{"id":10430,"date":"2015-08-11T07:14:08","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T14:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thatrecipe.com\/blog\/?p=10430"},"modified":"2023-05-22T09:42:43","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T16:42:43","slug":"watermelon-rind-preserves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thatrecipe.com\/watermelon-rind-preserves\/","title":{"rendered":"Watermelon Rind Preserves: Unique and Delicious Homemade Jam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yes, you read that right, Watermelon Rind Preserves. Jam made from the rind or white part of the watermelon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, you can eat that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn't have the same juicy watermelon taste as the red fruit part, so it needs a little sugar and some cooking to bring it out. The result is a chunky jam bursting with watermelon flavor.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"watermelon<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

If you have seen my Tomato Preserves recipe,<\/a> this will look mighty familiar. I used the same recipe, except I upped the lemon because watermelon does not have the acidity that tomatoes do and you need some acid for proper jelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I originally attempted to make this I used an overly complicated less that satisfying recipe from Ball Blue Book<\/a>. It was a syrupy mess. Delicious, not the thick marmalade like jam consistency I was going for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ingredients for Watermelon Rind Preserves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You only need three ingredients to make this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

watermelon rind:<\/strong> use the pink part for another recipe, save the outer white part with a little bit of pink for this. Peel off the green outer layer and compost (or discard). Far less waste!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

large fresh lemon:<\/strong> you need a little acid to get the natural pectin to gel. You could use a few tablespoons of lemon juice, but the added zest gives this jam extra layers of flavor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sugar:<\/strong> in order to gel without added pectin, you need to use plain old regular sugar. I prefer cane, but you can use beet sugar as well. If you want to use a sugar substitute you will need no sugar pectin<\/a>. I have never done it myself, but I'd follow directions for marmalade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optional fresh ginger slice<\/strong>: it adds a nice undertone to the jam. Leave it out or try adding another herb or spice that would go well with watermelon such as: anise, basil, cardamom, lemongrass, rosemary, savory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to can preserves, jams and jellies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I could type out all of the directions for first time canners, but I am simply going to recommend you get the information from the same place I did many many years ago. The experts at Ball (aka Kerr), makers of the mason jars. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a high acid food, so boiling bath canning will be fine to seal the jars to make them shelf stable for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recipe as listed only makes about 4 jelly jars, so you can skip the canning process, put it in a quart container and keep it in the fridge. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div>
\n \n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n
\"watermelon<\/div>\n\n

Recipe<\/h2>

<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n
\n\t<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/span> Print Recipe<\/a>\n\t<\/path><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/span> Pin Recipe<\/a>\n\n\n\n \n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\t
\n \t\n\t\t\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\t\t\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Ingredients
<\/div> <\/h3>