Pickled cucumbers differ from pickled cucumbers in their organoleptic qualities and for many dishes, for example, for pickle, they are needed. The technology for pickling cucumbers is more complicated than the process of pickling them, but many housewives are not lazy and prepare vegetables this way. Brine for cucumbers, even if they are made for the winter, does not contain vinegar or other acids. This is how it differs from marinade. However, various seasonings can be added to it, so it does not come out bland, and pickles acquire a unique taste and aroma. Due to the fact that there are many spices and herbs suitable for pickling the above-mentioned vegetables, brine recipes are also varied. Thanks to this, it is possible to choose an option for almost every taste.
Pickled cucumbers for the winter in liter jars
A common problem when pickling cucumbers is that they are soft and lack a crunch. But the cucumbers from the proposed recipe, fermented by natural fermentation without vinegar, will definitely turn out crispy. For this salting, you need to use small cucumbers, since they will need to be placed in liter jars.
Cooking time: 24 hours. Number of servings: 4.
Ingredients:
- About half a kilogram of cucumbers or 10-12 pieces.
- One or two dill umbrellas.
- A third of a fresh horseradish leaf and a small piece of horseradish root no larger than a centimeter in size.
- 1 clove of garlic.
- 2 fresh cherry leaves.
- 30 grams of salt (salt without additives is usually used for pickling).
- 300 milliliters of hot water (the volume of water may be more, depending on how tightly the cucumbers are packed in the jar).
Preparation:
1. Spices are placed at the bottom of cleanly washed jars.
2. Next, clean cucumbers that have been pre-soaked for 3-4 hours in cold or even ice water are placed, salt is added and hot water is poured in.
3. Next, the jars need to be tightly covered with gauze and the cucumbers should be left to ferment at a temperature of 20-25 degrees for two days.
4. After two days, the brine is poured into a saucepan and boiled; during boiling, the foam is removed. If necessary, add water and salt in the same proportions. The brine is poured into jars, which are sealed with metal lids.
5. After cooling completely, the jars should be moved to a cool place for storage.
Cucumbers fermented in this way come out as if they came from a barrel, although they were prepared in a jar.
Distinctive features of pickled cucumber
Pickling cucumbers have a rich green color. They have a dense skin with tubercles and pimples, at the top of which there are thorns.
You can determine whether cucumbers are suitable for pickling using the following criteria:
- On the package of seeds there is an inscription “for pickling, preservation” or “universal”.
- The skin is dense with black spines and large tubercles. The color of a cucumber depends on the variety and age of the fruit. For canning, it is recommended to choose dark green fruits. Overripe and yellow vegetables are not used for these purposes, as they have hard seeds and skin. Salting properties largely depend on the presence of thorns. If the thorns are black, it means the fruit has already given up excess moisture and the flesh has become dense and elastic. It can be used for pickling.
Advice! If the cucumbers have brown spines, it is better to wait 12-24 hours for them to release excess moisture.
- The fruits should be 6-10 cm in length. They are easy to roll and look beautiful in jars.
- The skin is not thin, without bitterness. The pulp is dense and elastic. These varieties also include small hybrids - gherkins and pickles.
Fruits with thin skin will not crunch. It should be tight. Cucumbers that taste bitter are also not suitable. There should be no voids inside. There should be few seeds inside.
Important! An elastic tail indicates that the fruits are fresh and can be used for canning.
Universal varieties have excellent taste fresh and salted. Therefore, they are also suitable for pickling. These fruits have medium-density skin and pulp. However, they will be less crispy.
Before collecting cucumbers for preservation, they are watered with warm water in the evening, and they are collected early in the morning.
Cucumbers for the winter without seaming
We offer a very easy and quick way to prepare classic pickles that do not require a large number of ingredients or time. Although, if desired, the list of ingredients can be varied, for example, adding horseradish root, parsley and bell pepper.
Cooking time: about 30 minutes plus 2 days for fermentation. Number of servings: 4.
Ingredients:
- Cucumbers 600-650 grams.
- Garlic 1 clove.
- A bunch of dill.
- Salt 1.5 tablespoons.
Preparation:
1. Prepare cucumbers and seasonings.
2. The cucumbers need to be washed, soaked in cold water for 1 hour, and the jars should be rinsed well.
3. Place garlic and half the dill in a jar, followed by cucumbers.
4. Place the remaining dill and salt on top.
5. Pour in warm water, cover with a plastic lid, shake and leave for two days, and then place in a cool place.
As in the previous recipe, cucumbers are naturally fermented without the use of vinegar essence, so they can be eaten by those who should avoid pickles for health reasons.
The best recipes describing marinade for 1 liter of water
The composition of the marinade for preserving cucumbers mainly includes a standard set of ingredients: water, vinegar, salt and sugar. Sometimes citric acid or even aspirin is used instead of vinegar essence. 3 main options for preparing the marinade deserve attention. Information on how the amount of salt included in the brine for pickling cucumbers is also useful.
Marinade with citric acid
Some housewives believe that using vinegar essence to prepare preparations does more harm than good. This recipe can be called absolutely harmless, because the marinade contains citric acid instead of vinegar. In addition, this ingredient gives cucumbers an unusual flavor.
Ingredients (for 2 liter jars):
Brine for 1 liter of water for cucumbers:
Attention! Cucumbers according to this recipe are crispy with a pleasant sweet and sour taste. Despite the lack of vinegar, they keep well all winter.
Marinade with vinegar essence
This recipe uses vinegar essence, not 9% vinegar. Thanks to the original set of spices and the unusual composition of the marinade, the cucumbers are aromatic and slightly piquant in taste. You definitely need to make them and try them.
Ingredients (for 2 liter jars):
Attention! Pickled cucumbers with vinegar essence are firm, elastic and crispy. Coriander and mustard give them a spicy note, and the specified amount of sugar gives them a pleasant sweetish taste.
Universal marinade
This is one of the recipes that is familiar to many housewives. It has a harmonious taste and these cucumbers will appeal to every homemade lover.
