Salted watermelons are a real treat, especially in the cold season, when it is impossible to eat this product fresh. Cooking salted watermelons in a saucepan is especially convenient as there is no need to sterilize the bottles and roll them up.

Features of the choice of watermelons for pickling

For long-term storage, watermelons are salted in autumn. Fruits salted in summer quickly acidify, so their use is limited. The most suitable for salting are only ripe or brown watermelons without damage in the form of cracks or dents. You can choose both thin-bore and thick-baked varieties.

Before cooking, the fruits should be thoroughly washed under running water and cut off the circles from the side of the stalk and inflorescence to reveal the edible part of the watermelon.

Salting whole watermelons in a saucepan

Watermelons can be salted whole in large pots. Small fruits weighing no more than 1.5 kg are suitable for this. The washed watermelons are pricked in several places, after which they are placed in a clean saucepan. The fruits are poured with brine, completely covering the watermelons. Put a clean cloth on top and put oppression (a bowl or bottle of water, set on a large plate or round cutting board, will do). The pot with watermelons is kept warm for two days, after which it is removed to a cold place. The fruits will be ready for consumption in 21 days.

Cooking brine

10 liters of water requires 1 kg of sugar and 400 g of salt.

If you like not sweet and salty, but just salted watermelons, the brine is prepared at the rate of 700 g of salt per 10 liters of water. The brine is boiled, and then cooled to room temperature.

For smaller containers

For salting watermelons in small pots, the brine is prepared by combining 2 liters of water and 3 tbsp. l. salt.

The washed watermelon is cut into triangular slices and placed in a saucepan, pouring brine on top. They put oppression on top and keep the watermelons for a couple of days at a temperature of at least 18 ° C. After a maximum of 3 days, the pickles are ready to eat.

Salted watermelons are stored in the refrigerator without draining the brine.

Early ripening salted watermelons in their own juice

The watermelon is cut into slices and a backfill mixture is prepared by combining a tablespoon of dry mustard with the same amount of sugar and salt. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with this mixture and start laying the watermelons, sprinkling each slice with a spicy sweet-salty composition.

After laying the watermelons, place a plate with oppression on top. The container with salted fruits is kept warm for 5 days. Before use, the slices must be rinsed with the brine formed in the pan to remove the mustard.

In ancient times, salted watermelons could not surprise anyone. Such pickles -
a popular snack on the table of our ancestors. And now salted and pickled pieces of watermelon are, rather, a dish for lovers and gourmets.
There are many variations of salting this beloved fruit. You can pickle a watermelon with apples, cabbage, honey and even mustard. Yes, many of these recipes can shock. But don't be afraid to try! Salted or pickled watermelon is a wonderful snack, for example, for the New Year's table or for any other festive feast.
It only takes three days to turn ordinary fruit into a delicious delicacy. Spicy pickles are the most popular dishes of traditional Slavic cuisine. The undoubted plus is the absence of vinegar, the proportions of salt and sugar are balanced in the brine, the pulp will acquire an amazing taste that will be combined with many dishes. Slices of salted watermelon sparkle with coral edges, attracting the attention of guests.
So, it's time to move on to the recipe for how to salt watermelons with slices.

Taste Info Other blanks

Ingredients

• watermelon - 4 kg;
• hot pepper - 1 pc.;
• garlic - 1 head;
• black peppercorns - 1 teaspoon;
• a bunch of dill;
• a bunch of parsley.
• Brine:
• water - 3 l;
• sugar - 9 tablespoons;
• salt - 9 tablespoons.

How to Cook Salted Watermelons in Keg Chunks

For quick salting of watermelons in slices, it is better to take small striped fruits. The pulp can be either pink or red. It is advisable to choose varieties with a thin crust. After salting, a sweet ripe fruit will change beyond recognition: it will be saturated with brine and will acquire that pleasant taste that is characteristic of pickled apples.
Watermelons are washed, cut into large slices. It is better to use longitudinal slicing. As a rule, the half is cut into 5-6 pieces. Large salted pieces retain their beautiful shape, and when serving, you can cut each slice into small neat triangles.


