of all the produce I planted and grew this year, watermelon was NOT what I expected to be so successful at! we ended up with an insane overabundance this season, mostly because I read the seed packet wrong… if you weren’t aware, 5′-7′ is different than 5″-7″, now before you ask if I graduated elementary school, YES I did.. and yes I know the difference! But when you’re out in the hot sun sowing seeds for days at a time, your brain just tends to get a little foggy so you start seeing double and your apostrophes start to look like quotation marks. I never claimed to be perfect!!!
all this to say, I planted about 12 more watermelon plants that I should have planted.. I decided instead of digging everything up I would just let it do its think and transplant later or something. well, as you can imagine, I never transplanted. my garden turned from a veggie garden to a watermelon patch sprinkled with veggies buried throughout, to say the least!
as I have mentioned before, I don’t eat things that have grown out of the ground essentially. I know I know HOW DARE I.. I can stomach green beans, sweet corn, and peas, but otherwise hard pass on anything else. this includes watermelon. most of the things I grow are to feed my family who is far less pick than me! and to preserve for I don’t know an apocalypse or a government take over and complete loss of freedoms and America as we know it… or something of the sort. {yes in these situations, I will gladly eat the forbidden vegetables}
while the kids do love their watermelon, it is SO hard to store. especially when they grow upwards of 30#! even after cutting them up {making them last a lot less long} still takes up a heap of space in the fridge. freezing is absolutely an option! but the process takes a bit, AND you’re now taking up precious freezer space!
cue the DEHYDRATOR…
I got this bad boy two days ago and I’ve already used it three times! I finally asked andy if I could splurge and purchase one as we are running out of freezer space and I’m running out of canning jars as well, so we forked the money and got a decent high voltage dehydrator {you can check it out HERE}.
watermelon is not something you are able to can. there are a few recipes for watermelon jellies I’ve yet to try, but in its raw state, it’s just not acidic enough to withstand canning. plus its essentially 90% water, which would leave your jars full of nothing but mush after processing.
dehydrating watermelon is an excellent way to preserve the fruit AND save on precious freezer and pantry space! as you can imagine, they shrivel up flat and turn into delicious chewy gummy/jerky-like snacks that are HARD to put down! you can add any sort of seasonings you like as well. I’ve read of people putting spicier seasonings to make for a savory snack, while I prefer a more tangy fruity flavor!
as you know, I like to test things before posting them. I attempted to dehydrate watermelon in my ninja food first. THIS TOOK FOREVER.. I think by the end of it, I dehydrated a total of 24 hours and it still wasn’t great. it was left pretty fleshy still and has a strange aftertaste I won’t lie. once I got my actual dehydrator, I got right to work. you see, YEARS ago we bought a big tub of malic acid I believe to make homemade elderberry gummies, so I thought what better way to make these watermelon treats taste fruity! have you ever noticed how watermelon flavor suckers or jolly ranchers are tangy? not much like a real watermelon if you ask me.. so I was set on taking REAL watermelon but creating a flavor that resembled candy! maybe then I would actually eat it.. 😂
let me tell you.. I EXCEEDED my own expectations for this recipe. I can officially say I have eaten an entire watermelon by myself in virtually one sitting 😳I wish I was kidding..
my FAVORITE snack as a kid {and as an adult} were fruit rollups, fruit by the foot, and gushers. taking a bite of these dehydrated, malic acid sprinkle delicacies was soooo nostalgic for me! it was like a blast from the past but in a healthier way! 😂 it had a similar texture to a fruit rollup and a tangy fruit flavor that people LOVE about fruit rollups! and it’s only TWO ingredients! while the wait time for dehydrating is a long one, I promise it is worth it!
do not wait on this recipe! and please note, this recipe is a bit different than other recipes out there. I’ve tried this recipe about 4-5 times now and I’ve finally landed on the best method for the best results!
Ingredients:
1 fresh watermelon {can be from the grocery store}
malic acid {you can use citric acid as well I believe}
Directions:
- cut up your watermelon into larger {fish-filet sized} strips, cutting them as close to 1/2 inch thick as possible. much thicker, they dont dehydrate as well and stay floppy, too thin and they adhere to the tray or become brittle.
- place onto dehyrator racks lined with mesh herb liners spaced to not touch. {I tried fruit leather liners twice and both left them sticky and tacky on one side despite flipping part way through drying – DO NOT USE THE ONES IN THE PHOTOS! lol}
- using your fingers to pinch your malic acid, sprinkle malic acid generously over each strip on each tray. {the more you add, the more tart your watermelon strips will be}
- dehydrate at 135º for 16-20 hours depeneding on your voltage. ours is 1000v so ours was done between 16-18 hours for most of the batch. you can tell they are done if they are chewy and flexible but not floppy or damp.
- remove watermelon from the dehyrator into a bag or container for keeping! {I add an oxygen absorber to mine to keep things fresh!}
I thoroughly hope you enjoy them as much as I did! just try not to eat the whole recipe in one sitting like me 😅🍉