For 1 liter of marinade:
You can choose your own spices and herbs based on your taste preferences. Dill, black peppercorns and garlic are required.
Attention! Salt and sugar are added to cold water, and vinegar is poured after boiling.
This recipe allows for many variations. Spicy lovers can add hot pepper, and those who like a spicy taste can use mustard seeds, cloves or coriander.
Bomb cucumbers with grated garlic
A wonderful and easy-to-prepare snack that can be consumed immediately, or can be stored for the winter by first sterilizing the filled jars for 9 minutes. For sealing, you can use both liter and half-liter jars, reducing the dosage by half.
Preparation time: half an hour. Calculation for 4 servings.
Ingredients:
- About 700 grams of small cucumbers.
- 1 clove of garlic.
- Half a tbsp. l. salt and sugar.
- A quarter teaspoon of black pepper.
- 50 milliliters of vegetable oil.
- 50 milliliters of table vinegar (9%).
Preparation:
1. After soaking for an hour in cold water, the cucumbers are cut into 4 parts.
2. Garlic is squeezed onto the cut slices.
3. A mixture of salt, sugar, pepper, oil and vinegar is prepared in a bowl, which is poured over the prepared pieces of the future snack. Everything is thoroughly mixed.
4. Next, the slices need to be placed in a jar and left for 6-8 hours. After this you can serve it to the table.
5. If desired, the workpiece can be rolled up for the winter. Then, before seaming, you need to place the filled jars in a pan on a cloth and sterilize for 9 minutes.
When you have such a “bomb” snack in the refrigerator, the unexpected arrival of guests is not scary: you can quickly set the table by laying out ready-made and chopped hearty vegetables.
Cold pickling of cucumbers in mustard brine
Pickled cucumbers are a snack with a simple composition; “lyrical digressions” like sugar and vinegar are inappropriate here. Well, maybe just add some mustard - it will fit perfectly into the laconic pickling concept and add flavor variety.
- The preparation of the components is standard: you need to rinse everything, including the greens and leaves.
- Place horseradish leaves, black currants, cherries, dill, several rings of hot pepper, and 6 garlic cloves into a clean 3-liter jar Next - washed cucumbers (larger specimens at first, vertically). The vegetable “floors” are layered with spicy herbs, and the top of the jar is sealed with it.
- Prepare the filling : for a 3-liter container - 2 tbsp. mustard powder and 3 tbsp. salt (with a minimum amount of salt). Dry ingredients are poured with cold water (preferably filtered, if you have a well - ideal). Stir and pour into a jar. Add water until the container is filled to the neck.
- Cover with a nylon lid and place in a cool place.
Cold pickling of cucumbers under a nylon lid involves storage in a cold place .
of a cellar can afford to prepare this snack in “industrial” quantities . However, it’s worth preparing a jar or two for variety – there’s always room in the refrigerator for such a luxurious treat.
Cucumbers - delicious for the winter
These cucumbers can be called pickled, since vinegar is used for pickling. The jars are rolled up for the winter with metal lids using a machine. You can take traditional three-liter jars, or you can use any. It is most convenient to roll in 1 liter jars. In addition, such a volume is eaten by the family at a time and there is no need to store an open container.
All preparation time: 30 minutes. Calculation for 4 servings.
Ingredients:
- 650 grams of cucumbers.
- A bunch of dill.
- 2 cloves of garlic.
- 400 milliliters of water.
- 2 tablespoons of nine percent vinegar.
- half a teaspoon of salt and half a tablespoon of sugar.
Preparation:
1. At the first stage, cucumbers are prepared. They need to be soaked in water for about an hour. The jars need to be washed well.
2. First, dill and garlic are laid out.
3. Then the cucumbers are laid out.
4. A marinade is prepared from water, sugar, salt and vinegar. Vinegar is poured last into the boiling solution.
5. The finished boiling marinade is poured into filled jars. They need to be sterilized before seaming.
Cucumbers according to this simplest recipe turn out tasty and crispy. If desired, the list of ingredients can be expanded: add currant and cherry leaves, peppercorns, several cloves, bay leaves.
Features of cucumbers and their cultivation in a greenhouse
Cucumbers are divided into 3 groups according to the method of using greens:
- universal;
- salad;
- pickling
Attention! Among the variety of cucumbers, large-tubercular ones are the crispiest; the preservation of this property even after pickling is facilitated by the presence of transverse vascular bundles in the cucumber pulp.
The latter are characterized by compact size, thin tuberous skin with black spines, and elastic, dense flesh. For canning, universal varieties can also be used, the greens of which have reached a size of 6-12 cm. Salad varieties are good for fresh consumption and the preparation of lightly salted cucumbers for quick consumption.
Regardless of the purpose of greens, cucumbers selected for canning must meet the following parameters:
- caliber – 6-10 cm;
- cylindrical shape;
- thin peel and dense core;
- not bitter.
Mid- and late-ripening cucumbers are best suited for pickling.
The quality of pickled cucumbers is affected by the ripening period of the greens. Early and ultra-early ripening varieties are considered less suitable for preservation than mid- and late-ripening varieties. In addition, experienced housewives have noted that pickled cucumbers at the end of summer or autumn turn out to be more tasty than those collected at the beginning of summer.
Recently, the greenhouse method of growing cucumbers has become particularly widespread. Its main advantages are:
- the possibility of obtaining ultra-early and very late harvests;
- independence from weather and climatic conditions;
- creating optimal conditions for the development of cucumber vines, and, accordingly, obtaining higher yields.
The only drawback of cucumbers grown in a greenhouse is that the taste of cucumbers grown in open beds is always brighter and richer.
Attention! Self-pollinating and parthenocarpic varieties and hybrid forms are best suited for cultivation in greenhouses of any type. When selecting varieties to grow pickling cucumbers in a greenhouse, you should pay attention to its size, peel thickness, and pulp density.
