Have you tried pickled cantalope, it's different and good. I noticed that there is an approved recipe also. Amish families wouldn't feel that they had their canning done unless they have some jars of it.

You know you can freeze the cantalope (use the lemon juice/fruit fresh).

Linda Ziedrich has a two or three cantaloupe preserve recipes in her book of sweet preserves and UC Davis Extension has a cantaloupe-peach preserve. Melons are low-acid so it's important to use reliable tested recipes. The ones I've seen call for lemon juice.

Carol

Tried it only once but decided it wasn't worth the effort or time. Little flavor of the melon and anemic looking. We much prefer the pickled melon or to freeze our melons in chunks. Some fruits just don't lend themselves to jelly.

Dave

Hmm... well, if the flavor isn't there, it does sound rather too much work for not much reward... so I will try the spiced melon and see what we think of it.

Thanks, all!!
Edie

It's also very good dried. I was unimpressed with jam. It didn't set up well, was much darker colored than the fresh melon and tasted 'cooked'. Not worth the effort for me!

Deanna

Make sure you get a flavor full melon to start with, and DON'T refrigerate it. As soon as the melon sees a refrigerator, the flavor leaves (like a tomato). Smaller melons have more flavor than the larger ones. And look at the stem end, make sure it was picked at 'full-slip' stage AND look for the sugar cracks. Yes they don't look pretty, but that tells the sweeter cantalopes.

Marla

Thanks Marla - I'll be sure to tell DH to keep them out of the fridge. They are Amish grown and are very flavorful, I'd hate to lose any of that deliciousness!
Edie

That's one of the reason that store cantalopes don't taste the same. You can cool down to about 50-55 but not below. They will only last 3-4 days if picked ripe.

I love the smell of 1-2 cantalope, just not an entire bin in an enclosed vehicle. Can get really strong.

Oh good grief... look at this recipe I found on ifood.tv:

Ingredients:
Cantaloupe - 2 (Firm Under Ripe)
Cider vinegar - 1 Cup (16 tbs)
Water - 1 Cup (16 tbs)
Brown sugar - 1âÂÂ2 Pound (About 1 1/3 Cups, Packed)
Sugar - 1âÂÂ2 Cup (8 tbs)
Whole cloves - 10
Cinnamon stick - 3 Inch , broken into small pieces
Whole mace - 1âÂÂ2 Teaspoon

Directions:
Remove rind and seeds and cut cantaloupe into 1-inch cubes. (There should be about 2 quarts cubes.) Put cubes into a bowl; cover with a salt solution (2 tablespoons salt dissolved in 1 quart icy cold water). Invert a plate over fruit to keep cubes submerged in solution.
Set aside 2 hours, then drain thoroughly.
Combine the vinegar, water, sugars, and the spices in a large heavy saucepan.
Bring to boiling and add the drained melon.
Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until cubes are almost transparent, stirring occasionally.
Using a slotted spoon, remove cantaloupe to hot sterilized jars and pour the hot syrup over them.
Remove air bubbles and add more syrup, if needed, to fill jars to within 1/2 inch of top

****

That's it. No directions on what to do once you've filled the jars. So... wonder how many folks just filled jars and let them sit?!? I would imagine even refrigerated they would not keep for long with no processing, correct? I mean, it's got sort of the right ration of 1:1 water to vinegar, but... would you process this? If so, BWB or PC? For how long? WHY don't they have people who know what's safe and what's not look at these before they post them? (I know, preaching to the choir here, but I just had to vent a little.)

Edie

It's a basic pickled cantaloupe recipe and only makes 1-2 quarts at a time so most would likely just make it and stick the jar in the fridge. Think of it like the many refrigerator pickle recipes one sees.

That's pretty much standard practice with pickled melons - fridge storage. But yes, if you wanted it for shelf storage it should be processed just like any other pickle.

But don't forget that right or wrong many still practice what is called jar inversion or hot seal canning when it comes to high acid and/or pickled products. All they have to worry about is molds and yeasts so they just won't buy into the BWB processing guideline.

Dave

Check with your Amish, they can theirs. They WB everything around here that they can. Meats and such they freeze. Lots of items are pickled.

Does anybody have Linda Z's recipe for pickled cantaloupe? It is supposedly in the 2nd edition of Joy of Pickling and I have the 1st. It calls for liming the melon cubes/balls. That's all I know.