Watermelon is my favorite fruit but for years I would only enjoy it in the summer. No matter how many times I have bought watermelon any other season it tasted nasty. I love me some watery sweet watermelon. We are currently growing our own watermelon and I wanted to be able to preserve watermelon. Now my favorite way to preserve anything is by dehydrating it. Why? Because it is so easy. Dehydrated watermelon tastes like sugar. My kids love it. My husband not so much.
We love to cut them in strips. You first want to wash your watermelon. Then cut it in the middle. It is easier to work with it that way. You’ll then want to cut the watermelon into 1/2 inch thick circles. Then you’ll want to cut a square. This way you are cutting away the rind and removing the white. Now cut them into strips. Once you have them into strips you can make the strips thinner by cutting two more times so your left with three strips.
You want to dehydrate your watermelon jerky for 15 or more hours at 135 Fahrenheit. Place your watermelon on parchment paper because watermelon will stick to your trays if you don’t. The final product will be bendy and pliable. Now dehydrated fruit if properly stored can last up to five years. We usually store our dehydrated items for a year. We place our dehydrated goodies in glass jars and keep them in a dark, dry, cool place. If you vacuum seal your jars then you’ll extend the shelf life of all your goodies. We place one oxygen absorber in each jar.
Once your watermelon is dehydrated you want to condition it. What that means is that you have to flip your jar upside down for three to four days. You will be checking to see if you see any moisture beads in the jar. If you see moisture then it means you didn’t dehydrate it long enough. You can simply place the dried watermelon jerky back on the dehydrator racks and dehydrate your watermelon longer. If you don’t do the conditioning step you risk not noticing moisture which can cause mold and bacteria to grow inside your jars.
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