The best tips for choosing a juicy watermelon and cutting it open with less mess

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Tune into In The Know Live: Kitchen Gadgets every Tuesday at 5 p.m. EST/2 p.m. PST. The show, hosted by In The Know senior cooking editor Ellie Conley, dives into the newest kitchen gadgets and food trends for at-home chefs and foodies alike.

Watermelon is in season between May and September. That means that right now, the fruit is extra juicy, crisp, sweet and refreshing. However, if you love watermelon, you know what a pain it can be to actually crack one open and cut it into cubes or slices. The result is almost always a sticky mess with juice everywhere. But with the right tools, cutting and storing watermelon can be less sticky.

Of course, you first want to make sure you choose a good watermelon at the grocery store. Here are a few things to look out for:

  1. Watermelon should be heavy. A good watermelon is heavy because the heavier it is, the more juice there is inside. If you need to, you can compare it to others in the store, but just know that bigger isn’t always better.
  2. Watermelon should sound hollow inside. Give the watermelon a little knock. If it sounds hollow inside, it’s ripe and ready to eat. If it sounds dull or full inside, it may be under or overripe.
  3. Watermelon should have a golden spot. This is called the field or sun spot, and it’s where the watermelon sat on the ground while growing in the sun. The bigger the spot, the longer the melon sat ripening on the vine. And when that spot turns a buttery, golden color, the fruit inside is going to be delicious. If it’s pale yellow or white, move on. You want to go for the biggest yellow spot you can find.

Now, once you have your watermelon, you’ll want to slice that baby open! Check out the best tools to help you slice, cut and store your watermelon on this episode of In The Know Live: Kitchen Gadgets above.

If you liked this episode, check out this past one on the best avocado tools.

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