watermelon pickles

[MrTom]

As a kid I watched my Grandmother make watermelon pickles and then have to wait the couple weeks until she said they were ready. I got her recipe book when she passed away and have made quite a few of the dishes she made that were my favorites while she was still with us. Her cooked potato salad and these pickles are at the top of that favorites list.

The brine they get jarred up with is a simple sweet vinegar brine that's been simmered with whole ginger root slices and whole cloves, then allowed to cool with these spices still in the brine. It takes a couple days of prep time with the watermelon rinds, so I leave the spices in until I need to heat it for the actual canning, then I use a colander to catch them. The rinds are peeled of the dark watermelon skin leaving the pink and white as pictured. When enough pieces have been cut and pared, they get a good shake of canning salt, mixed up then covered and put in the fridge for 24 hours. The rinds are then rinsed well under running water then put back in the bowl covered with fresh water and back in the fridge another 24 hours. They then get rinsed again and put in a covers pot with enough water to cover the pieces and allowed to simmer until all of the white is now opaque and translucent. They are left in the hot water until the strained brine has been brought to a hard boil and kept boiling while one jar at a time if filled with the rinds and then the brine to cover. That jar gets covered and lid tightened before the next jar is filled and so on.

They need to sit for about two weeks before sampling. If a jar doesn't seal properly, it simply gets put in the fridge and is used first.

I love the pickles but am only so-so on the watermelon itself. Ma chows the stuff like crazy so I don't have to fret about having the rinds for what I conder the best part of the whole melon.

I'll bet there are a few here who've enjoyed these pickles.

 

[bronko220002]

Its amazing how the old folk wouldn't waste much. Who today would even think of using the rinds for anything?
It would be great it you could take a pic and post the entire recipe so those who are interested can save it to their computer or phone.

 

[Mnt monkey]

I've never seen anything like that that's a great idea, my grandma and grandpa didn't waste anything as a kid,, another thing I miss that generation used food to love others you didn't never walk in my mom's house without her trying to feed you a piece of cornbread or a piece of homemade pie or something I miss that.

 

[toytruck]

I remember watermelon pickles when I was a tad younger. My mother and grandmother where the best cooks when growing up in the 50-60's! Their generation didn't waste anything edible, lessons learned from the depression.
I really miss the homemade bread and rolls!

 

[MrTom]

I'll post the recipe and picture when the pickles are finished in jars.

 

[MrTom]

This recipe came to me via my Grandmothers and she told me HER MOTHER handed it down to her. She said that she has never used apple cider "flavored" vinegar since it wasn't made way back when, so I have never used the stuff to make anything, always using Heinz pure apple cider vinegar. Others can use what they want as long as it is NOT white vinegar. That stuff is hideous for cooking.

You'll want to make the brine a day or so ahead, before you start with the watermelon.

2 cups of real Apple Cider Vinegar,
2 cups of white sugar,
1 thumb of ginger root maybe twice the size of your thumb, peeled and sliced into 1/8" slices. Make sure the root is fresh and hard and yellow thru out,
1/2 stick of cinnamon stick,
1 heaping tablespoon of whole cloves
USE NO SALT IN THE BRINE

Combine all of these ingredients and bring to a soft boil then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Remove pan from heat and leave covered and set aside for a day while the watermelon pieces are soaking. The spices can be strained out after a day: the brine needs no refrigeration and can just wait on a cold stove until needed.

Use very fresh watermelon rind. Use watermelon rind that has some red flesh still on it, not a lot but enough to be seen. Cut watermelon rind into 1" strips and pare the green hide off leaving the white. Then slice into 3/4" pieces. You'll need about 4 to 6 cups. Rinse the rinds quickly in cold water, then place in a bowl sprinkle 1/4 cup of canning salt on them then mix up so all pieces get covered, then add cold water to just cover the rinds. Put in fridge for 24 hours.

Take rinds from fridge and rinse well in cold water, then cover with cold water and put back in fridge for another 24 hours.

Take from fridge and rinse once again, place in a large pot and bring to a boil, reducing to a simmer until the white portions have all gotten translucent, no longer white. Drain the water off and add the brine immediately and bring back to a soft boil for ten minutes then simply loose pack in half pint jars and cover with brine, cover with a lid right out of boiling water and tighten the ring. That's it. If a jar doesn't seal, put it in the fridge and use before the sealed ones but really these pickles can be in the fridge for well over a year without spoiling. In a sealed jar they are pantry stable for several years if kept in a dark area or cupboard. Mine don't last that long. Opened jars go to the fridge and will last 6 months: again, they don't last that long.

