Candied Watermelon Rinds

After a week of watermelon recipes, I'm left with a huge amount of rind!

This candied watermelon rind is fairly easy - though there is a lot of waiting!

Step 1: Ingredients

- About 4 cups of watermelon rind (you can't use small melons for this, their rinds are too thin)

- lots of water

- 1/4 c salt

- 2 c. sugar (plus some extra for coating)

- 1 lemon (peel only)

Other things you will need

- a big pot

- colander

- veggie peeler / knife

- a bowl or jar large enough to hold your watermelon rinds, plus some water

- cooling racks

- cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper

Step 2: Prepping the Rinds

First is peeling all the green off of your rinds. I use a veggie peeler to get the bulk of it, and then a thin blade knife to trim it up some.

You don't want a lot of green color on your rinds. It should look like the right side of the rind in the top picture - not the left side! It's okay to leave some of the pink on your rind. It makes it prettier when they're finished.

I cut mine into short strips, but you can cut yours into longer strips, chunks, or whatever else you wish. -- However, strips are easier to lay across a cooling rack without falling through the wires.

Step 3: Preboiling

Put your rinds into warm water, and bring them to a boil.

Boil them about 5 minutes - it doesn't matter if they're cooked all the way at this point.

After 5 minutes, drain them and allow them to cool.

Step 4: Brine

Mix 1 quart of water and 1/4 c. salt.

Add your rinds to the brine mixture and allow to soak for at least 6 hours (I did say there was a lot of waiting)

Step 5: More Boiling

Drain your rinds - cover them with water - gently mix them around, then drain them again. Repeat 3 more times.

(not rinsing enough will make your candy salty)

Once they're all rinsed, add them to the pot and cover them with water again. Bring to a boil and cook until tender.

Drain and set aside.

Step 6: Candying Time!

Now, in your pot, combine 2 c. sugar, 1 1/4 c. water and the peel of 1 lemon. Cook until this reaches the "soft ball stage"

If you don't have a candy thermometer, cook until the liquid forms a squishy ball when dropped into cold water.

Once your sugar reaches the correct temperature, add your watermelon rinds.

Make sure to stir this to keep them from burning.

Step 7: Drying... and Waiting.

Once the sugar syrup gets thick and starts to form long, sticky threads - transfer the rinds to a cooling rack. (putting the racks over something - like a cutting board - is good idea!)

Let the rinds dry until they're still tacky to the touch, but not wet. I let mine sit overnight. If you try and coat them in sugar too soon, it'll cake on.

Step 8: Pour Some Sugar on Me

Carefully coat each piece in sugar. Only do a few pieces at a time, or they'll stick together.

Once coated, lay them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment (or waxed) paper. These can be eaten now - but if you're going to store them or wrap them for a gift, you'll need to wait overnight again for these to finish drying completely.

** drying times may change with where you live, the temperature in your house, etc.