How To Make Sure Your Watermelon Is Cold For The Fourth

I can't imagine a food, or dessert that is more welcome on the 4th than watermelon.

It's true that red, white, and blue cupcakes are pretty important. In fact, I have one of each and blame it on the fact that I'm a "Real American" so I have to. Other than those delicious decorated back goods, the job of being a dessert usually falls on the watermelon.

I know some of you just "chuck it in the pool" (not usually cold enough) or throw it in an ice chest (if you've thought far enough ahead), but the question is, "how long does it need to cool so that every dang bite is cool and refreshing?"  The answer really isn't that bad.

I sourced this information from a bunch of different places the consensus seems to be three hours. Yes, you can go for something like three days, but if you forgot, just picked it up from the store, or have to make room in your fridge, just about three hours will get it to where it needs to be. Again, if you put the watermelon in the refrigerator for more than a few days you could lose flavor, texture and more.

Now comes the tough decision, will you cut it in the traditional half-moon slices, or will you cut it into watermelon sticks? I am going to tell you that as someone who serves up a lot of watermelon on hot summer nights, that sticks/spears result in so much more of the watermelon actually being eaten. It's also much safer to cut a watermelon this way.

Here's a little tutorial on how to cut a watermelon.