Canning Watermelon Rind Pickles
Watermelon Rind Pickles Canning Recipe
You don’t need cucumbers to make pickles. You can take the rind from a watermelon and make watermelon rind pickles. They have a sweet pickle taste (because you use sugar) and are perfect to enjoy all year thanks to canning and preserving.
Watermelon rind tastes sort of like cucumbers. Not a lot of taste, but a great vessel to use to turn into something delicious. You can then serve pickled watermelon rinds as a side with your favorite dishes.
Add this recipe to your favorite canning recipes.
How Much Rind Do You Need?
This recipe calls for 16 cups of chopped watermelon rind. Depending on the size of your watermelon, this may mean you need 1 or 2 watermelon. Don’t be alarmed by this amount, the rind shrinks while cooking by a third. This recipe will make 5-6 pint jars with one watermelon.
How Do You Peel Watermelon Rinds?
From my experience, it’s not easy to peel a full watermelon. You need a flat surface. Cut the watermelon in half and remove the contents. You are then able to flip it onto it’s flat surface and peel. A vegetable peeler will take a little time, but is easier because you are not taking large portions of the rind with removing it
Some people also suggest cutting the rind into small pieces and then removing the outer rind. Do whatever makes it easiest for you.
What Ingredients Are Used to Pickle Watermelon?
You will need canning salt, water, white sugar, white vinegar (at least 5%), cinnamon sticks. You can also add in allspice and whole cloves. if you use these additional spices, use a spice bag as they will need to be removed before canning. And don’t forget the peeled rind!
What Do Pickled Rinds Taste Like?
We believe they tastes like sweet relish with a cinnamon flavor. There is a small hint of watermelon.
Before canning they taste sorta like a cucumber, with little taste. You are adding flavor with canning.
What Supplies Are Needed To Make This Recipe?
You will need a water bath canner, 2 large pots, a container to store the watermelon as it brines. Your canning funnel, jar holder, vegetable peeler, ice cream scoop, mixing bowls, canning jars, spatula, cutting board and a knife.
How Do You Serve Pickled Watermelon Rind?
You can serve this in a salad or coleslaw. Serve with chicken, on top of your burger or just serve in a bowl as a side.
How Long is Watermelon Rind Processed In Canner?
The rind should be processed in a water bath canner for at least 10 minutes. You will need to bring the water to a boil, before starting the clock on time.
Once the time has been reached, turn off the canner and let it sit for 5 minutes. You want to jars to sit for a few minutes to prevent the siphoning of water from the jars. After 5 minutes, remove the jars from the water bath.
What Kind of Vinegar Is Used?
You do not use apple cider vinegar. You want to use white vinegar for this recipe. The white vinegar should have a 5% acidity rate (or higher)
What Pickling Spices Are Used?
This recipe calls for cinnamon sticks, broken in half. You can also used whole cloves and allspice (in a spice bag). These spices are only used to boil with the watermelon rinds and are removed before jarring the pickled watermelon.
Easy Watermelon Rind Pickles
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 watermelon cubed watermelon rind (remove the green, leave a little pink) (about 16 cups watermelon rind) possibly 2 watermelons depending on size
- 6 cup sugar
- 4 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
- 3 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
- 1 cup pickling canning salt
Instructions
- Cut and remove inside pink from watermelon. A ice cream scoop works really well for this.
- Pell dark green skin from watermelon rind and remove as much pink as possible from watermelon.
- Cut rind into cubes and place in container with salt and cover with water.
- Place in fridge at least 8 hours (24 is good). You want to make sure rind is submerged.
- Remove rind from fridge and drain, and rinse a few times to get the salt off the rind.
- Place the rind into a pot and fill with water to cook.
- Cook on medium high heat and bring to a boil. Boil until fork tender. The rind will shrink.
- While watermelon is cooking, in a separate pot add white vinegar & sugar mix until the sugar is mixed in. Add in cinnamon sticks (if not broken, break in half)
- Bring the vinegar/sugar mix to a boil and turn off heat. Removing the cinnamon sticks.
- Add cubed watermelon rind to canning jars and will with the sugar-vinegar liquid.
- Wipe the jar rims with a clean wet towels.
- Add the clean seal and hand tighten band onto the jar.
- Water bath can the jars for 10 minutes once bringing the water to a boil.
- Place jars on towel and cover with another towel to slow cooling and prevent cracking.
- Once the jars have sealed, label and date the jars.
Video
