The juicy sweet fruits of watermelons, unfortunately, are not stored for a long time. But they can be pickled and salted for the winter - you get an appetizer with an unusual piquant taste: sweet, sharp and invigorating at the same time. Salted watermelons in jars in winter will dilute the everyday menu, decorate the festive table.
Watermelons for the winter in banks
Traditionally, watermelons were salted in wooden tubs, but you can get by with cans. For salting watermelons in jars, fruits of any size are suitable, unripe and savory, which you don't want to eat, but it's a pity to throw it away. Salt them with a crust and without it - it's a matter of taste, it is better to clean the thick ones. Prepare the brine in advance: a three-liter jar will require 1 liter of water, 50 g of salt, 100 g of sugar. Boil water and salt and leave to cool.
Wash the fruits, cut the thick bark, cut the watermelon into small slices. Prepare jars: wash, sterilize. Rinse the spices:
- garlic;
- leaves of currant, horseradish, cherry;
- dill, celery.
Put the spices in the jars, then the slices of watermelon, tamp gently so that more will enter. One three-liter jar contains about 2 kg of watermelons without crusts. Fill with cold brine, press down with oppression, cover with gauze and leave in the fermentation room. After two days, close the jars of salted watermelons with lids and put them in the refrigerator. You can do otherwise: drain the brine, boil it, fill it with watermelons and roll it up. Canned food is stored in a cool place for a year.
Salted watermelons in jars with mustard
Fruits, salty with mustard, have an interesting taste. Such watermelons go with a bang in winter. To prepare salted watermelons in jars, take:
- 1-1.5 kg of watermelons;
- 1 tablespoon salt, sugar and mustard powder.
Mix dry spices. Cut the washed and peeled fruits into small pieces, fold them tightly into jars, sprinkling each layer with spices. For a 3 liter jar, take 1 tbsp. a heaping spoon of the mixture. Cover with plastic lids and leave at room temperature for a couple of days, then refrigerate. Such salted watermelons in jars will remain until the New Year.
Unfortunately, whole watermelons cannot be salted in jars; for this you can use plastic bags with fasteners. Put small fruits one by one in bags, pour cold brine there and close tightly. For the brine, boil 1 liter of water and 60-80 g of salt. Watermelons are stored for 2-3 months.
