Watermelon Lemonade Concentrate

5 from 4 votes

Watermelon Lemonade Concentrate

Watermelon lemonade concentrate captures the taste of peak-summer watermelon in a shelf-stable drink you can water bath can. Puree and strain the watermelon, heat the juice with bottled lemon juice and sugar, and you'll have jars ready to mix into watermelon lemonade any time of year.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Additional Time10

Total Time30

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: canning lemonade concentrate

Servings: servings, Makes 6 pints (or 3 quarts)

Author: Ashley Adamant

Equipment

Ingredients

6 cups watermelon juice puréed and strained*
4 cups bottled lemon juice Don't use fresh
6 cups sugar

Instructions

Before you start, prepare a water bath canner and bring the water up to a simmer, and wash your jars and lids in hot soapy water. Keep the jars hot until you fill them so they do not crack when they meet the hot concentrate. There is no need to sterilize, since the jars are processed for more than 10 minutes.
Make the watermelon juice. Cut the watermelon into large chunks and puree it in a blender, seeds and all. Pour the puree through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth to strain out the seeds and pulp, and measure out the watermelon juice you need.
Combine the watermelon juice, bottled lemon juice, and sugar in a large pot. Stir well so the sugar begins to dissolve before the mixture heats up. Use bottled lemon juice and the full amount called for, since that acid is what makes this low-acid fruit safe to can.
Heat the mixture over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the sugar has fully dissolved and it reaches 190°F. Do not let it boil, which can set some of the pectin in the lemon juice. A thermometer takes the guesswork out of it.
Ladle the hot concentrate into your prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Run a bubble tool or thin spatula around the inside of each jar to release trapped air, then wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth.
Center a lid on each jar and screw the band down to fingertip tight. Load the jars into the canner, making sure they are covered by an inch or two of water.
Bring the canner to a full rolling boil, then process for 15 minutes, adjusting the time for your altitude (see notes). Start timing only once the water reaches a full boil.
When the time is up, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the canner for 5 minutes before lifting them out. That short rest keeps the liquid from siphoning out.
Set the jars on a towel and leave them undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours. Do not retighten the bands while they cool, and you may hear them ping as they seal.
After cooling, check the seals by pressing the center of each lid. A sealed lid will not flex. Store sealed jars in the pantry, and move any that did not seal to the refrigerator to use first.

To reconstitute, mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts water. For a 1 pint jar, you'd add 3 pints water. For simplicity, you can just add a pint to a half-gallon mason jar, which holds 4 pints, and then fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.

That should give you a "basic lemonade" flavor that's strong, but not too strong. You can adjust to your own tastes.

Notes

Yield: When I make this recipe it yields about 6 pints, though it varies a little with how juicy your watermelon is. The sugar is here for flavor, not preservation, so raise or lower it however you like. The bottled lemon juice is different. It's what makes this low-acid fruit safe to can, so keep it at the full amount and don't reduce it. Plan on about one medium watermelon to get the 6 cups of juice this batch needs.

Lemon Juice: Use bottled lemon juice, not fresh, and don't reduce the amount. Watermelon is low in acid, so the bottled lemon juice is what brings the concentrate into a safe range for canning, and bottled juice has a steady, consistent acidity that fresh-squeezed can't guarantee. Santa Cruz Organic is a good one. Bottled lime juice works in the same amount for a watermelon limeade.

Straining: The watermelon is pureed and then strained through a cheesecloth-lined sieve to remove the seeds and pulp before it goes into the concentrate, which gives a smooth juice for a clean lemonade.

Reconstituting: One pint of concentrate makes a half gallon of watermelon lemonade. Mix 1 part concentrate with 3 parts cold water, or pour a pint into a half gallon mason jar and fill the rest with water, then serve over ice. Watermelon flavor is delicate, so mix it with a little less water if it tastes light to you, or stir it into sparkling water for a fizzy version.

Storage: Sealed, processed jars keep on the pantry shelf for up to a year. If you are not canning, the concentrate keeps in the refrigerator for a few weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Leave 1 inch of headspace if you are freezing so it has room to expand, and refrigerate after opening.

Altitude Adjustments: Process half pints, pints, and quarts for 15 minutes below 1,000 feet. Between 1,000 and 6,000 feet, process for 20 minutes, and above 6,000 feet, process for 25 minutes. Do not can this in half gallon jars, since quart is the largest size.

Nutrition