Capacious ceramic kegs are ideal dishes for home salting, but you can get by with regular bottles. A third of the prepared greens is placed at the bottom of the keg; you do not need to chop the dill and parsley sprigs. A whole hot pepper and peeled garlic cloves are thrown onto the "green pillow".
Watermelons can be salted in glass jars for the winter, and can be preserved. This method of salting is similar to canning tomatoes and cucumbers. Pieces of pulp are placed in a jar, poured with brine and the jar is rolled up. Also, watermelons can be salted in small wooden barrels and tubs. At the same time, it is important to achieve perfect sterility of wooden utensils.


A layer of watermelons is placed compactly, taking into account the shape of the dishes.


Cover the watermelons with sprigs of herbs, throw in a few cloves of garlic.

Then the next layer of watermelon is placed, sprinkled with green leaves. Further, all actions continue, the keg should be filled to the brim with watermelon slices.


Prepare a brine: add salt and sugar to the water, throw black peppercorns. The brine is boiled for 5-7 minutes. Then the liquid should cool down to room temperature.


Watermelons are poured with brine so that all pieces are completely immersed in it.


The keg is covered with a plate, the load is placed on top.


Watermelons are kept in a warm room for 24 hours, then put in the refrigerator for two days. On this, the process of quick salting of watermelons in pieces can be considered complete, the pulp is taken out of the brine and put on the table. Salted watermelon can be kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
For such salting, ordinary enamel pots are also perfect, they are also filled with pieces of pulp, alternating layers of watermelon with herbs, filled with brine to the top and covered with a plate, putting a load on it.

You can salt both light pink and bright red watermelons, observing the only condition - the pulp should not be sluggish and overripe.

The washed watermelon is cut into triangles, the thickness of the slices ranges from a centimeter to one and a half.

The seeds are left in slices, and the peel is carefully cut off, capturing the green and white layer. The juicy pulp of a five-kilogram watermelon can be filled in 2 three-liter jars.

Black currant leaves, several sprigs of parsley or cilantro are placed on the bottom of dry sterilized jars.

The pod of hot pepper is cut into rings: so that the watermelons do not turn out to be too sharp, no more than 5-6 rings of pepper are thrown into each jar. You can add a couple of garlic cloves if desired.

Banks are filled to the very top with watermelon slices and poured with boiling water.

Banks are covered with lids, the blanks are infused for 15 minutes. You can see that the hot water has increased the brightness of the color of the watermelon pulp.

Water from two cans is poured into a common saucepan. The watermelon slices have given up some of their juice and slid down, now they occupy only 2/3 of the volume of the container.

Salt, sugar, sweet peas and black peas are added to watermelon water. The marinade is boiled for just a couple of minutes over high heat. 100 milliliters of vinegar are poured into each jar.

Watermelons are poured with hot marinade, cans are rolled up for the winter and immediately turned over.

It is interesting to observe how vinegar provokes a slight color change: the pale pink tone of the pulp has turned into coral. The blank for the winter is covered with a warm blanket, left for 12 hours.

The cooled salted watermelons are taken to the cellar or to a cool storage room.

They will really be salted only after 3-4 days: both pungency and expressive sourness will appear in them. But hardly anyone will open them so early, the standard shelf life is 12 months. In winter and spring, you really want to enjoy a spicy salted watermelon.

In the countries of the former USSR, one of the most common types of preparation of snacks is salting watermelons in a barrel. Each family has its own special recipes for pickling them: apples, cabbage are added to watermelons for pickling, various spices and herbs are used. The container can be either wooden or plastic. Salted fruit will decorate not only an everyday meal, but also a festive feast.

Pickled and salted watermelons are prepared exclusively without using vinegar. The lactic acid bacteria contained in watermelons are involved in the sourdough process, while you have to pickle with vinegar.

Both pickled and pickled berries have their own flavoring advantages, but watermelons prepared by salting in barrels are most useful for the stomach. They store substances useful for the body. The disadvantage of this method is the need for a cellar or utility room where you can install a barrel of pickles.

Watermelons can be salted with wedges or whole fruits. The taste of cooked snacks can be sour, sweet, salty. Mustard, sugar or other seasonings are added as spices.

