Watermelon Rind Preserves

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 2 lb cleaned and peeled watermelon rind
• 3 tbsp baking soda
• 2 lb granulated sugar
• 15 cups water
• Seasoning of choice—I used 8-12 cloves

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from saboreats.tumblr.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. After cleaning and peeling the pink off of the watermelon rind (be careful when peeling…I cut myself…), chop rind up into squares/rectangles. To make the shapes fun, use a crinkle cutter.
2. In a large bowl, mix together rind, baking soda, and enough water to cover the rinds.
3. Leave to soak for 2 hours. Soaking in baking soda hardened the rind so that it doesn’t break apart during the candying process.
4. Drain rind then rinse (2x)
5. Place rind in a heavy saucepan, fill with enough water to cover rind, and heat on medium until mixture boils for 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, drain, rinse, then repeat Step #4 and #5.
7. Add sugar and the 15 cups of water. Bring to a boil on medium, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
8. Bring to a simmer and keep the simmer for 2:30 (keep saucepan uncovered during this time), stirring occasionally so that the sugar doesn’t burn/stick/crystallize.
9. After 2:30, add in your seasonings and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
10, By this time, the white/cloudiness in the rinds should have disappeared. The rinds should look clear all the way through, but yellow in color (see photographs). This is when you will remove the saucepan from the heat.
11. Remove the seasonings and cool preserves in the pan.
12. Once the pan has cooled, pour the preserves (syrup and all) into a sterilized jar or container (if you will be eating the preserves soon/quickly) and cover, making sure the syrup covers the rinds. While still hot, ladle into sterilized jars and process in a waterbath for 30 minutes.