They're a sweet/tangy pickle unlike any cucumber sweet pickle. Like watermelon, they make a super nice cold pickle accompaniment for summer fare, but the seasonings let them fit in well with Holiday foods especially Thanksgiving turkey and dressing and ham....if they make it that far.

Ya, the recipe makes it sound like a lot of work, but they are not that involved and most of it is wait. Pics tomorrow.

Here's the finished product.... four half-pint jars from this batch.

 

[Dcwman]

As a kid I watched my Grandmother make watermelon pickles and then have to wait the couple weeks until she said they were ready. I got her recipe book when she passed away and have made quite a few of the dishes she made that were my favorites while she was still with us. Her cooked potato salad and these pickles are at the top of that favorites list.

The brine they get jarred up with is a simple sweet vinegar brine that's been simmered with whole ginger root slices and whole cloves, then allowed to cool with these spices still in the brine. It takes a couple days of prep time with the watermelon rinds, so I leave the spices in until I need to heat it for the actual canning, then I use a colander to catch them. The rinds are peeled of the dark watermelon skin leaving the pink and white as pictured. When enough pieces have been cut and pared, they get a good shake of canning salt, mixed up then covered and put in the fridge for 24 hours. The rinds are then rinsed well under running water then put back in the bowl covered with fresh water and back in the fridge another 24 hours. They then get rinsed again and put in a covers pot with enough water to cover the pieces and allowed to simmer until all of the white is now opaque and translucent. They are left in the hot water until the strained brine has been brought to a hard boil and kept boiling while one jar at a time if filled with the rinds and then the brine to cover. That jar gets covered and lid tightened before the next jar is filled and so on.

They need to sit for about two weeks before sampling. If a jar doesn't seal properly, it simply gets put in the fridge and is used first.

I love the pickles but am only so-so on the watermelon itself. Ma chows the stuff like crazy so I don't have to fret about having the rinds for what I conder the best part of the whole melon.

I'll bet there are a few here who've enjoyed these pickles.

I got some my grandma's recipe books to will be maken some Asia dishes grandma made alot of foreign foods so I have alot intresting books

 

[labbypoint]

as a kid my grandma made them, the stuff she made, brings back mem.fried green tomatoes, beef kidneys, beef heart

 

[Dcwman]

as a kid my grandma made them, the stuff she made, brings back mem.fried green tomatoes, beef kidneys, beef heart

My grandma did that to lol

 

[brookssb523]

I've never seen anything like that that's a great idea, my grandma and grandpa didn't waste anything as a kid,, another thing I miss that generation used food to love others you didn't never walk in my mom's house without her trying to feed you a piece of cornbread or a piece of homemade pie or something I miss that.

My grandmother would ask if you want some of whatever food she had at hand while she was putting on your plate when we were kids and I never remember eating anything she cooked that wasn't good and she used a big wood burning cook stove with 2 fire boxes and double ovens year round she refused to use anything else we bought her an electric stove and put it in her kitchen but it was never used and I bought her a microwave one year and she said im not trying to hurt your feelings but take it back and get your money back you are not bringing that thing in my house and give me cancer she lived 100% the old fashioned way and she made her own everything she possibly could and it was amazing the amount of knowledge she had about everything always had chickens and a milk cow and hogs she had a heart attack at 95 years old splitting wood for her cook stove because she would not let anyone else do it because they don't do it right she would say she taught me to make rabbit traps or we called them rabbit gums to catch rabbit's when I was a kid and she lived right beside a trout stream that was full of native brook trout when I was growing up so I used to go stay with her every chance I got when I was young i wish now I had paid more attention to all the things she knew how to do she was a wealth of knowledge about how to survive the old fashioned way of life and she lived to be over 100 years old and her mother did too and they lived back in the blue ridge mountains of North Carolina

 

[bronko220002]

Tom The watermelon pieces are soaking in the frig after the first rinse. Tomorrow they get boiled and put into the jars. The brine is cooling in a pot on the stove waiting to be added to the jars. I followed your recipe to the T so I'll let you know in a couple weeks how good they are.

 

[bronko220002]

Tom I followed your grandma's recipe and now I have a trial run of 3 pint jars cooling on the counter. Will let you know how they turn out in a couple weeks.

 

[MrTom]

They look just like they should Bronco. Good eatin there.