks and cubes in two more passes. Slabs thicker than 1.5 in (4 cm) are hard to cut evenly because the knife tip does not reach the board.

0.75 to 1 in (2 to 2.5 cm), so they match grape halves and strawberry quarters and do not weep more than the other fruit. Larger 1.5 in (4 cm) cubes suit a platter where each piece is picked up with a fork or a toothpick.

Yes, on a peeled or unpeeled half, and it makes less juice than cubing because each scoop opens one curved face rather than six flat ones. A 1 in (2.5 cm) baller gives about 60 balls from a 10 lb (4.5 kg) melon and leaves the scraps for juice.

Cutting wedges from a half that is sitting cut face down on a flat board. The half presses 5 lb (2.3 kg) of its own weight onto its wettest face, and every wedge cut opens two more, all draining off a board with no lip.

Because the counter under it is wet. Once the first run-off reaches the counter, any board floats on a film of juice; a steel board is smoother than wood and slides sooner. A damp towel or a 0.1 in (3 mm) silicone mat under the board fixes it.

Roughly 0.5 to 1 cup (120 to 240 mL) of loose juice from halving, quartering and peeling a 10 lb (4.5 kg) melon, most of it from the white inner rind. Cubing the peeled slabs adds a few tablespoons (45 to 60 mL) more.

Drink it, or pour it into an ice cube tray for lemonade. Watermelon is 6% sugar, so 1 cup (240 mL) of groove juice is a sweet drink on its own; strain it through a sieve first to catch the seeds and flecks of rind.

Cut on a grooved board sitting on a damp towel, tip the groove into a glass after each stage, and keep the cut faces of the melon on the board rather than the counter. If the board is flat, put a rimmed baking sheet with a 1 in (2.5 cm) lip under it.

Yes, but a flat plastic board has no lip and slides on a wet counter, and knife scores in the plastic hold juice. Put a rimmed sheet under it and wash it in the dishwasher afterwards; a plastic board with a groove is a better choice.

Yes. The University of Maine's food safety bulletin recommends one board for raw meat, poultry and seafood and a second one for ready-to-eat food such as fruit. If a single board does both, wash and sanitise it between jobs with 0.5 teaspoon (2.5 mL) of bleach per quart (1 L) of water.

Wash it in hot soapy water, then wipe it with 0.5 teaspoon (2.5 mL) of unscented bleach in 1 quart (about 1 L) of water, which the University of Maine gives as roughly 200 ppm chlorine. A dishwasher cycle does the same job on a steel or plastic board.

Only after it has been washed and sanitised, and a dishwasher cycle is the simplest way on a 304 steel board. On a wooden board that cannot go in the machine, the 0.5 teaspoon per quart bleach wipe is the standard; better to keep a second board for fruit.

No. 304 stainless steel is non-porous, so juice and sugar sit on the surface and rinse off. Wood takes up the 6% sugar and stays sticky; scored plastic holds juice in the cuts. That is why the steel board can go straight in the dishwasher.

No. 304 stainless resists staining from acidic and sugary food, and there is no coating to lift. Rinse it before the juice dries and it looks the same as before; a dried-on ring of sugar takes 30 seconds under hot water.

The grooved side for halving, quartering and peeling, since those cuts shed most of the 0.5 to 1 cup (120 to 240 mL) of loose juice, and the flat side for cubing the peeled slabs. The groove runs the full perimeter of the grooved side, so the run-off has nowhere to escape.

For a small melon of 8 lb (3.6 kg) or less, yes; a half of that is about 5 in (13 cm) wide and fits the 12 x 8 in (30.5 x 20.3 cm) surface. For a 12 to 15 lb (5.4 to 7 kg) melon, the Large at 15.4 x 11 in (39 x 28 cm) keeps the whole half inside the groove.

No. The board is uncoated 304 steel and needs no oiling, seasoning or soaking at any point, which is different from a wooden board that needs oil after a wet job. Wash it, dry it, and put it away on edge in a cabinet gap.

Yes, both the Medium and the Large are dishwasher safe. A full cycle clears the sugar and any soil from the rind, and there is no wood to warp or crack. Rinse the groove first so pips do not end up in the filter.

Yes. Steel is harder than wood or plastic, so an edge dulls faster on it than on an end-grain block. A melon is about 20 long strokes, so the wear from one melon is small; keep wood for the daily onion pile and the steel for wet and raw jobs.

Put a damp kitchen towel or a thin silicone mat under it before the first cut. The steel surface is smoother than wood, and once the counter is wet the board will float, so the towel goes down 5 seconds before the knife does, not after the first spill.

About 1 to 2 weeks at room temperature away from sun, or up to 3 weeks in a fridge if you have the space for a 10 to 14 in (25 to 36 cm) fruit. A melon does not ripen further after picking, so buy one with a cream ground spot and eat it within the fortnight.

3 to 5 days in a sealed container at or below 40 °F (4 °C). Drain the cubes first, since the bottom layer softens within a day if it sits in juice. A cut half with the rind on, wrapped tightly in plastic, keeps about the same.

Wrap the cut face tightly in plastic wrap or press it onto a plate, rind side up, and refrigerate at or below 40 °F (4 °C) for 3 to 4 days. The rind holds the water in, so a half keeps better than cubes and is the easier way to work through a big melon.

