Melon Baller

Melon Baller
© Denzil Green

Parisian Scoop

A Melon Baller is a tool designed to scoop melon flesh out in small, perfectly shaped balls, which you then serve in bowls or incorporate into a fruit salad.

They are composed of a scooping part (bowl) attached to a handle.

The handles will be plastic, wood or metal. Ones that are all plastic or plastic handles may bend or break if you try to use them on too hard a substance.

Melon Ballers don't have a spring-loaded "release latch" on them as larger scoops for other purposes may have.

Melon Balls
© Denzil Green

Almost all Melon Ballers have two sizes of scoops, one on each end of the handle. On good ones, the scooping bowls are made from stainless-steel and their edges will be slightly sharp. The sizes of the bowls seems to range from 1 to 3 cm (1/2 to 1 1/2 inches.) The smallest bowls will make a ball just about the size of a green pea.

Most Melon Baller scooping bowls sold are round, though you can find oval. Many of the bowls will have a small hole in them, to let liquid flow out when scooping.

Make sure you buy one that is dishwasher safe, if that is important to you.

To use a Melon Baller with melon, wash your melon, take the seeds out, then cut it in half and scoop the flesh out with a twist of your wrist.

There's no need to cut the rind off the melon first; you just leave that behind.

You can use left-over melon that can't be shaped nicely for a blender drink, or just eat it out of hand.

Other Uses

Melon Ballers are actually used for a great many things other than melon balls. Other uses include:

scooping out potato flesh for Parisian-class ball cuts of vegetables such as squash, potatoes or carrots (tip: peel the carrots and potatoes first);
cleaning out the inside of bell peppers;
cleaning out seed and pulp from cucumbers, squash, tomatoes;
cleaning out insides of a baked potato shell (if you are making "twice-baked potatoes");
for apples, you can use the Melon Baller to dig out both ends of the apple, then cut it in half with a knife, then use the Melon Baller again to core it;
coring other fruit, such as pears and fresh pineapple;
scooping dough for small cookies;
scooping small decorative ice cream balls;
gutting cherry tomatoes, should you be mad enough to want to stuff them;
shaping chocolate truffles;
making small soup dumplings such as Matzoh balls;
shaping cocktail meatballs
letting children use them when making sand-sculptures.

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