Among the parthenocarpic varieties, the best are those that are able to form many ovaries in one bunch. Bunch greens are small-fruited, elastic, and have a good taste.
Cucumbers "Alekseich"
Cucumbers preserved with citric acid
Citric acid is a preservative, so it can be used for pickling instead of acetic acid. Cucumbers pickled with lemon are no different from those for which vinegar was used in the marinade. They turn out just as tasty, crispy and dense.
Cooking time: 1.5 hours. Number of servings: 8
Ingredients:
- Cucumbers 1.2 kilograms.
- One third of a teaspoon of citric acid.
- Water 600 milliliters.
- Bay leaf and garlic cloves 3 pieces each.
- 15 black peppercorns.
- Salt 1.5, and sugar 1 teaspoon.
Preparation:
1. The cucumbers need to be washed, the ends trimmed, and the jars washed.
2. Place bay leaf, garlic and pepper into jars.
3. Place cucumbers there too. Pour boiling water over, leave for 15 minutes, repeat. Pour the brine into a saucepan, add sugar, salt, and boil.
4. Meanwhile, pour a large pinch of citric acid into each jar, pour in the brine and roll up.
5. Cool upside down and send to the cellar.
For pickling, you can take containers of different sizes. It is convenient to pickle cucumbers in half-liter and liter jars.
Brine for cucumbers with vodka added
Compound:
- water – 1 l;
- vodka – 50 ml (and another 20 ml for a 1-liter jar, 50-60 ml for a three-liter jar);
- salt – 60 g;
- seasonings - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Mix cold boiled water with salt and vodka (50 ml per 1 l).
- Place the cucumbers in jars, sprinkle with spices, and fill with cold brine.
- Leave the cucumbers to ferment at room temperature for 4-5 days.
- Pour the brine into a saucepan. Rinse the cucumbers by running cold water over them, then draining them into the sink.
- Add seasonings to the brine based on your taste. Boil it for 5 minutes.
- Pour vodka into the jars, then brine.
- Roll up containers with cucumbers and cool in a steam bath.
Korean cucumbers for the winter
Spicy and hearty snacks in Korean are made from various products: carrots, cabbage, potatoes and others. In a similar way, you can prepare cucumbers for the winter. The recipe is notable for the fact that its preparation requires small pieces of cucumbers, which could be left over from preparing other dishes or preparations.
Cooking time: 5 hours. Calculation for 4 servings.
Ingredients:
- 600 grams of cucumbers.
- 1 carrot, 2 cloves of garlic.
- 20 grams of sugar, 10 - salt.
- 20 milliliters of table vinegar.
- A glass of vegetable oil and a teaspoon of red pepper.
Preparation:
1. All ingredients are prepared.
2. The cucumbers are cut into small pieces, the carrots are grated using a Korean carrot grater or a coarse grater.
3. The vegetables are mixed, sugar and salt are added, the garlic is squeezed through a press, and red pepper is added.
4. After this, vegetable oil and vinegar are added. Everything is mixed and left for several hours (from 4 to 10).
5. The mixture is transferred to clean jars. Next they are sterilized and rolled up.
The appetizer will perfectly decorate the holiday table. It can be used both as an independent dish and as a side dish.
Selection of products and spices
For canning, only high-quality and fresh products are used. Attention should be paid not only to the choice of vegetables, but also to spices and herbs.
Selection of cucumbers, herbs and spices
For harvesting for the winter, vegetables of medium or full maturity are chosen. Yellow and overgrown cucumbers are not suitable for this purpose. It is preferable to use fruits of medium size and the same length. It is recommended to start making preserves immediately after harvesting.
Important! During long-term storage, cucumbers lose their elasticity and this negatively affects the quality of the finished product.
As a rule, a standard set of spices is used, namely:
Sometimes housewives add cloves, dried lovage or mustard seeds for aroma and spicy taste. All spices for canning must be of high quality. It is best to purchase such products in transparent packaging. This is the only way to ensure the integrity and satisfactory appearance of the dry spices.
You can use various herbs for preparations. Basically, the choice depends on what taste and consistency the canned product should have. Most often, dill umbrellas, parsley, horseradish leaves or roots, currant and cherry leaves are used for pickling or pickling cucumbers.
Attention! To give cucumbers a crunchy consistency, you can include oak leaves in the list of green additives. This ingredient is especially relevant when preparing pickles.
It is advisable to use freshly picked greens. If this is not possible, then until use it is stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Preparing Ingredients
All products for canning should be prepared in advance. This involves several stages:
Proper preparation improves not only the quality of the workpieces, but also their appearance. Fruits of the same size in a jar look much more aesthetically pleasing, and chopped roots, garlic and pepper are more convenient to divide into equal portions.
Cucumbers without a bite for the winter
Another way to preserve cucumbers for the winter without vinegar. Suitable for those who do not eat classic pickled cucumbers. Preservation occurs with lemon and citric acid. If those suggested in the recipe are not enough, then you can add the necessary ones to taste.
Cooking time: hour. Number of servings: 8.
Ingredients:
- 10 cucumbers.
- 2 sweet peppers.
- 5 dill umbrellas.
- 4 leaves each of currant and cherry.
- Horseradish leaf.
- 2 cloves of garlic.
- 1/5 part lemon.
For a liter of marinade you will need:
- 40 grams of salt.
- 100 grams of sugar.
- 1 teaspoon citric acid.
Preparation:
1. Wash the cucumbers, sterilize the lids and jars.
Place garlic, dill, and herbs in jars.
2. Fill the jar with cucumbers with the ends cut off.
3. Place slices of sweet pepper and lemon slices between the cucumbers.
4. Pour boiling water and leave for half an hour. Pour water into a saucepan and prepare a marinade in it, adding salt, sugar, acid in an amount recalculated to the actual volume of water.
5. Fill the jars with marinade and roll up. Cool and store.
This preparation is stored in a dark and cool place.
