The Best Way to Carve a Watermelon
For antsy jack-o’-lantern enthusiasts, Halloween is frighteningly far away. If you just can’t wait to carve a design into a fruit or vegetable, watermelon carving could be just what you need.
What You Need
- The perfect watermelon (Here’s how to pick it.)
- Chef’s knife
- Paring knife
- Spoon
- Wooden skewer
Pro tip: A dull knife can suddenly slip as it struggles to cut through a watermelon. A sharp knife is a safe knife. If you’re getting kids involved, make sure to supervise!
Watermelon Fruit Bowl
Another creative use for a watermelon is to create a hollow bowl for an assortment of fruits. Using your chef’s knife, cut your watermelon in half. Then, use a spoon to hollow out the watermelon, saving all that juicy fruit for later. Now, you can fill the hollowed watermelon with an assortment of summery fruits like pineapple, grapes, apples, kiwis, or the watermelon chunks you just scooped out.
Pro tip: Before you fill up your watermelon bowl, engrave it using the tips below!
Watermelon Engraving
One of the easiest ways to enhance a watermelon’s aesthetic is with an engraving. Here’s how to do it:
1. Print out a simple design (like a star, a heart, or a cartoon face) on paper to create a stencil. If you’d rather engrave words, like your name, type your text in a word processor; choose a large, simple font. We also recommend going with all caps, as capital letters are easier to carve.
2. Lay your printed design across the surface of the watermelon and tape it in place. Outline each letter with your skewer, poking holes through the paper and gently into the watermelon.
3. Remove the paper stencil to see your design outlined with dots. Connect these dots with your paring knife, cutting a few millimeters into the skin of the watermelon.
4. You won’t cut all the way through the watermelon, as with a jack-o’-lantern. Instead, use the knife to gently pry out the watermelon skin inside the outlined area to reveal the light-green color below. Go slow with this, and make sure you have your knife pointed away from you.
Whether you’re making the ultimate Lone Star watermelon bowl or a tribute to your favorite football team, watermelon carving is the perfect way to get in the summer spirit. To make things even more refreshing this summer, sip on one of these Texas sparkling waters.
© 2021 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
