The Most Efficient Way To Get Rid Of The Seeds In Your Watermelon

When you want something sweet and refreshing to eat, few things are more tempting than a nice, big slice of watermelon. Sadly, you can't just dive head first into that juicy fruit without coming up with a mouth full of seeds. Even so-called "seedless" watermelons will leave hard pips in your mouth, as they contain immature seeds that are safe to eat but not exactly pleasant in texture. Fortunately, there's a simple way to slice watermelon that makes it easy to remove the seeds.

Start by picking a good watermelon at the grocery store. The most efficient way to slice and deseed it begins by cutting a little bit off the top and bottom of the melon so you can stand it upright without it falling over. You can also halve the fruit at its equator to make it more manageable. Once it's upright, it's easy to trim the rind off in long strips (save them to make pickled rinds, one of the more creative ways to use leftover watermelon). Now comes a really crucial part. Slice the melon vertically, the opposite of what many people do. Aim for sections that are about an inch thick.

If you do this, you'll see that the seeds are concentrated in two lines running down either side of the watermelon slice. Use your hands to break the slices along the seed veins. They should snap easily, forming three portions. This exposes the seeds, which you can easily scrape away.

Once you've broken the melon slices, the lines of seeds should be concentrated at the edges. At this point, you'll be able to make quick work of removing them. You can pop the seeds out using a chopstick or toothpick or simply run a knife along the edge to scrape them off en masse.

The key to this underused trick lies in the way watermelon seeds are arranged within the fruit. It's quite common to cut watermelon horizontally into circles and then slice each of those into triangular portions. However, this method goes against the veins of seeds, leaving them scattered throughout each section. Furthermore, those big triangular slices tend to cover the corners of your mouth in watermelon juice, whereas the narrower portions made by slicing vertically and breaking each slice along the seed veins should be a nicer size. If you end up with leftovers, follow these storage tips for watermelon to keep them nice and fresh.