My first run at canning. Watermelon Pickles

[rbranstner]

I decided to give canning a shot so I went out and bough a bunch of stuff last week and made up a batch of watermelon pickles. I've only tried them once at my sister in laws and from what I remember they were awesome so I got her grandmas recipe so we will see what happens. Her recipe didn't call for a hot water bath or even putting the water/brine solution into the jars hot which worried me as I wanted them to seal so I decided to give them a 10 minute water bath and all of my jars sealed. She said that none of her jars sealed which didn't surprise me. I can't wait to dig into these in a few weeks. I just hope they don't get really mushy since I put the hot water to them.

[barkonbutts]

Interesting.... never heard of them....cant be that bad??

[chisoxjim]

looks good, curious to see how yours turn out.

here is some I did a while back that were top notch:

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/sho...rmelon+pickles

[Wingman]

I bet they will be great. Next you need to do some spicy pickled eggs with extra Rednick in them! Yummmm!

[rbranstner]

looks good, curious to see how yours turn out.

here is some I did a while back that were top notch:

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/sho...rmelon+pickles

Those look good. After seeing my SIL's recipe I searched the web for tons of recipes as I was a bit leery about not boiling these and I found tons of recipes and just about every one of them said to boil the melon for some amount of time so I decided to go that route. I can't wait to try time. Mine are mixture of rind and the fruit which is what her family always does so I went that route. What I found online was people usually used the rind or the fruit but not both. I'll see how I like these and go from there.

[chisoxjim]

Those look good. After seeing my SIL's recipe I searched the web for tons of recipes as I was a bit leery about not boiling these and I found tons of recipes and just about every one of them said to boil the melon for some amount of time so I decided to go that route. I can't wait to try time. Mine are mixture of rind and the fruit which is what her family always does so I went that route. What I seem to find online was people usually used the rind or the fruit but not both. I'll see how I like these and go from there.

way to try something new.

i read as much as I could as well. Not an item i was familiar with, just knew I liked them when I tried em'.

Next time I will use Red Hots candies as well as the cinnamon stick for some more kick.

[rbranstner]

I bet they will be great. Next you need to do some spicy pickled eggs with extra Rednick in them! Yummmm!

I make pickled eggs quite often but I've never canned them. That's actually a really good idea, that way I can store them on my shelf until I actually open them. That's one thing I dislike about making egg is I always make a big batch and then I have to try and store that big container in the fridge. Well I guess I wouldn't technically have to keep it in the fridge because of all the salts and vinegar but I like to error on the safe side.

[dsgarner06]

Man those look good... I haven't had pickled watermelon since I lived in Stillwater, OK. aaaahhh memories! Nicely done!

[rbranstner]

Man those look good... I haven't had pickled watermelon since I lived in Stillwater, OK. aaaahhh memories! Nicely done!

Well give them a shot. You don't even need canning equipment with the recipe I received. But you will have to keep them in your fridge which I didn't have room for so I went the hot water bath route.

[RowdyRay]

I've never seen any with the skin and meat of the watermelon. We always ate the meat part and then used just the peeled rind. Posted the recipe my family uses. Love the darn things. Dad grew up eating them. He's 73.

http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/sho...rmelon+pickles

let us know what you think of your version.

[Fishawn]

Right on! Looking forward to your review

[Bearcarver]

I never heard of Pickled Watermellon----Sounds Great !!!


Bear

[chefrob]

not something i think i would like.......still i would try it. i'm interested in the texture of the final product.........the color looks good.

[rbranstner]

Well I tried the pickles and they are way to salty. I remembered that I was suppose to use 3/4 C salt and for some reason I used 1 C salt. Also they are a bit too dill tasting for me. The fruit part is a bit on the soft side since I put them in the hot water bath but they aren't as bad as I though they might be. All and all this batch was a disappointment I would still give them another shot.

[Squirrel]

You can add calcium chloride to aid in crispness. Ball makes a product called Pickle Crisp and it's nothing but calcium chloride granules. Some people add it to the bottom of the jar, others swear by adding it on top, but I have found adding it in the brining liquid works too.