Watermelon Rind Pickles [esp for: Jglass!]

Uniquely good you will not only enjoy making these but eating them too!

Since I put my rinds in the compost I have a use for them, but for those who just hate waste and big old rinds taking up room in your garbage can there is always a much better way to get rid of them! And you can enjoy them until the last pickle is gone! These are easy to make too!


Ingredients:

8 cups prepared watermelon rind
1/2 cup pickling salt (coarse)
8 cups cold water
3 cups white granulated sugar
2 cups white vinegar
5-6 cinnamon sticks
20 whole cloves
Prepare The Rind

Remove dark green peel from watermelon.
Cut rind into rectangular pieces approximately 1"x2" until you have 8 cups of rind strips.
Layer rind and salt in a stainless steel bowl or pickling crock.
Soak 12 hours.
Drain and rinse twice in cold water, then place rind and 8 cups cold water into a stainless steel saucepan and boil until fork tender (10 minutes). Drain again.

Prepare The Solution

Combine sugar, vinegar and broken cinnamon sticks and cloves in a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce heat but keep at a slow boil for one hour.

...And Can

Immerse glass mason jars in boiling water for 10 minutes.
If using self-sealing lids boil as well for 5 minutes.
Into hot (now sterilized) jars distribute rind strips and add pickling solution to within 1" of jar top.
Wipe jar rim before securing lids.

I hate to tell you, but that is not a modern "canning" recipe but is an old fashion method called "open kettle" processing that was used before people learned about Botulism and other nasty bacteria problems.

Even if this recipe was properly processed in a Boiling Water Bath for 10 minutes, it potentially still would not be safe since it is not acidic enough (sugar & vinegar) to ward off bacterial growth due to the larger amount of water in the recipe.

Here is another recipe I found that seems to be in proper proportions and processing:

Watermelon Rind Pickles

7 pounds Thick watermelon rind
1/4 cup Pickling salt
1 quart Cold water
1 teaspoon Alum -- optional (not recommended *see Note)
7 cups Sugar
2 cups White vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Oil of cinnamon -- or 2 cinnamon sticks (in spice bag)
1/2 teaspoon Oil of cloves -- or 12 whole cloves (in spice bag)

Trim pink flesh and outer green from melon rind so you have white pulp. Cut pulp to 1-inch cubes overnight. Dissolve salt in cold water and soak melon-rind cubes overnight. Make more brine as needed to keep rind covered. Combine sugar, vinegar, oil of cinnamon, oil of cloves in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and pour over rind. Cover and let stand overnight. In morning, sterilize canning jars and lids according to manufacturer's directions. Drain off syrup into a saucepan. Pack the rind into sterilized canning jars. Bring syrup to a boil and pour over rind in jars; leaving 1/2" head space. Seal with sterilized lids according to manufacturer's instructions. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Source: "Blue Ribbon Pickles & Preserves by Maria Polushkin Robbins (St Martin's Press) Miami Herald, 9/28/95"

NOTES : Use of Alum is not recommended in modern pickling.

And for people living along the coasts where there is bull kelp (very long tubes with long flowing leaves on one end), these same recipes make great kelp pickles. They actually have the same texture and flavors when prepared.
Nan

Thank you CanMan, it is a very old recipe, I also like the recipe you posted minus the alum as you pointed out. By the way I have always kept my pickles refrigerated.

In place of Alum, one could use 1-1 1/2 teaspoons of Calcium Chloride into each jar which is sold by Ball Canning under the brand name of "Pickle Crisp". The purpose of course is to keep the contents from going mushy during the canning process. Also, an older procedure that is still valid today is including a grape leaf in the jar.

Thanks a bunch!
We have tons of melons in the garden.