Secrets and main mistakes of pickling cucumbers. Professional advice and folk tricks
Each housewife has her own recipe and her own tricks for preparing pickled cucumbers for the winter. Evdokia Vasilievna, who lives in Suzdal and has been pickling cucumbers for decades, shared her secrets with us. In one of the main cities of the Golden Ring they really know a lot about cucumbers. They even celebrate Cucumber Day at the end of July every year.
Sweet cucumbers for the winter
There's really nothing special about this recipe. He is like many others. But, thanks to the proportions of salt and sugar and the fact that sweet bell peppers are used in the preparation, the cucumbers turn out tasty and sweet. The quantity of products is calculated for a liter jar.
Cooking time 1 hour. Number of servings: 8.
Ingredients:
For a kilogram of cucumbers you need to take:
- 30 grams of salt, 50 of sugar.
- 5 peas of allspice.
- Liter of water.
- 2 cloves.
- Half a bell pepper.
- 2 tablespoons of 9% vinegar.
- 1 piece each of dill umbrella, garlic clove and cherry leaf.
Preparation:
1. Prepare cucumbers and jar in the usual way. Place spices and bell pepper on the bottom of the jar.
2. Tamp the cucumbers into a jar.
3. Pour boiling water for 15 minutes, then drain the water and add vinegar to the jar.
4. A marinade is prepared from water, salt, sugar, and a couple of cloves.
5. The marinade is poured into a jar, which is sterilized, rolled up and placed in a cool place.
Cucumbers obtained using one of the simple pickling methods can be used as a snack or side dish.
Salted cucumbers
The ancient Romans knew how to prepare pickled cucumbers, but the Russian inquisitive mind went further, and Nizhny Novgorod residents, for example, invented pickling cucumbers in pumpkin. How do you like this option? Pickled cucumbers have long become an original Russian product, in the preparation of which we undoubtedly have no equal, and the brine that accompanies them is also our Russian drink, the surest remedy for a well-known ailment.
To make pickles successful, you need to know a few simple rules:
- You need to choose cucumbers for pickling correctly: they must be small to fit in the jar. The selected cucumbers should not have any voids inside; choose strong, hard fruits with pimply skin. Before the cooking process, be sure to soak the cucumbers in cold water for 2-3 hours, maybe a little more. For better pickling, cut off the tails of the cucumbers and pierce them with a fork;
- The quality of water for pickling cucumbers is also incredibly important. It’s good if you have the opportunity to use clean water from a well, but if not, filter tap water, you can also use purchased bottled water. In any case, the cleaner the water, the better the result.
- The dishes used for pickling cucumbers must be perfectly clean. Wash glass jars thoroughly in soda or soap solution, rinse thoroughly, pour over boiling water and dry. You can also heat the jars, for example, in the oven, at a temperature of 100-110ºС. Be sure to boil metal lids, wipe them dry to remove any scale that has formed, and wash plastic lids thoroughly and pour boiling water over them before closing the jars.
- Pickled cucumbers are called pickled cucumbers because salt plays the most important role in their preparation. In order to prepare pickles for the winter, use regular rock salt; it is ideal for pickling cucumbers. Neither fine nor, God forbid, sea salt is suitable for our purposes - the cucumbers will become soft. The selected recipes will tell you how much salt you need per liter of water to prepare the brine. Typically the amount of salt varies from 40 to 60 grams.
- And finally, about all sorts of herbal seasonings. Some people like black or allspice, others prefer mustard seeds or cloves. The usual classic set of spices looks like this: peppercorns, dill umbrellas, horseradish and currant leaves. But you can go further and add, for example, basil, cumin, horseradish root, garlic, mustard, oak and cherry leaves. Place the spices on the bottom of the jars and between the cucumbers, and cover them with horseradish or currant leaves on top. A piece of oak bark added to all the other spices will make the fruit crispier.
There are two ways to prepare pickles for the winter: cold and hot. The cold salting method is very simple. Place spices and cucumbers in prepared jars. Then stir the required amount of salt in cold water and pour the cucumbers with this brine. Cover the jars with nylon lids heated in hot water. In a month you will receive wonderful pickles, which need to be stored either in the refrigerator or in the cellar. Under no circumstances should you store cucumbers prepared in this way in a warm room; you will spoil the product - the cucumbers may simply explode.
Hot pickled cucumbers are prepared as follows: dissolve salt in boiling water, add dill, horseradish, a couple of currant and cherry leaves, let simmer for a few minutes and pour this brine over the cucumbers. Leave the jars simply covered with gauze for the number of days indicated in the recipe. After this, add brine and seal the jars with lids. By the way, to prevent the jars from exploding, add a few mustard seeds to the brine, and a few thin slices of horseradish placed under the lid will help protect the cucumbers from mold.
Well, that’s basically it. Theory, we know, is a good thing. Let's move on to practice, because for any housewife the ability to pickle cucumbers is an indicator of her culinary skills.
Cold salting method. Recipe No. 1
Ingredients:
cucumbers, currant leaves, cherries and plums, dill umbrellas, garlic cloves, salt (1 heaped tablespoon for each jar), water.
Preparation:
Soak the cucumbers in cold water for 2 hours. Then place 2-3 cloves of garlic, leaves and umbrellas of dill into clean 3 liter jars. Place the cucumbers tightly on top of the spices. Pour 1 tbsp into each jar. salt with topping, fill with cold boiled water and close with tight plastic lids. Turn the jars of cucumbers over several times to disperse the salt and place in a cool place. The brine will be cloudy at first, but then it will begin to lighten. Cucumbers prepared this way will be ready to eat in 2-3 weeks, and they can be stored for almost a year. A little liquid may leak out from under some lid, but you cannot open the jars and add brine. Just eat the cucumbers from this jar first.
Cold salting method. Recipe No. 2
Ingredients:
2 kg of cucumbers, 2 dill umbrellas, 5 black currant leaves, 5 cherry leaves, 1 clove of garlic, 20 g of horseradish root or leaves, 8 black peppercorns, ¼ cup. salt, 2 tbsp. vodka, 1.5 liters of water.
