Watermelon Rind Jam
The part of the melon you were going to throw in the fire, simmered down with sugar and lemon.
- calories
- 210
- weight
- 4 oz
- cal / oz
- 53
- protein
- 0 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total time
- 75 min
- water
- 250 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Day one only
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Watermelon rind | 2 lb trimmed | green skin peeled off, pink flesh scraped away, white part only |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated sugar | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Water | 1 cup | |
| Lemon | 1 | juice and a strip of zest; bottled juice works |
| Vanilla | 1/2 tsp | optional, added at the end |
Method
- Peel the hard green skin off the rind and scrape off any pink flesh. Only the pale part cooks well. Cut it into half-inch cubes.
- Cover the cubes with water in the pot and boil five minutes. Drain. This softens them and pulls out the raw squash taste.
- Put the sugar and 250 ml of water back in the pot and stir over heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup clears.
- Add the rind and the strip of lemon zest. Simmer uncovered, low flame, stirring every few minutes so nothing catches on the bottom.
- After about 45 minutes the cubes turn translucent and the syrup coats a spoon. That is the finish line.
- Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla off the heat. Let it cool before you eat it; hot sugar burns are the real hazard here.
This exists because a watermelon at camp leaves behind more rind than melon, and the white layer between skin and flesh is firm, bland, and takes sugar the way a fruit rarely does. It has almost no flavor of its own, so lemon and vanilla do the actual work.
The five-minute pre-boil is not optional. Raw rind stays chalky and never goes clear no matter how long it sits in syrup. Cook it low after that; a hard boil turns the sugar to candy and the cubes to gravel. Watch for translucency, not the clock.
Packing
Trim and cube the rind at home and carry it in a sealed container in the cooler. Sugar goes in its own bag. Once cooked, it keeps a few days in a jar in the cooler.
Variations
- A cinnamon stick or two cloves in the syrup gives it a spiced edge.
- Spoon it over pancakes, or eat it straight with a hard cheese.
https://savoriurbane.com/dulceata-din-coaja-de-pepene-verde-rosu