Extra-Crisp Watermelon Rind Pickles

This and sweet green tomato pickles are the only recipes in this book in which I use pickling lime to keep the pickles crisp. I use it here because to my mind a soft watermelon-rind pickle is an absolute travesty of nature.

Pickling lime, which is food-grade calcium hydroxide, is perfectly safe, and can be found in the canning-supplies section of any grocery store. It’s very important, though, to soak and rinse the rinds several times after treating them with lime: If any lim