Preparation:
Pour boiling water over the cucumbers and immediately plunge into ice water. Pack tightly into a 3 liter jar, topping with washed leaves, dill, garlic and pepper. Pour the prepared cold saline solution, add vodka and tightly close the jar with a plastic lid. Immediately place the prepared pickles in a cool place. The cucumbers turn out strong and green.
Hot salting method
Ingredients:
cucumbers, salt, sugar, bay leaf, peppercorns, citric acid, water.
Preparation:
Select cucumbers by size, soak in cold water for 2 hours, then place tightly in 3 liter sterilized jars. Boil water, carefully pour it over the cucumbers, cover with lids and leave for 15 minutes. When the time is up, drain the water. Boil another water, pour it over the cucumbers again and leave for the same time. Then pour the water into a saucepan, add sugar and salt at the rate of 2 tbsp. salt and 3-4 tbsp. sugar for 1 jar. Don't let the amount of sugar confuse you; it makes the cucumbers crispy, but it doesn't add any sweetness to the brine. Boil the brine. Pour ½ tsp into each jar. citric acid, pour boiling brine and seal with sterilized metal lids. Next, you can wrap the cucumbers for a day, or you can simply leave them to cool without wrapping, placing them in a dark place.
Pickled cucumbers with oak bark
Ingredients:
cucumbers, currant leaves, black peppercorns, dill, cherry leaves, horseradish leaves and root, garlic, oak bark (sold at the pharmacy), salt.
Preparation:
Place horseradish leaves, peeled and cut into pieces horseradish root, black peppercorns, currant and cherry leaves, dill and cut garlic cloves and 1 tsp each at the bottom of 3-liter jars. oak bark into each jar. Place the cucumbers tightly and place a horseradish leaf on top. To prepare the brine, dissolve salt in boiled cold water at the rate of 1 tbsp. salt with topping to 1 liter of water. Pour cold brine over the cucumbers and cover with plastic lids, dipping them in boiling water for a few minutes before closing. Store cucumbers in a cool place.
Pickled cucumbers “Scented”
Ingredients (for 3 liter jar):
2 kg of cucumbers, 3-4 dill umbrellas, 2-3 bay leaves, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 1 horseradish root, 2 horseradish leaves, 2 cherry leaves, 3 sprigs each of celery, parsley and tarragon, 5 black peppercorns, 1 l water, 80 g salt.
Preparation:
Sort the cucumbers by size, wash and soak in clean cold water for 6-8 hours, then rinse them with clean water. Place spices and cucumbers in layers at the bottom of the jar, place dill on top. Prepare the brine by dissolving the salt in cold water. Fill the cucumbers with brine to the very edge of the jar, cover with gauze and leave at room temperature for 2-3 days. After a white foam appears on the surface, drain the brine, boil well and pour it over the cucumbers again. Immediately cover with the prepared metal lid and roll up. Turn the jar upside down, wrap it carefully and leave until completely cool.
Country pickles
Ingredients:
cucumbers, garlic, horseradish leaf, dill, coarse salt.
Preparation:
Soak the cucumbers for 4-6 hours. Wash the jars well, put horseradish, dill, garlic and cucumbers in them. Fill the jars with cucumbers with filtered water. Place a horseradish leaf on the jars so that it covers the neck of the jar. Place 3 tbsp in gauze. heaped salt and tie a knot. The number of such nodules should match the number of jars of cucumbers. Place the knots on the horseradish leaves. The main thing is to make sure that the water touches the nodules, otherwise the salt will not dissolve. Place the jars on plates, as liquid will leak out during the fermentation process, and leave them like that for 3 days. After three days, remove the nodules, rinse well the dill and horseradish leaves that were on top, drain the brine and boil it, adding water, because some of it has leaked out. Pour the prepared brine over the cucumbers and close with tight nylon lids. Initially, the brine will be cloudy, but don’t worry, after a while it will become transparent, and a sediment will form at the bottom, which shouldn’t bother you either. Store pickles in a cool, dark place.
Pickled cucumbers in Russian
Ingredients:
3 kg cucumbers, 2 tbsp. salt (per 1 liter of water), 5 cloves of garlic (per 1 jar), spices, aromatic leaves - to your taste.
Preparation:
Sort the cucumbers by size, wash them and place them in sterilized jars, layering with garlic, dill, cherry leaves, oak leaves, horseradish, currants, etc. Then pour the cooled brine of salt and water over the cucumbers in the jars. Cover the jars with saucers or plates and leave for 3-4 days. Then drain the brine from the jars. Boil a new brine, also adding 1 liter of water and 2 tbsp. l. salt. Pour boiling brine and immediately seal the jars with sterilized lids. The brine will not be transparent, this is necessary.
Pickled cucumbers with vodka
Ingredients (for a 3L jar):
cucumbers, 1.5 liters of water, 150 ml of vodka, 3 tbsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. salt, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 bay leaves, dill stem, horseradish leaves.
Preparation:
Wash the cucumbers thoroughly and cut off the ends. Place spices and garlic at the bottom of the prepared jars and pack the cucumbers tightly. Dissolve salt and sugar in cold water, pour this solution over the cucumbers, then pour in vodka. Cover the jars with gauze and leave for 3-4 days at room temperature. Do not forget to regularly remove the resulting foam. On the 4th day, drain the brine, boil it for 5 minutes, pour it back into the jars and seal them with sterilized lids.
Pickled cucumbers with mustard
Ingredients:
cucumbers, horseradish leaves, dill umbrellas, cherry leaves, blackcurrant leaves, salt, mustard (powder).
Preparation:
Wash the cucumbers well. Place the prepared greens into the pan, pack the cucumbers tightly and fill everything with brine (2 tablespoons of salt per 1 liter of boiled water). Place a wooden circle or large plate on top of the cucumbers, apply pressure and leave for 3 days. Remember to keep an eye on the cucumbers and skim off any foam. After three days, drain the brine and place the cucumbers and herbs in sterilized jars. Strain the brine, boil it, adding 1 liter of boiling water and 2 tbsp. salt. Fill the jars with brine, wait 10 minutes, drain again, boil, add 1-2 tbsp. dry mustard. Pour brine over the cucumbers for the last time and roll up the lids. Turn over and leave to cool without wrapping.
