A few weeks ago we were hanging out with Kate Payne of The Hip Girl's Guide To Homemaking when she asked, "Hey, would you like some watermelon jerky?" Watermelon jerky?! We took a bite and haven't stopped thinking about it since.
Whether you call it jerky or leather or dried watermelon or dehydrated watermelon, this was a surprisingly enjoyable treat. Drying the watermelon concentrated the fruit's sweetness and it was like a chewy candy – without any added sugar!
Kate used a dehydrator to make these addictive treats:
I sliced a quarter of the melon into 1/4"-strips or thinner if you can and then cut off the crescent-shaped rind portion from those slices and then made watermelon chips about the size of regular tortilla chips.
My Nesco dehydrator has a setting for fruit, which is 135 degrees F. I plugged it in and let it go overnight (~8-12 hours) and voila! A perfectly textured Jolly Rancher fruit leather!
We've been thinking of getting a food dehydrator for some time and this may have sealed the deal. Presumably one could also make this in the oven but it would be a lot less energy efficient.
Have you ever made dried watermelon using this or another method?
• Learn more: Preserving watermelon at The Hip Girl's Guide To Homemaking
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(Image: Kate Payne)
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So - none of that winter squash kind of taste that can emerge with warm watermelon? If not, I'm definitely willing to give this a try.
I'm not big on watermelon, but dehydrated mango is TO DIE FOR!
Seems a shame to squeeze all the water out of such a hydrating, refreshing summer treat! All the same, I'm curious enough to want to try a slice. =)
When I leave a watermelon slice in the fridge too long, the exposed side gets dried out-- I know it sounds gross and my family agrees, but I think it's delicious. So, I know this would be as well.
I've done this. Honestly I have a major sweet tooth but this is surprisingly painfully sweet. It's fun, and I might do for dessert on camping trips but watermelon is better beforehand and this doesn't preserve what is good.
Been seeing "compressed watermelon" on a few menus here in Vancouver...but I think they use a cryo-vac machine to make it.
I'm basically depending on fresh watermelon to keep me hydrated these days, but at soon as this heat wave's over I'm trying this!
Tired it! It's interesting. The watermelon takes on a different and more intense flavor. The process took about 12 hours for the thinnest pieces in my cheap dehydrator. Fun and weird, worth the money and effort for sure!
This is a favorite for me. I don't like the gooshy sponginess that refrigerated slices of watermelon get so it's a good way to use up leftovers. It's basically candy. Really, you can do this with any fruit to get something truly delicious. I also like cantaloupe.
Last time I dried some leftover watermelon scraps, I tossed them with coarse sugar and citric acid for a chewy sour watermelon candy. More sugary, but so tasty.
Dried watermelon jerky chips taste good, but the sweetness may be overpowering. I'm interested to try sweet and sour watermelon chips with citric acid or cider vinegar added to balance the sweetness.