Watermelon Rind

Kimchi, pickles, sauerkraut, and more!

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Watermelon Rind

Postby SaharaViolet on Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:47 pm

I've searched this term here but can't find a recipe for watermelon rind pickles. It seems that most recipes I come across call for lots of sugar and vinegar is there a more traditional form of watermelon pickles maintaining the healthy bacteria?
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby Tim Hall on Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:10 pm

Watermelon rind is something I've always wanted to pickle myself, but never got around to experimenting with it. I don't see why it couldn't be lacto-fermented like sauerkraut or kimchi. For that matter watermelon is a cucurbit like cucumbers, and (the firm rind at least) should pickle the same way.

If I were to experiment with this personally, I would probably use a low-salt brine (around 2% salinity) and use a little whey or a few spoonfuls of juice from another lacto-ferment to give it a quick bacteria boost. Then I'd let it ferment as per sauerkraut/kimchi/pickles, maybe add some pickling spice, and add honey to sweeten it AFTER it's ripened to the desired sourness. Sandor has a recipe for fruit kimchi in his book...might also work as a go-by.

Another thing to try is pickling the rind in a sweet miso (white or shiro miso) by simply packing a jar with with rind and miso and letting it stand at room temperature for a few weeks. I imagine this would be really tasty. You can reclaim the miso afterward for making soup.
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby Milkweed on Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:53 pm

I have some watermelon rind fermenting right now. I used a teaspoon of salt per cup of water. The brine is starting to cloud up and get bubbly, so fermentation is definitely happening. I'll post later about how it turns out! http://milkingweeds.blogspot.com/2009/09/moon-and-stars-in-virgo.html
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby Tim Hall on Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:42 am

Mmmm...watermelon mead. Please keep us posted on how that turns out.
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby Aliyanna on Mon Aug 19, 2013 6:08 pm

Ummmm....how did they turn out. Hubby went nuts and bought almost 30 melons!!! I am gonna have lots of rinds!!! lol HELP!!!
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby BeckyLadakh on Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:01 am

I have made dilly watermelon rind pickles but they were vinegar based, not fermented. The benefit was that after boiling the jars and storing them for months, they were as crispy as fresh cucumbers, whereas real cucumbers would have been more difficult to prevent from going mushy. I basically think of them as phony crunchy cukes. I put dill, black pepper, chillies, salt and half-half vinegar-water, and they were one of those yummy dilly pickles, you know. I'm sure you can ferment them like cucumbers, and they will stay crunchy more easily than than cucumber do.
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby Rafifisher on Thu Sep 26, 2013 3:55 pm

In Israel we are making a lot of watermelon pickles.
I take the green an white part only,cut it to small pieces
And pack in a jar.
I add fresh dill,hot pepper,garlic and celery and small horseradish root
To one glass of hot water I use I teaspoon of kosher salt
A press of a plate keeps the watermelon in water.
It's ready when the green color changes to darker.
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Re: Watermelon Rind

Postby justineaton on Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:43 pm

This is on my list to try.
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