Monday Must Have: The Melon Baller

I have been so EXCITED to share this awesome kitchen gadget and helpful tip since I had the idea of the Monday Must Have. But I've had to patiently wait until the right time.

Today is that day. Please let me share with you a nifty little gadget: The Melon Baller.

We always had a melon baller in our kitchen drawer growing up. Back in the 70's it was very popular to make a fruit salad using one of these on every melon you wanted to include; watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, canary melon, etc. I just assumed that everyone had one in their kitchen, but I have realized that this is not the case. I have owned one since I left home for college and then year later I received another one as part of my tool kit in culinary school.

This one is pictured below and is the one in front. It is probably my favorite, because it has two different sizes and since it's on one tool, you don't have to worry about looking for the right size, because it is right there. The other melon ballers are also helpful and the one in the back also doubles as a grapefruit segment cutter that I picked up on sale at a culinary store. They are available in many sizes and brands and if you want to see more choices, click here.

As I mentioned above, I have been waiting for the right time to share this and today, a few of our apples from our backyard trees had dropped and now I had the prop I needed to share my helpful tip. Also, I wanted to give you enough time to find one of your own before fall, when it's time to make those delicious apple and pear desserts.

I learned this great tip while in culinary school during the pie section of the course. The chef was doing a demo for an Apple Galette and after he peeled the apples, he pulled out the melon baller and in seconds had the apples cored. I've been coring my apples this way every since. Since this is so easy to do, I'll let the pictures show you the steps.

(1) Cut your apple in half (either peeled or unpeeled):


(2) Place your melon baller around the core and twist in a circular motion.

(3) Remove the core piece.

That's it!! You can also remove the bottom part of the apple using the tip of the melon baller as well as the stem portion, instead of using a knife. I have found this to be a better method instead of using a pairing knife and it eliminates any chance of cutting too much of the apple away. This method works great on pears too.

Aren't you excited for all those wonderful apple pies, galettes, cobblers and other desserts to be made this fall? I am.