I told you to save your 4th of July watermelon rinds!!!
I hate to waste anything…”Waste not, want not,” my Grandmother used to say. I learned well. I verge on the cusp of hoarder…but it ‘s all fun stuff I can make art with…right? So I will share this yummy recipe for watermelon pickles…so easy!!!
Watermelon Pickles
This is a great starter recipe for pickling. Watermelon pickles are tasty and pretty easy to do for pickles. So buy a medium sized watermelon (I prefer seedless) enjoy the fruit and save the rinds. I usually keep a bag in the fridge for a few day and drop then in as we eat it. You need to peel the dark green off for my recipe, but I have seen people leave it on. It makes them crunchier.
ingredients
Watermelon rind from 1 8-10 lb watermelon (dark green outer skin removed, cut into 1″ pieces)
4 quarts water
1C sea salt
4C sugar
4C cider vinegar
12 black peppercorns
20 whole cloves
2T pickling spice
3 whole cinnamon sticks
4-6 small Canning jars
directions
Peel watermelon rind and chop it into 1″ pieces. Nix water and salt until salt is dissolved. I usually let this happen while I peel the watermelon rind. Place rind pieces in large bowl (not metal) with the water and salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight (24hours).
In large soup pot place vinegar and sugar. Stir until blended (sugar will not be dissolved). Add spices and allow to boil. Add watermelon rind slowly so it does not splash on you!!! Place a ceramic plate on top of mix to hold the rind down under the wet ingredients. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour (less if you like crunchy pickles).
Place rind in clean, steralized canning jars. I use the small decorative kind so I can give them as gifts. Cover with pickling juice. Cover tightly and put in fridge immediately. They will be hot, so don’t burn yourself. Pour the rest of the juice into another canning jar and save. It can be used again.
This makes about 4-6 small jars, 2-3 pint jars.
