Cantaloupe Pickles

Gather

Ingredients

• 5 pounds of 1-inch cantaloupe cubes (about 2 medium under-ripe cantaloupes)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 one-inch cinnamon sticks
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 4½ cups cider vinegar (5%)
• 2 cups water
• 1½ cups white sugar
• 1½ cups packed light brown sugar

Preserve

Instructions

1. 01

   Choose firm, nearly full-size cantaloupes that are still almost green. Wash, halve, seed, and peel them; cut 1-inch cubes and weigh out 5 pounds.

2. 02

   Tie the red-pepper flakes, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger in a spice bag. Boil the 5% cider vinegar and water, turn off the heat, add the bag, and steep for 5 minutes with occasional stirring.

3. 03

   Pour the hot vinegar mixture and spice bag over the melon in a glass bowl. Cover with food-safe wrap or a lid and refrigerate for about 18 hours.

4. 04

   The next day, drain the liquid into a large pot and boil it. Dissolve both sugars, add the melon, return to boiling, and simmer for 1 to 1¼ hours, until the cubes look translucent.

5. 05

   Move the melon to a covered pot. Boil the remaining syrup for 5 minutes, return the melon to it, and bring everything back to a boil.

6. 06

   Place hot melon in hot pint jars with 1-inch space above the solids, then add boiling syrup to a final ½-inch headspace. Remove air, clean the rims, and close the jars.

7. 07

   At elevations through 1,000 ft, boiling-water process the hot pints for 15 minutes. Increase that time above 1,000 ft as shown by the elevation tool.
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