This is the Best Knife for Cutting Your Watermelon

The late summer heat means ‘tis the season for platters full of watermelon-feta salad and bowls of watermelon salsa, all followed by a refreshing watermelon agua fresca. After you’ve picked the ripest watermelon of the bunch, it’s time to portion it out for your favorite watermelon dish or eat it right off the rind. For years, I tried to accomplish neat watermelon slices and uniform pieces with my Henckels chef’s knifebut it always involved a little too much wrist strain from sawing through the rind. Then one day, I picked up my 9-inch serrated bread knife instead, and haven’t looked back.

The Best Watermelon Carving Tools on Amazon

Shun Classic 9-Inch Bread Knife

The Shun classic 9-inch bread knife has sliced cleanly through thick and thin watermelon rinds, week after week, for multiple summers and has yet to need any sharpening. The Damascus steel blade’s wide serrations wonderfully grip what you’re cutting, allowing the knife to slice cleanly without tearing or ripping. The sleek pakkawood handle is comfortable and never feels slippery, even after I’ve sliced a whole 20-pound watermelon.

It’s become a go-to summer tool for more than just prepping watermelon, though. It comes in handy for making panzanella, slicing through tomatoes and overstuffed BLTs, and, of course, carving through crusty bread loaves with ease. And while the price might cause you to pause, this is a buy-it-for-life bread knife that only needs minimal maintenance.

Mercer Culinary 10-Inch Millennia Black Handle

The Mercer Culinary 10-inch bread knife might not have the elegant look of a high-end Shun knife, but it’ll still get the job done. The high-carbon blade is long enough to slice even the biggest watermelon, and the comfortable black handle will stay securely in your hand during slicing. The ease with which the extra-sharp serrated blade gets through bread, cake, tomatoes, and yes, watermelon, is why it has over 18,000 5-star ratings.

Chef’n Watermelon Scooper and Slicer

The Chef’n compact watermelon scooper nests two key watermelon tools: a slicer and a melon baller. The slicer’s square-shaped blade helps you efficiently carve chunks of watermelon as you move it perpendicularly through the top layer. The scooper can be used for a whole fruit salad, or just to get the extra melon clinging to the rind. These two tools snap together for easy storage and form a watermelon-inspired design.

Yidada Watermelon Slicer Cutter

A windmill watermelon slicer is terrific for anyone who likes to eat straight from the rind. You gently slide the cutter lengthwise into your melon, and the cutter blades slice equally sized chunks, without you having to carve more than you need. This version also features centimeter measurement markings to help you gauge the size of your chunks, and it comes with a bonus melon baller.

Choxila Stainless Steel Watermelon Cube Cutter

Summer potlucks and backyard barbecues should always have a serving dish brimming with watermelon cubes. Cube cutters like this one make creating dozens of cubes a quick and easy task. The two blades slice through the fruit evenly, with the rungs squaring the pieces. After a few swipes, you’re done and ready to join the party.

OXO Good Grips Melon Baller

You can’t have a fun fruit plate without a few melon balls. The OXO Good Grips melon baller features two stainless steel scoops—1-inch and 1.25-inch in diameter—with a nonslip handle, which is necessary when dealing with fruit juice. When you’re done making fruit balls, this is safe to go in the dishwasher.

Jayvar 3-in-1 Melon Fruit Scooper Tool

This set’s two-pronged stainless steel blade is another way to easily cut up a large watermelon. You guide them through a cut melon to create uniform slices, which are much less cumbersome to deal with. The larger cutter is ideal for making watermelon popsicles and can double as a melon corer. All the pieces snap together for easy storage.

Machomby 14-Piece Melon Baller Scoop Set

This comprehensive 14-piece set is perfect for anyone who wants to express themselves with fruit, and a simple melon baller will just not do. The tools can remove the core and seeds from a cantaloupe or honeydew, quickly peel softer fruits like kiwi, and create designs with the carving knife. Not only is it perfect for fruit, but it also has nine adorable cutter shapes that can be used for cheese or veggies.

Farberware 11 x 14-Inch Bamboo Cutting Board with Juice Groove

Grooved cutting boards are typically earmarked for cutting meat, but the groove is handy when slicing and dicing watermelon (and other juicy fruit). This Farberware bamboo cutting board has corner covers to help with stability, and the bamboo wood is easy on knives. Just be sure to keep this separate from your meat cutting board to avoid cross-contamination.

Rubbermaid Brilliance 9.6-Cup Food Storage Container Set

A full-sized 15- or 20-pound melon creates a lot of cut fruit, which inevitably means pulling out an airtight storage container. These extra-large Rubbermaid Brilliance containers feature snap-on lids with a leakproof silicone seal that’ll keep your melon from getting moldy. Brilliance containers are safe in the microwave and freezer, so you can keep using them throughout soup season.

Pyrex Simply Store 11-Cup Glass Food Storage Container

If glass food containers are more your style, Pyrex makes an extra-large 11-cup size, which can also double as a serving container. The red Securefit lid attaches tightly to the glass container to prevent leaks and spills, and won’t warp when it goes in the microwave. You can also use this for freezing whole meals, even your sauciest enchiladas.

Stasher Premium Reusable Silicone Stretch Lid Variety Pack

Since I usually only cut up a half at a time, I’ve gone through reams of plastic wrap to keep watermelon fresh. Then, Stasher released a new go-to for me: the reusable stretch lid. The large 9-inch version fits perfectly over what’s left of the melon and secures snugly to the fruit, creating a much tighter fit than plastic wrap. I’m also constantly reaching for the 6.5-inch lid to cover my 2.5-quart Pyrex bowl.