Canning and Preserving Watermelon - The whole watermelon!

Many people don't buy a whole watermelon just to make watermelon pickles from the rind but that's what I did. I bought a 10 pound watermelon scrapped down all the meat from one side and realized that I should try for a third time a watermelon jelly. I just won't let it beat me. I ran the flesh through a strainer to try to get the juice of the watermelon and set aside for my watermelon jelly. I cut off the green outer skin all the way down to the white and sliced off any remaining pink from the inside. I had the other side of the watermelon that I cut up and remember that I saw someone do a watermelon dried so I even put watermelon slices in the dehydrator.

Dehydrated Watermelon

When I checked the dehydrator this morning they turned out fantastic. I put the slices 1/4" thick and set the dehydrator to 135 degrees for 8 hours. They have a soft supple texture and the sweet watermelon flavor is so good with every bite. I was amazed how good these are and no sugar, no preservatives and so much better than a fruit roll up.

My first recipe of the evening was the watermelon pickles. I had made them last year but since we are on a roll doing recipes from the Better Homes and Garden magazine I thought I would do their version.

Watermelon Pickles

1 10 pound watermelon

6 cups water

1/3 cup pickling salt

Cold water

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 1/2 cups water

15 inches stick cinnamon, broken

Watermelon Rind Pickles

2 t. whole cloves

Cut rind from the watermelon (you should have 4 1/2 pounds rind) Trim off the pink flesh and the green and pale green outer portions of the watermelon rind; discard those portions. Cut the rind into 1 inch squares or other 1 inch shapes. Measure 9 cups rind.

Place the 9 cups rind in a large nonmetal bowl. In another large bowl combine the 6 cups water and pickling salt; pour over rind, add more to cover if needed. Cover bowl and allow to stand at room temperature overnight.

Pour the rind mixture into a colander set in sink. Rinse mixture under cold water; drain well. Transfer rind to a 4 quart heavy pot. Add enough cold water to cover rind. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer covered for 20 to 25 minutes or until rind is tender; drain.

Meanwhile, for syrup, in a 6 to 8 quart stainless steel, enamel, or nonstick heavy pot, combine sugar, vinegar, the 1 1/2 cups water, the stick cinnamon , and cloves. Bring to boiling stirring until sugar dissolves; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve or use a slotted spoon to pick out cloves and cinnamon. Return liquid to the same pot.

Add watermelon rind to syrup in pot. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 25 to 30 minutes or until rind is translucent. Pack hot rind and syrup into hot sterilized half pint canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims, adjust lids.Process filled jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes at a full boil. Remove jar. Makes 6 half pint jars.

For the final portion of the watermelon, the juice, I put together the watermelon jelly. I used a basic recipe from the pectin package and making sure that I used the correct ratios so that it would set this time.

Watermelon Jelly

6 cups watermelon juice
2 cups sugar

Watermelon Jelly

4 T. bottled lemon juice
4 1/2 T. Ball Flex batch no sugar/low sugar pectin (You can use one package of Low sugar Sure-Jel)

Use the juice from the watermelon by pressing the watermelon flesh through a fine mesh strainer or use a blender and strain through the mesh strainer afterward. In a 6 to 8 quart stainless steel pot combine the watermelon juice, sugar and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the pectin all at once. Return mixture to a full rolling boil,  boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a wire whisk to avoid clumping of the pectin. Take off heat. Skim off foam.

Ladle jelly into sterlized jars leaving 1/4" head space. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes at a full boil. Makes 6  half-pints.

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