Watermelon Rind Preserve 4

After creating Watermelon Jam and Watermelon Rind Pickles, I had a lot more rind so I made Watermelon Rind Preserves. This is not a jam or jelly consistency so don’t expect to get a jar of jelly. This is more of a pickled watermelon rind recipe.

First thing before you begin making Watermelon Rind Preserve,  you’ll want to have everything ready. I sterilized my jars, lids, and rings. I like to do this in the dishwasher because I know it’s sterilized, but you can also boil water and sterilize them that way for about 10-15 minutes.

Materials – I linked everything below, just click on the name of the item.

• Jars. I used half pint sized jars.
• Preserving Canning Pot – The one I linked is similar to the one I used. I linked a set because you’ll need the rack and jar lifters.
• Large sauce pan or boiling pot

Ingredients

–          1-1/2 quarts of prepared watermelon rind

–          2 quarts cold water

–          1 thinly sliced lemon

–          1 tablespoon ground ginger

–          4 cups of sugar

–          ¼ cup lemon juice

–          7 cups water

Directions

1. First thing I did was make sure all of my jars, lids, and rings were thoroughly sanitized.  It’s also a good idea to go ahead and have the correct amount of water in the canner already heating (be sure to place the canning rack on the lip of the canner so you can place your jars in rack before submerging into the hot water). The water has to cover the jars by 1-2 inches.
2. Cut watermelon rind into 1” cubes. REMOVE THE GREEN AND PINK PORTIONS – I didn’t do this. I used the green portions, which is okay but it would have been more convenient if I would have discarded the green portion. We just eat around it.
3. Dissolve 1/2 cup of course salt into  2 quarts water, add the watermelon rind and let stand 6 hours or overnight. I put mine in the fridge.
4. Drain, rinse, and drain again. This is important to help get some of the salt taste out. Do not skip this step.
5. Cover rind with cold water and let stand for 30 minutes.
6. Drain again. Sprinkle ginger over rind, pour water over rind, and cook until fork tender. Drain again.
7. Combine sugar, lemon juice, and 7 cups of water.
8. Boil mixture for 5 minutes and add rind.
9. Gently boil rind for about 30 minutes.
10. Add in sliced lemon and cook until the watermelon rind is clear.
11. Pack prepared jars with rind and juice leaving about 1/4″ headspace.
12. Wipe rims clean, place lids and rings over the jars and tighten.
13. Place jars into a waterbath canner according to your altitude.
14. Altitude chart:
    1. 1,000-3,000 – 10 minutes canning time
    2. 3,001-6,000 – 15 minutes canning time
    3. 6,001-8,000 – 20 minutes canning time
    4. 8,001-10,000- 25 minutes canning time
15. When canning is complete remove jars and place on a towel to cool. Once cooled, check for any jars that didn’t seal. Refrigeration is required if any jars didn’t seal properly.

Yield about 4 half pints.

Tips & Tricks

–          Pick a good watermelon. The best way to pick a sweet watermelon is to get the ugliest you can find – lol, seriously. You want a good yellow underbelly (that means it set out and allowed to ripen), you want to see some brown spots (that’s the sugar spots), and you want to find the heaviest of the bunch. Usually this makes for a good sweet watermelon.

I hope you have a good turn out and everyone loves your watermelon rind preserves!

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