I love watermelon pickle, but I haven't been able to make it in several years because I can't find a proper melon to make it with. It's made with the with the white part of the rind. Modern varieties of melon have been bread to have thinner rinds - there just isn't anything to make pickle out of on the newer varieties of melons most commonly available. I'm ready to start growing some old heirlooms just in the hope of having enough white rind to make pickle.

The link below is a recipe that has been tested for food safety from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The only recipe I would suggest or use would have to be one that has been tested, such as one from the NCFHFP, and would also include the recipe found in Ball Blue Book of Preserving (as long as it's a relatively recent copy of the book). -Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Watermelon Rind Pickles - NCHFP

I've never had it, but many of dcarch's posts have made me curious to try it. Hopefully he'll jump in and share some ideas.

Grainlady - She said she wants to eat them fresh over the course of a few days. With that in mind are there really any special safety concerns?

linnea, it's probably too late to respond, but the overnight brine is just to help make the 'pickles' more crisp by extracting excess water. Once you add the syrup and let it sit awhile (like overnight) you shouldn't taste the salt -- not in excess, anyway. If you're making only a jar or two you don't need to water-bath process it -- just keep them in the fridge and they will last like any refrigerated pickle: pretty much forever, or until eaten. lol!

Thanks for your help. I went ahead and used the salt, soaking it overnight in brine as the recipe suggested. But I found it made the rinds soft and limp; not what I would have expected. I tested them in the morning before starting to boil them in the syrup. The finished product did taste great, though they were softer than I would have liked. Texture reminded me more of homemade marmalade. My MomâÂÂs as I recall were firm, almost crisp, even though cooked in syrup til translucent. So next time I think I will skip the brine.

I make the recipe in Joy of Cooking, about a 1965 version, and the women at my parents' church followed the same recipe for many years before then. The Texas Monthly recipe I've linked to below is the same except that I use only 10 pounds of sugar to 10 pounds of rind, and we put it up in half-pints; we also often begin with 5 pounds of rind and reduce the other ingredients accordingly. We always remove the green rind with a potato peeler, but we leave a little of the pink melon for color. The house smells divine when this is cooking!

New recipes I have read require processing for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath after filling the jars. Oil of cloves and oil of cinnamon, usually by LorAnn, are available in some pharmacies and at cake decorating stores. Yes, we use an eyedropper to measure the oils.

Here is a link that might be useful: Watermelon Pickle recipe in Texas Monthly