We are well into grilling season, which means that if you can toss something onto the grill, you probably should. Conventional ingredients like hot dogs, burgers, cuts of meat, and veggies are one thing, but we also like adding char to things you wouldn't ordinarily think of, such as fruit. You can consider some trustworthy standbys like , , and , but there's another fruit that takes well to direct flame: watermelon.
We all think of watermelon as a light ice-cold finisher to any backyard barbecue, but one thing you might not have considered is that it too can benefit from some time on the grill. That's because watermelon's natural sugars can caramelize a bit when cooked over live fire, adding complexity to each bite. Plus, there's that extra smokiness you get from grilling it, especially over charcoal.
It's a mercifully easy process; all you need to do is season it, add some extra sugar to give the caramelization process a head start, and throw it on the grill for just a few minutes. Keep these things in mind when grilling watermelon Thankfully, grilling watermelon is a lot easier than grilling meat. You don't have to worry about checking its temperature for doneness, and you're primarily looking for grill marks and a bit of char on the outside — you're not really trying to cook the inside of the fruit.
The shape of each piece is important; wedges are the easiest to handle on the grill since you can pick them up from the rind side without them cracking from their own weight.