Jam made from melon peels surprises even true gourmets. The dessert turns out delicious, beautiful, and most importantly - unusually aromatic and healthy. It won’t be difficult to prepare it in the summer season, but in winter you can enjoy it with hot tea. Flavors can be varied with spices and seasonings, creating your own original recipes.
Features of making jam from melon peels
Melon peel jam is made only from varieties with dense pulp. You can use unripe fruits that emit a strong aroma.Some housewives believe that the crusts accumulate a large amount of nitrates, which is why cooking food from them is dangerous. This is a misconception because harmful substances accumulate in the skin of melons, which is trimmed off before cooking. Also, in order to remove nitrates, the peels are pre-soaked for a couple of hours in water with chalk, after which they are thoroughly washed.
To make jam, you cannot take the first melons, which are sold on the market in mid-summer. Plants are fed with chemicals to make them produce faster. These substances accumulate in fruits, and a dish made from them will not provide any benefit.
Preparation of the main ingredient
The quality of the final product depends on proper preparation of the crusts. To wash out existing nitrates from them, you can not only resort to soaking in water with chalk. Some housewives put melon rinds in a saucepan, add water and put them in the refrigerator overnight. After this, they are taken out, dried and the skin is trimmed.
The crusts are cut into equal parts so that they can cook evenly. Their shape and size are arbitrary.
Cooking algorithm
The simplest and most delicious recipe for making jam from melon peels guarantees excellent results if all recommendations are followed. This dessert will come in handy in the midst of an epidemic of acute respiratory diseases, and is also useful for people engaged in mental and physical labor. For preparation you will need:
- melon peels - 1000 g;
- granulated sugar - 1200 g;
- citric acid - 3 g;
- vanilla sugar - 5 g.
Cooking method
To make unusual jam from melon peels, you can add bananas, lime, watermelon, zucchini, pear, apple, orange.Cover the prepared fruits with granulated sugar and place them in the refrigerator to infuse for a couple of hours. It is recommended to shake the container slightly so that the sugar is evenly distributed throughout the entire volume.
After the required time has passed, remove the dishes from the refrigerator and place on the stove. Boil everything and leave to cool for 8 hours. Do the procedure 3 times, while gently stirring the jam with a wooden spoon and skimming off the resulting foam. To make the jam thick and beautiful, during the third boiling it is worth keeping it on the fire longer. A drop of liquid should not spread over the saucer. At the end of cooking, add citric acid and vanilla sugar. Ready!
Canning process step by step
A step-by-step recipe for canning ready-made melon peel jam is as follows:
- Wash glass containers thoroughly.
- Sterilize using any known and available method (microwave, oven or steam will do).
- Also sterilize the lids.
- Dry the container.
- Place the hot jam in jars, first placing a metal spoon in there (so that the container does not crack due to a sudden temperature change).
- Roll up the blanks using a seaming wrench.
- Let cool and store.
Storage Features
Melon peel jam prepared for the cold winter must be properly preserved. In this matter, a lot depends on the method of preparing the delicacy. Hermetically sealed in a glass container, it is able to retain its beneficial properties and not deteriorate for two years.
If the dessert is stored indoors, then no light should penetrate to it, and the temperature should be maintained at +15 °C.The shelf life of jam increases significantly when it is rolled with iron lids. To prevent them from rusting and deteriorating, you need to coat them with Vaseline.
In a room with high humidity, the top layer of jam begins to deteriorate greatly and becomes unsuitable for consumption. This only applies to dishes sealed with paper lids.
Open containers of melon peel jam are stored exclusively in the refrigerator for no more than two weeks. Over time, the amount of useful substances and microelements in it decreases, so they try to use the product as quickly as possible. It can be used not only for direct consumption, but also for preparing baked goods and confectionery products. You should not eat dessert that has expired, especially not giving it to children.
