How To Pickle Watermelon Rind The Amish Way: Step-by-Step

The Amish are famous for a few things: they live without modern technology, care about nature, and cook fantastic food. They lead a basic life and want to take care of themselves as much as possible because of their strong faith in God. One unique example of their resourcefulness is how they pickle watermelon rind, turning waste into a delicious treat. They lead a basic life and strive to take care of themselves, guided by their strong faith in God.

The Amish follow a bishop’s guidance on how to live and, unlike Mennonites, avoid electricity, cars, and modern conveniences.

They use special canning methods to preserve food long-term, which is crucial without a fridge. Living off the land and with many children, proper food storage is vital to ensure everyone has enough to eat.

Their way of life can teach us “English” people that it’s really possible to live without modern stuff and use what’s around us. The pickle watermelon rind is a great example of that. These pickles, which are both sweet and salty, are a wonderful addition to salads, sandwiches, or just as a tasty snack.

Now, let’s make the pickle watermelon rind recipe.

Ingredients for Pickle Watermelon Rind Recipe

1 medium-sized ripe watermelon rind with the green skin taken off 1 cup salt 6 cups sugar 4 cups vinegar (I used white, but apple cider vinegar would be great too) 3 tablespoon pickling spices or spices of your choice pint canning jars canning pot quart sauce pot mixing bowl.

Directions for Pickle Watermelon Rind Recipe

Step 1: Slice your watermelon into 1-inch watermelon slices. Leave some of the red flesh on these. Cut off the green skin and place your rinds into a mixing bowl.

Add in your salt and cover until the top of the watermelon rind is covered with water. Let soak for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Step 2: While your rind is soaking inside the salt brine, it is time to make a sweet brine. Mix your sugar, spices, and vinegar into your quart saucepan. Bring this to a boil.

If you do not want whole spices inside your pickle brine, strain these out.

Step 3: Take your canning jars and lids and disinfect them by putting them into your canning pot and boiling them. This is very important to help prevent botulism.

Step 4: Drain your watermelon rind and put it to the side. If you soaked the rinds overnight, rinse with cold water.

Step 5: Take these jars out of the water after being boiled for 10 minutes. This allows the proper time to have any bacteria killed. Pack these jars with your watermelon rind and then add your brine in.

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You should allow your canning jar to have appropriate headspace. For watermelon pickles, a ½ inch headspace is the proper space.

Wipe around the rim to make sure that your jars will seal properly, which is essential to shelf life! Place lids onto your filled canning jars and then twist your ring on.

Step 6: Place your filled cans inside your water bath; the water should cover the tops of the jars. Process these at a simmer for 10 minutes. It is important to not let the jars touch during this process or they will not seal properly.

Once finished pull your finished jars out of your pot. Do not move them too much during the first 24 hours to allow for your jars to seal properly.

Step 7: Allow to cool overnight. Within 24 hours, your jars should be sealed. These pickles are shelf stable for at least a year. The longer your pickles sit in the brine, the better they will taste.

Some of the spices you can use are endless. I used a basic premade pickling spice blend; however, you could use any of the following: ginger, peppercorn, cinnamon, bay leaves. mustard seed, fennel, coriander.

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There are many others as well. But considering that this is a sweet pickle recipe, I tend to lean more towards the warmer flavors like ginger.

I ended up having extra brine, which I took and made pickled onions. The brine turned out to be a sweet and flavorful brine. I used the onions on chicken tacos and the watermelon rind in a nice chicken salad. The mixture of sweet and spice was a wonderful addition.

The health benefits of pickling watermelon rind include adding valuable nutrients to your diet, such as fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants. These benefits are even better when you use homemade recipes, ensuring they’re free from preservatives.

Why Canning Food Is So Important

Canning food safely is essential, and the Amish excel at it. They even find ways to pickle watermelon rind, showing their resourcefulness in food preservation. This helps them store food for emergencies and avoid depending on others. We can learn from them to be ready for tough times.

Having a variety of foods stored is also great because it gives you more meal options instead of being stuck with just a few.

To make sure your food lasts, always remove the metal ring when storing jars. This helps maintain the seal. Keep jars in a cool, dry place and rotate your food often to keep it fresh.

The key to good storage is proper canning. If done incorrectly, the food can lose nutrients or even spoil.

When you gather a bunch of supplies, you’re ensuring you and your family have enough for the future. Using stuff like watermelon rinds is a smart way to avoid throwing away food. I even gave the outer parts of the rinds to our chickens, so this recipe didn’t create any waste.

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