watermelon

[dread head vegan]

can you dehydrate watermelon?? if so, how long?

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

A friend gave me dried water melon once. It was very good, but I personally think it's a waste of good water.
I belive she dehydrated slices of it for about 24 hours.

An idea might be to juice it first and dehydrate the pulp. That way you still get the good water out of it. But I've never juiced water melon, might be that the pulp doesn't taste much at all.

[GlimR]

Yes you can...it takes awhile ...cut the pieces bigger than you think you will need because it's amazing how much it shrinks up. I toss it with lemon juice first....kids love it!

[streetsurfer]

Drying some now. they have been in 30 hours/105 and are about done. they sure sweetened up. I used cubes about 1-1/2" thick. They just fit between the trays. I would wipe my racks down with coconut oil next time, I forgot to and they are sticking a bit.

[ReneeH]

You know, I can't even IMAGINE doing that! Wow...Watermelon is mostly Water...which our body needs... I don't think I would want to dry it out...

[streetsurfer]

It's a nice change and makes a good portable snack, helps with storage when it's a large melon. The melon I used wasn't very sweet or flavorful, so drying it was a good alternative. I have to break up what I do with a big melon since it's just two of us here. Some will usually get frozen for smoothies, some diced for meals. Concentrated down from drying, the pieces are very sweet. 1/2 this melon went to the dryer, 1/2 to the fridge.

[dread head vegan]

thanks everyone :D i am going camping nextweek and i wanted to take something a little different.

[coco]

wow, i can't imagine dehydrating a watermelon either. thought i'd like to try a piece just to see!

i think drying the pulp after juicing might be kind of interesting, might turn out like fruit leather. don't think there's all that much pulp though, i juice melon when it's a big one. we eat all we want and then i juice the rest, it's just the most refreshing, incredible drink. any melon too, not just the ruby one.

[spicyfull]

I think i'd rather go........go........I forgot where to, but not to the dehydrator.

[Mamoo]

I have been wondering the same thing since it is just the 2 of us and watermelons are really big! I've actually never even tried to juice one.

I am inspired to try something new this weekend.:)

Thanks

[EZ rider]

Has anyone tried dried watermelon rind ?

[GlimR]

Juicing is a great way to use melon and excellent juice, I sometimes add a squeeze of lime to it. Fresh is always best but there are times dehydrated is great too...camping, traveling, a quick bite of something on the run. It does concentrate the sweetness of the fruit like crazy.
Nothing wrong with dehydrated fruit in a balanced woe. Kids love it for a treat...it's very chewy!:D

[streetsurfer]

The rind can be pickled, but I have never tried it.

[jane b]

I can remember visiting my grandma deep in the heart of Texas, and being shocked! shocked I tell you because she would take the watermelon pulp and toss it to the chickens because all she wanted was the rind to pickle. I will even 'fess up to greedily gulping down as much as I could stand when she gave me the job of dumping it in the chicken pen.

I've dried cantaloupe and several other fruits, but watermelon takes more time than anything else. I also have the same situation re: large watermelon and my husband doesn't care for them that much. That means I usually am stuck havin a couple of "watermelon days", i.e. as close as you can get to a juice feast without doing the juicing. It usually takes me a week or so before I even want to look at another watermelon, and I love the stuff.

So I'm getting a new juicer tomorrow that hopefully will take care of some of the problem. I figure I can freeze the extra fresh juice and use it like I would coconut water in my smoothies. Or maybe a sorbet or granita.