Pickled cucumbers with hot pepper
Ingredients:
5 kg of cucumbers, 5 dill stalks with umbrellas, 10 cloves of garlic, 8 horseradish leaves, 20 currant leaves, 8 bay leaves, black peppercorns, red hot pepper, salt.
Preparation:
Select cucumbers of the same size for pickling, cut off the ends and place in a saucepan, add dill, garlic, currant leaves and fill with brine prepared at the rate of 2 tbsp. salt per 1 liter of water. Set the oppression and leave the cucumbers for two days. Then remove the spices, strain the brine, rinse the cucumbers and put them in sterilized jars along with fresh spices, adding bay leaves, horseradish leaves and red hot pepper (3-4 rings will be enough for a 1 liter jar). Boil the brine, fill the contents of the jars with boiling brine and seal them with prepared sterilized lids.
Pickled cucumbers in tomato juice
Ingredients (for 3 liter jar):
1.5 kg of cucumbers, 1.5 liters of fresh tomato juice, 3 tbsp. salt, 50 g dill, 10 g tarragon, 6-8 cloves of garlic.
Preparation:
Prepare cucumbers, jars, herbs and garlic. Place peeled and chopped garlic cloves, dill and tarragon on the bottom of the jars. Place the cucumbers vertically on top. Squeeze the juice out of the tomatoes (about 1.5 liters of tomato juice goes into a 3 liter jar). Bring the juice to a boil, dissolve the salt in it and cool. Pour the cooled juice into the jars of cucumbers, cover with plastic lids, after holding them in hot water, and put them in a dark, cool place.
Happy preparations!
Larisa Shuftaykina
“Awesome” cucumbers for the winter
Preparing awesome cucumbers is simple and very similar to preparing sweet and other ones. Unlike other recipes, this one uses onions and a lot of peppercorns. This recipe also contains vinegar. This point must be taken into account when choosing a preparation recipe.
Cooking time 20 minutes. Number of servings: 4.
Ingredients:
- A clove of garlic.
- A bunch of dill.
- Half an onion.
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt.
- 1.5 tablespoons peppercorns.
- 1.5 tablespoons of vinegar at a concentration of 9% and 400 milliliters of water.
Preparation:
1. Jars and cucumbers are prepared as in previous cases. Peppercorns, garlic, onions cut into half rings and dill are laid out at the bottom of the jar.
2. Cucumbers are compacted into the jar.
3. The marinade is being prepared.
4. The jars are sterilized and sealed.
5. After cooling completely, the snack can be stored in a cool place.
When the jars are opened and used for their intended purpose, in addition to using cucumbers, you can also use pickled onions.
Video on how to cold pickle cucumbers in a plastic bottle
This is what people can come up with! An interesting idea is to preserve cucumbers in a plastic bottle! This is, indeed, a method for the lazy: there is no need to sterilize jars, boil lids, or boil brine. It’s simple: I stuffed greens and gherkins into a plastic bottle, filled it with cold salt water, and that’s it!
I liked this method because you can use the last small cucumbers, and if they are not enough, then the remaining volume can be supplemented with tomatoes. If you are interested in this recipe, prepare
- small gherkins,
- horseradish and oak leaves,
- 3-5 cloves of garlic.
The brine is prepared at the rate of 100 g of rock salt per 1 liter of water. How to pickle cucumbers in a plastic bottle is described in detail in this video.
Sterilized crispy cucumbers
The secret of crispy cucumbers most often lies in their proper preparation for pickling. The result may also depend on how accurately all steps and proportions of all components were reproduced. This recipe is similar to the previous ones, but there is no garlic in it, and currant leaves and bay leaves appear, which will add additional piquancy.
Cooking time: 40 minutes. Calculation for 4 servings.
Ingredients:
- About 600 grams of cucumbers (how many will fit in the jar).
- A quarter tablespoon of salt, half a sugar.
- 1.5 liters of water and half a tablespoon of vinegar (9%).
- 6 peas each of black and allspice.
- 3 pieces of bay leaf and cherry and currant leaves to taste.
Preparation:
1. The preparation of all products, cucumbers and jars is identical to the previous recipes. Leaves of laurel, currants, cherries and pepper are placed at the bottom of the prepared jars.
2. Next, cucumbers with the ends cut off are placed in the jar.
3. The marinade is being prepared.
4. The marinade is poured into jars.
5. The jars are sterilized and sealed.
After cooling, the jars are placed in the refrigerator or cellar. Ready cucumbers come out crispy with a pleasant spicy aroma.
How to properly sterilize liter cucumber jars
An important point worth mentioning is the correct sterilization of 1-liter jars for pickling cucumbers.
The fact is that poorly sterilized jars can cause cloudy brine and swollen lids. And this is evidence that the workpiece will have to be thrown away.
Before sterilizing the jar, wash it in clean water. Among cleaning products, preference is given to soda. It is very important to wash the jar thoroughly.
The classic way to sterilize a jar is to use a kettle of boiling water.
The lid is removed, a regular metal sieve, grate or special “collar” is put on the kettle, into which the jar is inserted upside down. The spout is plugged so that the steam does not escape. The kettle is brought to a boil, and the steam sterilizes the jar.
But there are other ways to sterilize jars:
- In the oven. The jars are sterilized in the oven at 150 degrees. For a 1 liter container, a quarter of an hour is enough.
- In the microwave. Pour water into a 1 liter jar. Set the timer for a few minutes. The oven power should be about 700 W.
- In a water bath. Pour water into the pan, place a towel on the bottom and place the jars so that they are completely hidden under water. Boil for 15 minutes.