Because the fruit is 91% water and the cut faces keep leaking it. Cubes sitting in their own juice soften from the bottom up within 24 hours. Store them drained, in a container with a raised insert or a colander over a bowl, and eat within 3 to 5 days.

2 hours, or 1 hour when the room or the garden is above 90 °F (32 °C), which is the UC Master Food Preservers' limit for perishable food. After that, throw out what is left rather than putting it back in the fridge.

Any cut melon is perishable: it is sweet, wet and low in acid, and the rind carries soil that a knife drags into the flesh. Wash the rind, cut on a clean board, and keep cut fruit at or below 40 °F (4 °C) after no more than 2 hours out.

Yes. Cut it into cubes, freeze them on a tray for 2 to 3 hours, then bag them; the NCHFP lists melon for freezing as slices, cubes or balls, packed unsweetened or in 30 percent syrup with headspace. Blend them from frozen; thawed melon is watery.

About 8 to 12 months at 0 °F (-18 °C) for good texture in a blender, though it stays safe indefinitely frozen. Press the air out of the bag before sealing, since watermelon is 91% water and freezer burn shows quickly on exposed cubes.

Roughly 11 to 12 cups of 1 in (2.5 cm) cubes, or about 5.5 lb (2.5 kg) of flesh, once the rind is off. The rind and trimmings weigh 4 to 5 lb (1.8 to 2.3 kg), so plan bin or compost space for nearly half the weight.

A 10 lb (4.5 kg) melon gives 11 to 12 cups of cubes, and at 1 cup (152 g) per person that is a fruit course for about 12. Healthline puts a cup at 46 calories and 9.4 g of sugar, so a second cup each still keeps it a light dessert.

Trim off the green outer skin, keep the pale inner rind, and pickle it in a brine of 1 cup (240 mL) vinegar, 1 cup (240 mL) water and 0.5 cup (100 g) sugar, or dice it for a stir-fry. It is firm and mild and keeps about 2 weeks pickled in the fridge.

Not for seedless types, which Wikipedia notes were nearly 85% of US watermelon sales in 2014. For a seeded melon, cut the slabs into 1 in (2.5 cm) planks and flick the black seeds out with the knife tip; the small white ones are soft and can stay.

Cut 0.5 in (1.3 cm) off each end with whatever knife you have, stand the melon on one end, and cut down in two or three overlapping strokes, turning the melon as you go. Then quarter each half and peel; a 6 in (15 cm) knife handles the quarters fine.

Lay the quarter flesh up and run a 10 in (25 cm) knife between the pink flesh and the white rind in one long curving stroke, about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) from the outside. Do it over the groove, since the inner rind releases most of the loose juice.

Yes. Cubes cut the day before keep 3 to 5 days in a sealed container at or below 40 °F (4 °C), and cutting on a quiet evening avoids doing the wettest job in a busy kitchen. Drain them before storing so the bottom layer stays firm.

It was overripe or stored too cold for too long, not a cutting fault. Watermelon is 91% water, and past its peak the cells collapse and the texture goes grainy. Clemson's ripeness signs are a cream ground spot, a dull skin and a brown tendril; a very old melon has a soft, sunken spot.

Halve it across, scoop the flesh out with a spoon or a melon baller, and use the emptied half rind as the bowl. Set the rind bowl on a plate, since a 5 to 7 in (13 to 18 cm) rind cup weeps through the cut edge for about an hour.

Scrub it in hot soapy water within 15 minutes, before the 6% sugar in the juice dries, rinse, and stand it on edge to dry. Rub a little mineral oil in once it is fully dry, usually the next day, because a wet job pulls oil out of the wood.

Yes. A sticky counter or a sugary board left overnight will draw fruit flies within a day in summer. Wipe the counter with hot water straight after cutting, put the rind in a sealed bin, and wash the board, in the dishwasher if it is steel.

The same way but with an 8 in (20 cm) knife: take 0.5 in (1.3 cm) off each end, halve it standing up, quarter it, and peel each quarter. A 3 to 5 lb (1.4 to 2.3 kg) personal melon fits the Medium 12 x 8 in (30.5 x 20.3 cm) board easily.

Yes, for a platter where people eat with their hands: cut 1 in (2.5 cm) rounds, then a 1.5 in (4 cm) grid across each round. The outer pieces keep a rind edge to hold. It makes more juice than peeling first, so keep the groove side up.

Cutting is easier at room temperature, when the rind is a little softer, but the cubes taste better chilled. Cut it, then refrigerate the cubes for at least 2 hours at or below 40 °F (4 °C) before serving; cold cubes also weep less on the platter.

Ends off, halve standing up, quarter, peel each quarter over the groove, then planks, sticks and cubes at 1 in (2.5 cm) on the flat side. About 8 minutes for a 10 lb (4.5 kg) melon, with the peeling taking half of it.

Chill them first, drain them in a colander for 10 minutes, and arrange them on a platter with a rim or on a bed of paper towel under a lettuce leaf. Cubes cut at 1.5 in (4 cm) weep less per pound than small ones, since they have less cut surface.