It is important to cut and store watermelon and other fruit properly for quality and safety. First, begin by washing your hands. You should also wash the outside of watermelon or other fruit using a vegetable brush and cool water. Bacteria lingering on the outer surface of fruit, like watermelon, can transfer into the
fruit when cutting.
Cut your melon this way:
- Cut off the ends, to provide a fat base.
- Place the knife where the white rind meets the red flesh. Following the curve of the fruit, cut off the rind.
- Cut the whole watermelon into disks, with the width of the disks being the same width you want the diced cubes to be.
- With the disks facing down, cut same size strips in both directions, “dicing” the melon.
The ISU Extension and Outreach website Spend Smart. Eat Smart. also has a video called How to Cut a Melon, blogs.extension.iastate.edu/spendsmart, showing how to cut and prepare melon. Store watermelon at 40°F or lower in the refrigerator. Bacteria can grow in cut melon that is held at higher temperatures.
Sources: Cutting & Yield, www.watermelon.org. How to Cut a Melon, blogs.extension.iastate.edu/spendsmart.