Crispy cucumbers for the winter
Another recipe for crispy cucumbers, which differs from the previous ones in the presence of horseradish leaf, which can suppress pathogenic microflora, being a natural preservative, and give a unique piquant aroma and taste to pickles. Also, thanks to horseradish, the cucumbers will become crispier, and the brine will not become cloudy.
Cooking time: 1 hour. Calculation for 8 servings.
Ingredients:
- A kilogram of cucumbers.
- Liter of water.
- 2 tablespoons each of salt and sugar.
- Bay leaf and garlic cloves, 2 pieces each.
- 6 black peppercorns.
- Umbrellas of dill and horseradish leaves - to taste.
Preparation:
1. Place spices in sterilized jars.
2. Following the spices, clean cucumbers are placed in jars.
3. Boil the marinade.
4. Pour the marinade into jars with cucumbers.
5. Sterilize the jars, cool and store.
Jars can cool either naturally or under a “fur coat”. If everything is done correctly, the cucumbers will remain crisp until spring, and the brine will not become cloudy.
Preservation storage rules
To ensure that tasty and healthy vegetable preparations do not spoil, they should be stored correctly. One of the reasons for product spoilage is non-compliance with storage standards.
The main condition is to place the workpieces in a suitable room. It should be:
The temperature in such a room should not change sharply. For ventilation and ventilation, it is necessary to make ventilation ducts and windows with thick metal mesh or grilles. Windows and doors must close tightly.
It is most convenient to store canned food and empty containers on shelves. To do this, the room should be equipped with racks made of metal frames and boards.
Attention! The boards must be fresh, processed and thick enough, and the structure must be as stable as possible.
Preservation in glass jars should not be exposed to sunlight. Otherwise, processes may occur inside the containers, which will lead to spoilage of the product and clouding of the brine. If this has already happened, then you should not eat such preparations - this can lead to severe poisoning.
Pickled cucumbers can be stored indoors, but the place to place the jars should be as cool and dark as possible. In addition, not all types of workpieces can be stored in this way. Only canned cucumbers that contain vinegar in the marinade will not spoil.
Pickled cucumbers can be savory, sweet, and at the same time healthy. Much depends on the composition of the marinade used for canning. Both the amount of salt and other components have an effect. Vinegar or vinegar essence can be used as a preservative, and health food lovers can add citric acid as an alternative.
Source
Cucumbers for the winter “Aunt Galya”
The appetizer with an unusual name is notable for the fact that, thanks to the combination of spices and the presence of horseradish root, the cucumbers are truly aromatic and crispy. Horseradish root is a natural preservative even more than its leaves and helps maintain the clarity of the brine until spring.
Cooking time: half an hour. Servings: 8.
Ingredients:
- 1 kilogram of cucumbers.
- 1 liter of water.
- 2 tbsp. l. sugar and one tablespoon of salt.
- A bunch of dill and 10 grams of horseradish root.
Per can:
- 1 clove of garlic.
- 1 bay leaf each.
- 5 peppercorns each.
- 1 tablespoon of 9% vinegar.
Preparation:
1. Place spices in a sterilized jar.
2. Fill the jar to the brim with well-washed and soaked cucumbers.
3. Pour boiling water into the jar, let stand for 15 minutes and drain.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the marinade and pour it over the cucumbers.
5. Sterilize the jars for about 7 minutes, roll them up, cool and take them to a cool place.
Since cucumbers are first poured with boiling water, they do not need to be sterilized. Long sterilization can affect the quality of pickled cucumbers: they may stop crunching.
Rating of the best varieties of cucumbers for pickling
Nomination | place | Variety | rating |
The best varieties of cucumbers for pickling in greenhouse cultivation | 1 | Siberian garland | 5.0 |
2 | Tom Thumb | 4.9 | |
3 | Emelya | 4.8 | |
4 | Lilliputian | 4.7 | |
5 | Courage | 4.6 | |
6 | Alekseich | 4.5 | |
The best varieties of cucumbers for pickling open ground | 1 | Nezhinsky | 5.0 |
2 | Pickling | 4.9 | |
3 | Competitor | 4.8 | |
4 | fontanel | 4.7 | |
5 | Masha | 4.6 | |
6 | Voronezh | 4.5 |
Cucumbers pickled with apple cider vinegar
This recipe is different from the previous ones. Apple cider vinegar is used as a preservative, which is not so often found in recipes. In addition, the list of ingredients includes parsley. Due to the differences in the list of products, cucumbers will definitely differ in taste from others in the proposed selection.
Cooking time: 1.5 hours. Makes 7 servings.
Ingredients:
- 1 kg of cucumbers.
- 2 tablespoons of salt and 3 of sugar.
- 5 cloves of garlic and 5 sprigs of parsley.
- 10 black peppercorns and 3 bay leaves.
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar.
- 1 head of onion.
Preparation:
1. The ingredients are prepared as in previous cases. Cucumbers are trimmed at both ends.
2. First, put onion, garlic, pepper, bay leaf and parsley in a jar.
3. Then the cucumbers are tightly placed in the jar.
4. Pour boiling water into the jars and leave to warm for 15 minutes. Next, the water is poured from the jars into a saucepan, heated to a boil and poured back into the jars.
5. Then pour it back into the saucepan. Add sugar and salt to the brine. And at the last moment add apple cider vinegar. Prepare the marinade. Pour the boiling marinade into jars, seal them and leave to cool. When completely cool, move to a cool place.
At the stage of adding spices and herbs to the jars, you can add other leaves: currants, horseradish and cherries.
Hot pickling of cucumbers with citric acid: recipe for 1 liter of water, for a liter and a three-liter jar
Hot pickling of cucumbers
Although these cucumbers require a lot of attention, their taste is divine. Therefore, do not be afraid to spend your time and please your household with truly healthy pickles.
Recipe for hot pickling cucumbers:
- Carry out all the preparatory work as described in the previous recipe.
- Then prepare a brine from salt and water, cool it to 30 degrees and pour it over the cucumbers
- Cover the jars with lids and leave to salt for a day.
