Sweet Watermelon Rind Pickle

From the garden

• 4 lb watermelon rind, green skin and pink flesh trimmed off, cut into 1-inch pieces · the trimmed white layer from roughly one large melon

From the pantry

• 8 cups sugar · candies the rind clear and thickens the syrup
• 4 cups distilled white vinegar (5%) · carries the acidity that makes the jars safe; do not dilute it
• ½ cup canning or pickling salt · for the overnight soak; nearly all of it rinses away
• 2 tbsp whole pickling spice · tied in a square of cheesecloth so the syrup stays clear
• 1 lemon, sliced thin, seeds flicked out

1. Trim the rind hard: cut away every scrap of green skin and all but a thin blush of pink flesh, then cut what is left into 1-inch pieces. Only the pale, firm layer candies properly.
2. Dissolve the canning salt in 3 quarts of cold water, submerge the rind, and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. The salt soak firms the pieces so they turn translucent later instead of collapsing.
3. Drain and rinse the rind well, cover with fresh cold water in a large pot, and simmer until a fork just slides in, about 10 minutes. Drain again.
4. Wash 4 pint jars and keep them hot in the water-bath canner as it heats; wash the lids and bands, and tie the pickling spice into its cheesecloth bag.
5. Boil the sugar, vinegar, 2 cups water, and the spice bag together for 5 minutes, add the drained rind and the lemon slices, and simmer gently until the pieces go clear and the syrup runs heavy, about 1 hour.
6. Pack the hot rind and syrup into the hot jars leaving ½ inch headspace, release air bubbles with a thin spatula, wipe the rims, and screw the bands on fingertip-tight. Process in boiling water covering the jars by 1 inch for 10 minutes; at 1,001–6,000 ft process 15 minutes, above 6,000 ft 20 minutes. Cool undisturbed 12–24 hours, then check that no lid flexes and refrigerate any jar that failed to seal.