Those who have never heard of honey made from watermelon associate with the concepts of buckwheat honey, linden honey. Bees fly, collect nectar on a melon, so bee honey is obtained from watermelon flowers. Meanwhile, every beekeeper knows that it is very difficult to get honey from melons and gourds, watermelon gives a little flowers even on a large melon, and those that are, give nectar reluctantly. Watermelon is an unimportant honey plant. However, watermelon-based honey, better known as nardek, does exist. It is delicious and healthy. Only bees do not cook it, but people. The recipe came to us from the east, the word Nardek is of Turkish origin. This dish has relatives who are prepared using a similar technology. For example, bekmes (grape honey), irchal (grape honey with berries).

How to make watermelon honey

It should be understood that nardek is not a full-fledged honey, but rather a syrup. Watermelon juice is boiled down to the state of molasses, but the substances included in the final product, when evaporated, give the syrup a color and aroma, which gives the drug the right to be called honey.

You can prepare the product using the step-by-step guide on how to make honey from watermelon.

First of all, you need watermelons. How many? The calculation is as follows: when cooking, the juice is boiled down 5-7 times (and it happens that no more than 10% of the original volume remains, it all depends on the sugar content and wateriness of the juice). This means that 5-7 liters of juice will be required to obtain a liter of the finished product. From a kilogram of watermelon, you can get about 300-350 mljuice... Thus, to cook a liter of nardek, you need fifteen kilograms of ripe berries.

Watermelon honey

Obviously, there is no point in making a nardek from one or two watermelons, therefore it was always made in places of mass melon cultivation. By the way, this is a good way to dispose of defective (for example, beaten during loading) berries. An interesting fact is that in the 19th century, attempts were made to obtain pure sugar from watermelon juice, but these attempts led to failure.

There are watermelons, you need to get juice from them. The berries must be rinsed, dried, coarsely chopped over a basin so that not a single drop of juice is lost. Select the pulp with a wooden spoon, while separating the seeds. Further, various options are possible:

  • grind the pulp through a medium-sized sieve;
  • pass through a meat grinder;
  • squeeze the pulp through cheesecloth.

The remaining pulp can be thrown away, they will not be useful. Now the juice must be strained several times through cheesecloth folded several times and poured into a cooking container. It is better to take it with a thick bottom to avoid burning the product. The first time the semi-finished product is brought to a boil and kept on fire for 2-3 minutes. Then you need to remove the container from the heat, let it cool, remove the foam with a slotted spoon or spoon. Further, the future nardek is again put on a slow fire and boiled for several hours.

note! It is necessary to cook honey, periodically removing the foam to maintain transparency. By the end of cooking, it will acquire a beautiful dark red or brown color.

It is necessary to focus on reducing the volume of liquid. The readiness of the product is determined as follows: after scooping the product with a spoon, you need to look at the flowing stream. If it is continuous, you need to cook further. If it breaks up into drops, you're done! An alternative test is to drip onto a cold plate and tilt slightly. The drop should not spread.

If lumps of pulp or seeds get into the honey, strain it again through a sieve. If it turns out to be watery, you can add it.It is recommended to add a little sugar when cooking, but if it burns, the honey is hopelessly spoiled.

Ingredients for making watermelon honey

To prepare honey according to the classic recipe, only one ingredient is needed - watermelon juice. But there is a recipe popular in Adygea. There, cream or sour cream is added to the finished product at the rate of 100 g for 2-3 kg of nardek after it cools. Mix both ingredients thoroughly.

If the watermelon juice is not sugary enough, you can add regular sugar to it, otherwise you won't be able to achieve a thick consistency.

Ingredients for making watermelon honey

The smell of natural honey will be useful, so you can add 100 g of bee honey to 1 kg of watermelons.

You can add various spices to your taste: cinnamon, mint, etc. Of course, no one forbids experimenting with additives on your own, developing your own unique recipes.

Beneficial features

Most of the nardek consists of a mixture of sugars - primarily fructose (more than half of all sugars), as well as glucose and sucrose.

Initiallyvitaminswatermelon and watermelon juice contains little. And even those with prolonged cooking are mostly destroyed. But the trace elements from the finished product will not go anywhere. Here is iron, manganese, magnesium, nickel, and potassium.

In folk medicine, nardek is used to treat colds. It is used as a drink mix in combination with onion juice or apple cider vinegar or in a gargle. When coughing, mix the product with radish juice and consume two teaspoons every half hour.

Honey is effective in treating diseases of the cardiovascular system. Mixed with rosehip juice, Nardek increases hemoglobin and enhances immunity. The product is useful in the fight against liver cell pathologies, normalizes their condition.

note! Watermelon honey is a versatile product. It is used for culinary purposes as ordinary honey or thick syrup, as a dessert or component for other dishes, in the manufacture of candied fruits, for filling pies or cheesecakes.

Watermelon honey nardek is not recommended for people with diabetes. It is better to abstain from those who are struggling with obesity. There is also an individual intolerance to the components of nardek. Limiting the use of honey is also worth those who have reduced kidney function or with urolithiasis. In old Cossack recipes, it is mentioned that gourmets who, out of habit, have consumed large quantities of honey, have symptoms of acute gastritis.

Health recipes

Nardek can be a part of various cosmetics. Here are some simple recipes:

  • to prepare a tonic mask, mix the nardek with an equal amount of vegetable oil, add a little salt and a glass of semolina cooked in milk. The mask is applied to the face for about 30 minutes.
  • the elasticity of the skin is facilitated by wiping with a tampon on which the drug is applied;
  • lotion of nardek and cucumber juice in a one-to-one ratio will help against burns and redness, and if you add a little rubbing alcohol, you get a remedy for acne.

Rules for storing honey from watermelon

Storage rules

Stored watermelon honey nardek is necessary in the same way as many other homemade preparations. It is necessary to prepare sterilized glass jars, pour the nardek into them, roll up the lid using a seaming machine. Now the product will easily stay until spring in a cool place, protected from direct sunlight. Long-term storage is facilitated by the high sugar content, which in itself has the properties of a preservative.