Over the years I have read many enjoyable posts from this forum. I never thought to register until now because I rarely register for any forum. However, this time I really thought I HAD to register just so I could post this. Safety is so important for us all. We all want to be safe. Our government is interested in safety too--its own safety and that includes "covering its butt." For years many things that were safe are now no longer safe. They say we can't pickle and can eggs. They say we can't have a breakfast with runny yolks anymore--at home or in a restaurant, even though I do it daily in my own home. They say we can't defrost our meat on the counter. They say we can't drink cider made from apples that have fallen on the ground, even though people have done so for centures. They say, they say, and they say.... Sometimes "they" say it because they're covering their butts; they don't want a law suit. Sometimes they say it because there are a lot of dumb people out there who would follow filthy procedures and endanger their own lives. Sometimes they say it because more and more we are encouraged to do nothing to sustain ourselves foodwise--from growing, to butchering, to cooking, to canning, etc.--so that we will all be dependent on the food companies and their processed garbage and exorbitant prices. So many people don't even know how to cook today, and we're told that just about everything we cook or make is unsafe now. It's no wonder that our minds and bodies are so impoverished. I have been home canning for many, many years, and everything I have ever canned has been completely safe. It seems I have been unable to kill anyone after all. One young whipper snapper with a "degree" in some sort of food fetish once told me I was playing Russian Roulet and that someday I would pay. I haven't paid yet. I think about her often. I'll bet at this point what she says more than anything else is, "Would you like fries with that?" I am not afraid of my canned foods. I use a boiling water bath canner and a pressure canner as needed. I follow clean and safe procedures. I am not afraid of canned pickled eggs, or my water bath salsa, or my half-vinegar half-water dilly beans. I just can't seem to kill myself no matter how hard I try. I'm grateful for this topic. I'm grateful for the author's bravery and website, which I have been on multiple times, and I am grateful for his recipe. I am not afraid at all. I especially like Matt Haynes post above. He has hit the nail on the head. So many people are running around fearing that the sky is falling, the sky is falling! The media has us all by throat every night as we breathlessly watch terrible things and they tell us we may be next. Everything is hyped to the max, everything is of the utmost urgency, and the public is in a state of constant heightened arousal and fear. It's to the point where some people are even afraid to leave their house. And on...

If it hadn't been used before then I wouldn't worry about bacterial contamination (or possible dilution from water seeping out of the first batch of rind, which is what you were getting at when you asked about acidity ). It should have been heated (per the recipe) before adding to the rest, not added straight from the fridge b/c it would cool off the hot brine, but it's already done, if you stirred it in well I'm sure it was fine and the recipe does call for refrigerating overnight anyway. I don't know how much spilled, if 1C was enough to replace, if you haven't boiled the rind yet today you might want to borrow 3C of sugar from a neighbor and mix it with 1C of water and 1C of vinegar (1/3 recipe) to make sure you have enough to can. Worst case, if you find you don't have enough syrup to cover, just process what you can and stick the rest in the fridge, it should last until you can get some more sugar and then just make refrigerator pickle version out of it.

Well, I went to the Harvest Forum and they were very helpful. If you can't find lime and alum, you can use Pickle Crisp or Calcium Chloride instead. In fact - they said it's healthier and less trouble. Here's the modified recipe, using PC or CC (also, I'll use Splenda): ROSY PICKLES -- This is a pickle recipe to use up those overgrown, bitter cucumbers. 2 gal. cucumbers, peeled and cut in long strips with seeds removed. (Overgrown cucumbers work best. Watermelon rind works also.) 4 cups vinegar, 5% acidity 1 oz. red food color 3 (3-oz. pkgs) red hot cinnamon candies 5 lbs. sugar (SPLENDA or Sugar/Splenda mixture) 12 cinnamon sticks Pickle Crisp or Calcium Chloride 1st day: Simmer 3 hours in a brine of 1 cup vinegar, red food coloring, and enough water to cover. Drain and throw away the brine. Dissolve red hot cinnamon candies in 3 cups cold water. Bring to boil a brine of Splenda/sugar, 3 cups vinegar, cinnamon, and the dissolved red hot candies. Pour this brine over the cucumbers, and let stand for 24 hours. 2nd day: Drain and reserve liquid. Reheat and pour over the cucumbers again. 3rd day: Repeat as for 3rd day. 4th day: Heat cucumbers in brine. Place Pickle Crisp or Calcium Chloride (1 tsp/pint) in each hot, clean jar Pack into hot jars, and seal while hot. Does anyone know if you process with a boiling water bath and, if so, for how long? Kathi

If a cantelope has a lot of white next to the rind...it's not ripe. I have a little bit left of the most wonderful melon....orange right to the tough rind. I can't find any flavor to water melon rind....unless you make watermelon pickles....and then it absorbs that wonderful sweet/sour spicy flavor!...I must make some this summer! It hurts me to toss watermelon rind, but if the melon is good and ripe, there's not much left on the skin....and I rarely have anything left of a musk melon or a honey dew but the skin.