For pickling, it is better to use pink berries. Overripe specimens, which, when cooked, become viscous, unpleasant in taste, are not suitable. Preference should be given to fruits without damage, with a thin rind and dense pulp.

Salting watermelons for the winter in barrels is best done in early autumn. At this time, the air temperature is lower than in summer, which is necessary for the fermentation process.

Whole fermented watermelons in a barrel

For such fermentation, vegetables about 15 cm in diameter are suitable. They are put in a barrel in a barrel, thoroughly washed and scalded with boiling water. The fermentation process can be accelerated by piercing each fruit with a fork or knitting needle several times.

Then the barrel is filled with the prepared brine to a level higher than the berries are located. The brine is prepared from purified or well water, with the addition of ingredients per 10 liters - 500 g of salt and the same amount of sugar. With such proportions, the taste is delicate, with sweet, salty and sour notes. If households prefer a richer flavor, it is recommended to increase the amount of salt, up to 800 g, and reduce the granulated sugar to 400 g.

So that the fruits do not float, but are immersed in the brine, oppression is laid on top. For this purpose, a wooden cover is used. For a couple of days, the barrels are placed in a room with an average temperature, and then tightly closed and set in a cool place, for example, in a cellar. After about 20 days, you can treat with ready-made pickles.

Barrel watermelons with sauerkraut

A layer of chopped cabbage (about 10 cm) is added to the barrel prepared in the above way, on top - a layer of berries, and then again shredded cabbage. This fills the entire barrel. Cabbage must be pre-salted, 60 g per 1 kg of berries. Watermelons are layered with apples or unripe tomatoes.

It is necessary to place chopped cabbage between each fruit so that the watermelons do not touch each other. The brine is prepared in the usual way (0.5 kg of salt and 0.5 kg of sugar per 10 liters of liquid). Starter culture: 2 days at a temperature of -20 - 22 degrees, and then in a cellar. It is optimal to stop eating salted watermelons before mid-winter.

It is necessary to check the contents of the barrel from time to time.If mold has formed on the surface of the brine, it should be removed immediately and freshly prepared brine pour in.

Fermented watermelons in watermelon juice

After disinfection with boiling water, salted slices are placed on the bottom in a wooden, properly prepared barrel with a layer of about 10 cm, and then whole fruits. Each new layer is sprinkled with chopped pulp.

After filling the barrel, squeezed watermelon juice is added in this way. For 50 kg of whole fruits, you will need about 25 kg of chopped slices. After a week of infusion at normal temperature, the barrel is lowered for storage in the basement. Salting is ready for use a little earlier than a month later.

Watermelons pickled in a barrel with spices

To add a spicy taste to pickled berries, use:

• horseradish roots;
• coriander;
• ginger root;
• cloves of garlic;
• allspice;
• celery;
• capsicum hot pepper.

These spices are evenly distributed throughout the container during the filling process with fruits before salting such watermelons in a barrel, and the recipe for making brine is similar to the previous methods.

Sauerkraut in ceramic barrels

Since salting watermelons in a barrel is not the best option for all families, you can ferment the berries in small ceramic barrels. Dense watermelons are cut into small slices lengthwise. The washed container is poured with boiling water and dried. Greens, hot peppers, garlic and other spices are spread on the bottom. Then the sweet fruits are placed. Garlic and branches of table herbs are placed on top. After filling the container, add salt and black peppercorns.

The recipe for salting watermelons provides that the water used must be from a spring or well. It is boiled, cooled to a lukewarm state and poured onto watermelons in a barrel. A load must be installed on top so that the contents of the barrel do not float. After the start of the fermentation process, the container is transferred to a cold room. If the liquid has been absorbed by the watermelons, then the brine is added to the required level.

If the volume of the keg is too large, you can use a glass jar. The rest of the fermentation process is similar to the previous recipes.

The optimal temperature when watermelons will be stored for a long time is +3 degrees.As gourmets agree, salting in wooden barrels is the most ideal option.

Salted watermelon with hot peppers and herbs

For every 5 kg of sweet fruits you will need:

• 1 chilli pepper;
• medium head of garlic;
• 1 tsp peppercorns;
• a bunch of greens (parsley and / or dill).

