Dehydrating Red-seeded Citron watermelon

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Posted by Radishrain Radishrain
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Our Red-seeded Citron watermelons that we harvested last year aren't getting any younger. So, I decided to cut the two largest ones up, season them like I do for citron watermelon crisp, and dehydrate them! :)

Yes, seeding those watermelons took a nice duration to do.

I figure they can probably take a pretty high temperature, since they taste good fully cooked with those seasonings (brown sugar, citric acid, nutmeg, and cinnamon). So, I'll probably keep them on at least 145° F. as I dehydrate them (it's on 166 right now). The seasonings (probably the brown sugar) caused them to release juices (so, that should help the dehydration process).

I'm dehydrating a few grocery store Roma-type tomatoes, in thick slices, since there was some room left over after I cut up the watermelons. I filled about six 13" x 15" trays. The dehydrator can take six more trays, but the slices can be thicker with only six (and I only have six trays).

The tomatoes are on the top tray so that they don't get the watermelon seasonings dripping on them.

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Re: Dehydrating Red-seeded Citron watermelon

Okay, so they finished dehydrating on Wednesday. The sweetness of the brown sugar was less pronounced when they were dry. So, I probably should have added more brown sugar and less citric acid for many of them (some of them had enough brown sugar).

The temperature settings worked well. I set it to 145° F. after two or three hours. The tomatoes tasted excellent, but the ones without skins on one side dehydrated faster. The citron watermelon actually dehydrated faster than the thick tomato slices.
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
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