How to Make Homemade Watermelon Jelly
Making and canning your own watermelon jelly is quite easy. Here's how to do it, in 10 easy steps and completely illustrated. See this page for pickled watermelon rind. See this page for berry jams, this page for Fig Jam and this page for Blueberry Jam directions!Ingredients and Equipment
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Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Selecting the watermelons
The most important step! You need watermelons that are sweet and ripe, but nut overripe and mushy. Any color will work,. You can mix different colors, if you like.
Step 2 -Wash, cut and dice the watermelons!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the outside of the watermelons in plain cold water.
Then, cut the watermelons open and start dicing the contents, to 1 sized cubes. If you do this on a cutting board inside a baking tray. it will help you to collect the liquid to use. The rind may be used in making watermelon rind pickles (see this page, but the seeds are useless, except for planting or spitting at each other.
Step 3 -Puree the watermelon!
Place diced watermelon in a blender or food processor. Cover and blend or process until smooth. It should reduce to approximately 2 cups of watermelon puree. Pour into a large pot.Step 4 - Add lemon juice
Add the 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice to the pot!
Step 5 - Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of sugar or other sweetener
In
a small bowl, mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of sugar (or other
sweetener). Keep this separate from the rest of the sugar.
Notes about pectin: I usually add about 20% more pectin (just open another pack and add a little) or else the jam is runnier than I like. With a little practice, you'll find out exactly how much pectin to get the thickness you like.
For more about the types of pectin sold,
see this page!
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Step 6 - Mix the watermelon juice with the pectin and cook to a full boil
Stir the pectin into the watermelon juice and put the mix in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning). It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil (the kind that can not be stirred away).
Step 7 - Add the remaining sugar and bring to a boil
When the berry-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the
sugar (or other sweetener) and then bring it back to
a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Depending upon which type of jam you're making (sugar, no-sugar, Splenda,
mix of sugar and Splenda or fruit juice) you will need to use a different
amount of sugar and type of pectin. The precise measurements are found in
directions inside each and every box of pectin sold (every brand, Ball,
Kerr, Mrs. Wages, etc. has directions inside). I haven't seen a jelly recipe
that uses only Splenda, and I haven't yet tried it.
| You don't need this for watermelon jelly but for other jellies, it's quite helpful. |
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Step 8 - Testing for "jell" (thickness)
I keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a
glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool
to room temperature on the spoon. If it thickens up to the
consistency I like, then I know the jam is ready. If not, I mix in a
little more pectin (about 1/4 to 1/2 of another package) and bring it to a
boil again for 1 minute.
Step 9 - Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within 1/4 inch of the top, wipe any spilled jam off the
top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into
the boiling water canner!
This is where the jar tongs
and lid lifter come in really
handy!
Step 10 - Process the jars in the boiling water bath
Keep the jars covered with at least 1 inch of water. Keep the water
boiling. In general, boil them for 10 minutes, which is what SureJell (the
makers of the pectin) recommend. I say "in general"
because you have to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea
level, or if you use larger jars,
or if you did not sterilize the jars and
lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of
pectin will tell you exactly. The directions on the pectin tend to be
pretty conservative. Clemson University says you only need to process
them for 5 minutes. I usually hedge my bets and start pulling them out
after 7 minutes, and the last jars were probably in for 10. I rarely
have a jar spoil, so it must work.
Note: Some people don't even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, (this is called "open kettle" processing). Open kettle process is universally condemned by all of the authorities (USDA, FDA, Universities - Clemson, UGa, Minnesota, WI, Michigan, etc,.) as being inherently dangerous and conducive to botulism. It does not create a sterile environment; it does create the ideal environment for botulism to grow.
Putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the jam and then not to process the jars to be sure they don't spoil or risk your family's health.!
Step 11 - Remove and cool the jars - Done!
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or
bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can
then remove the rings if you like.
Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!
Other Equipment:
From left to right:
- Jar lifting tongs
helpful to pick up hot jars
- Lid lifter
- to remove lids from the pot
of hot water - Lid
- disposable - you may only
use them once - Ring
- holds the lids on the jar until after
the jars cool - then you don't need them - Canning jar funnel
- to fill the jars
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With the Deluxe Food Strainer/Sauce Maker, you can make
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