The barrel filled with layers of medium-sized watermelon slices is filled with prepared brine. This amount of watermelon will require 3 liters of liquid. To this volume, 170 g of salt and granulated sugar are added. It is recommended to use purified water without chlorine impurities. Spices are spread evenly as the container fills.

Be sure to place a load on top so that all the ingredients are in the brine. As a load, some use a well-washed and boiled natural stone set on a wooden or ceramic circle. After the brine ferments, the barrel is lowered into the basement and the pickled berries are left there for storage.

Recipe for pickled watermelons with mustard powder

Before pickling watermelons, you need to stock up on a 100 liter wooden or plastic keg.

This volume will require:

• 20 pcs. medium-sized fruits;
• half a pack of powdered mustard;
• sugar - 400 g;
• purified water or water from a well - 10 liters.

Select fruits without visible skin damage. It is desirable to select their size approximately the same, weighing 2 - 3 kg. Rinse under running water and drain or dry with a towel.

Cut off the stem of each berry, pierce the sides with a wooden skewer in several places, which will allow the brine to penetrate into the fruit faster and shorten the fermentation time.

Salt the water in a bucket and add sugar according to the recipe, mustard seed powder. Wait for all crystals to dissolve. Pour the fruits laid out in a barrel with the prepared brine. After 3 weeks, the snack will be ready.

My fruits, cut into triangles and send to banks. Then we fill the container with the blanks with boiling water for 10 minutes. After the time has elapsed, we pour the water back into the container, put it on the fire and wait until it boils. And again we fill the container with watermelons for another 5 minutes.

Now we need to prepare the brine. In the water that was drained from the cans, dissolve salt and sugar (in a ratio of 50 g of salt and 30 g of sugar per 1 liter of water), as well as, if desired, spices (nutmeg, coriander, ginger). Boil everything again and fill the watermelons with hot brine. For each liter, add 1 tsp. 70% acetic acid and roll up. We wrap the jars for 2 days and send them to the basement.

How to properly salt watermelons in a barrel?

In autumn, as a rule, there are many small, thin-peeled watermelons. They can be safely salted whole. For this we will need any large container, for example, a barrel.

It is better to take watermelons of approximately the same size (no more than 2 kg), be sure to be intact, without cracks or other damage.

We scald the barrel with boiling water and put the washed berries, after making 10-15 punctures with a knitting needle or a wooden stick (for better salting). Fill with brine. It is prepared like this: dissolve 600-1000 g of salt in 10 liters of water (depending on the size of the watermelons). Cover the contents of the barrel with a clean cloth, place a wooden circle and press down with pressure. We leave the salting warm. After 2 days, if necessary, add brine and transfer to a cool place. After 15-20 days, the product can be served.

How to salt sweet and sour watermelons?

If you want sweet watermelons, use the following recipe.

In the process of laying, sprinkle the watermelons with clean sand (to maintain their shape). We prepare the brine: for 10 liters of water we take 800 g of salt and 400 g of sugar. Pour into the barrel so that all the fruits are covered. We put oppression and leave to ferment in a warm place for 2-3 days. Then we send it to a room where the temperature does not exceed 3 degrees. After 2 months, the watermelons are ready to eat.

How to properly salt watermelons in your own juice?

You can also use watermelon pulp instead of regular brine. Such a preparation turns out to be much tastier. But the disadvantage of this method is that it will take a lot of fruits.

Cooking the ingredients: in a proportion of 10 kg of watermelons, we take 5 kg of pulp chopped with a blender and salted (50 g of salt) pulp.

We spread a layer of watermelons in a prepared container and fill it with salted mass. So we repeat to the top, but so that the last layer of pulp is, cover with a lid. We are waiting for 5-6 days and then we send it to the basement. During this time, care must be taken that mold does not appear on the surface of the pickling (if necessary, remove it).

How to salt watermelons quickly?

If you really want to enjoy your favorite pickles, but do not like to wait long, use the following recipe.

The watermelon should be washed, peeled and cut into small slices or triangles. We spread it in an enamel bowl and fill it with boiled, warm brine (for 1 liter of water we need 1 tablespoon of salt and sugar). Let stand warm for 1-2 days. Then you need to store it in the refrigerator.