Recipes » Canning ~ Preserving » Watermelon Jelly or Jam

Watermelon Jelly or Jam

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This delectable Watermelon Jam (or Jelly!) makes a very colorful and tasty gift. It goes great on butter crackers, toasted biscuits, toast, English muffins and more.watermelon-jelly-or-jam
The trick to making watermelon Jelly is to strain the pulp out of the puree. You’ll still need 6 cups of clear juice though! If you prefer watermelon Jam, do not strain the pureed watermelon.

You’ll Need:
6 C. pureed Watermelon
5 C. white sugar
1/2 C bottled or fresh lemon juice
1 pkg Pectin

Cut up the watermelon (use seedless & make sure there aren’t ANY seeds at all!) Puree it in a blender to get 6 cups of Puree.

In a big pot on the stove combine puree, sugar and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Once the temperature gets to 220 degrees you can add the pectin. Boil for another five minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into clean, sterile jars and then you can use a water bath to seal.

I just made sure they cooled and put them in the fridge. I had various sizes but there were roughly 9- 8oz. jars.

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9 thoughts on “Watermelon Jelly or Jam”

  1. I would treat this as a jam for fridge or maybe freezer storage, as the author says s/he did.

    Watermelon is not acidic enough on its own to be canned safely for shelf-stable storage. A product needs a pH of 4.6 or below to be safe for water bath processing and then be safe for shelf stable storage. The lemon juice works out to about 7/8ths tablespoon per jar and I don’t know if that would be enough to drive the pH down to a safe level.

    You would have to get someone to test it.

    The reason you’d want to be sure is that the risk is botulism. People got botulism from watermelon jam that didn’t have a low enough pH just a few years ago in Vancouver, that was being sold as a fundraiser. So sad.
    Here’s an article about it.

    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/botulism-warning-issued-for-watermelon-jam-1.1123071

    So yeah, recipe sounds amazing, though I would treat this for fridge storage only, for sure.

    Reply
    • Homemade Jam lasts for 1-2 Years (Unopened) Refrigerator (Opened) 6 Months – 1 Year
      Low Sugar Jam lasts for 9-12 Months (Unopened) Refrigerator (Opened) 8-9 Months
      Sugar Free Jam lasts for 6-9 Months(Unopened) Refrigerator (Opened) 6-9 Months

      Reply
  2. for stable shelf stored watermelon jam I use candy oils in apple juice. make it just like apple jelly. but use 1 tsp watermelon candy flavor. and yes it turns out this color with no added coloring.

    Reply
    • What does that mean? Candy oils ? In apple juice! My granddaughter has type 1 diabetes an she’s just 10. How do I make it for her?

      Reply
  3. Watermelon is very high in pectin on its own. I prefer to make my watermelon jam in my instant pot using fresh watermelon fruit.

    This watermelon jam tastes great on toast, pancakes, waffles, etc. during the summer when watermelon is plentiful. Make it using leftover watermelon fruit slices!

    Instant Pot Watermelon Jam

    4 cups seedless watermelon fruit, diced
    1 cup sugar
    4 tablespoons lemon juice
    2 tablespoons cornstarch
    2 Tbs Cold Water
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    1 Place the fresh watermelon into the instant pot.
    2 Add the sugar and lemon juice as well, stirring well.
    3 Seal the lid of the instant pot and cook it under high pressure for 15 minutes.
    4 Allow the pressure to release naturally.
    5 Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid.
    6 Use a potato masher to stir and mash the contents. Add the vanilla extract and stir well.
    7 Using saute function, simmer the contents for 10-12 minutes, while you keep stirring and mashing, as needed.
    8 The tiny seeds can be scooped out or left in, doesn’t matter.
    9 To thicken the liquid, make cornstarch slurry by mixing the cornstarch with 2 tbs of cold water, mixing well, the immediately add it the jam. Return to a simmer and cook until thickened.
    10 Press cancel button to stop further cooking and remove the pot to cool without overcooking.
    11 Once the jam is slightly cooled, transfer the jam to air tight dry, clean glass jars.

    This is a small batch jam prepared in the instant pot and is not meant for true canning.
    You can store the glass jars with the jam in refrigerator for about two weeks time and in the freezer for up to 6 months.

    Reply
  4. I was wanting to know does this Jam need to go into the fridge after it cools or after 24hrs can I put it on the shelf??

    Reply

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