- During this time, an intensive fermentation process will begin and it will be possible to transfer the containers with cucumbers to a cool, dark place
- They must stay here for at least one week.
- When the cucumbers become salty and crispy, drain the brine from them and place them in a clean container with herbs and herbs.
- Add citric acid to the brine, bring it to a boil and pour the resulting liquid into jars of cucumbers
- Cover them with lids, cool them, and return them to the basement or pantry for further storage.
Cucumbers with Krasnodar sauce
The remarkable thing about this method of preservation is that when preparing the marinade, Krasnodar sauce is added, which in turn is made according to the classic recipe from tomato paste and applesauce with spices in the form of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, sugar, salt, allspice and garlic.
The appetizer takes about 1.5 hours to prepare. The quantity of products is designed for 3 servings.
Ingredients:
- 1.5-2 kg of young cucumbers.
- 1.5 liters of water.
- 1 glass of Krasnodar sauce.
- 40 g salt and 250 g sugar.
- 15-20 peppercorns and 3-4 bay leaves.
- 10 milliliters of table vinegar and herbs to taste (dill, horseradish leaf, etc.).
Preparation:
1. The first step is to boil the marinade. It is made from water, salt, sugar, vinegar and Krasnodar sauce. Vinegar should be added to the brine at the moment of boiling.
2. While the brine is boiling, spices are placed in the jars.
3. And the washed cucumbers are laid out.
4. Cucumbers are filled with marinade.
5. The jars need to be sterilized for about ten minutes, rolled up, and left to cool. After this, put it away for storage.
In jars, cucumbers do not look quite familiar: their brine is red, but the taste is excellent, thanks to the special combination of spices and the presence of sauce.
Jars of cucumbers have been opened, what can be done?
Many lovers of homemade preparations, especially young housewives, have such a sad experience. It's a pity for the products and the effort spent. Is there anything you can do if jars of cucumbers explode?
What to do if jars of cucumbers explode? If this happened after just a short time from the moment of rolling the workpieces, then first you need to check the cucumbers for hardness. Soft vegetables, alas, will have to be thrown away, with or without regret. And this must be done decisively.
If the cucumbers remain as strong as before, and, most importantly, little time has passed from preservation to “explosion,” the situation can be saved. And there are two ways to do this.
The first option for resuscitating cucumbers will be more difficult - the jars can be closed again. To do this, the vegetables are taken out, washed thoroughly in a saline solution and doused with boiling water. The container must be sterilized again. All greens such as umbrellas of dill, parsley, currants are mercilessly thrown away, because it is precisely this that could provoke fermentation.
Cucumbers from exploded jars are transferred to clean sterile ones, only bay leaves, allspice or peas are added as seasonings, then everything is filled with brine. To be on the safe side, some housewives add aspirin. True, there are debates on the use of acetylsalicylic acid in preserves on culinary forums: some claim that it is harmful to the liver, while others refer to their ancestors, who “always added aspirin to cucumbers and lived to be 90 years old.”
If jars of cucumbers explode, but there is no desire to repeat the preservation process, there is another way to “save” vegetables, it is simpler. Cucumbers can be cut in any way, using any device - cubes, strips, you can even grate them on a coarse grater.
Chopped vegetables are placed in a pan and sent to the stove. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Place in small sterilized jars and seal. Salt and spices are not added to these cucumbers. You can put cucumbers processed in this way into containers or bags and freeze them. This makes an excellent preparation for the winter for pickle, azu or solyanka.
What to do to prevent jars of cucumbers from exploding? Naturally, there is no definite answer. Some add a few tomatoes to the cucumbers, some add vodka, some add aspirin. The most important thing, of course, is the sterility of all utensils used in the preservation process.
Pickled cucumbers with mustard
Mustard is a natural and safe preservative for health, of course, if you are not allergic to it. Mustard is often used for various marinades. The use of mustard in pickling vegetables makes them denser and crispier and gives them a special taste and aroma that is incomparable to other preparations.
Preparation time: 30 minutes. 4 servings.
Ingredients:
- 800 g cucumbers.
- 750 ml water.
- 30 ml table vinegar and 1 tbsp. l. mustard seeds for preservation.
- 35 grams of salt and 40 of sugar.
- 1 horseradish leaf and 1 mint sprig.
- 3 cherry leaves and the same number of dill umbrellas.
- 2 cloves of garlic, half a bunch of parsley and a third of hot pepper.
Preparation:
1. Wash the cucumbers and soak in water. Rinse the jars, sterilize them, put greens on the bottom: dill, cherries, horseradish. Place the garlic halves next.
2. Next add greens and cucumbers. They need to have their ends trimmed first. At the end add a sprig of mint.
3. Place slices of washed and peeled red pepper on top and add mustard.
4. Pour boiling water into the jar and leave for 20 minutes.
5. Pour the water from the jar into a saucepan and prepare the marinade from the remaining ingredients. After the marinade boils, you need to pour it over the workpiece. Roll up the jar, put it under the “fur coat”, and after cooling, put it in a storage place.
The quantity of the finished product is a one and a half liter jar. If two or three liter jars are used, then you should fill them with boiling water twice. Pickled cucumbers with mustard seeds store well, have excellent taste, and the brine remains clear for a long time.
How to prepare brine for pickled cucumbers
- Water from a spring, well or distilled is ideal for marinade. If you don’t have one, regular filtered tap water will do.
- Iodized or sea salt is not suitable for preservation - it softens the vegetables. Take only table grade, coarsely ground.
- The taste of cucumbers depends very much on the spices. Dill, basil, cherry, horseradish, and currant leaves are added to the marinade for crunch. Cloves, garlic, coriander, nutmeg, chili, and saffron will add a piquant taste.
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What spices and herbs are used for pickling
The amount of spices depends not only on the recipe for pickled cucumbers, but also on taste preferences. Commonly used are black and allspice, horseradish leaves and root, mustard seeds, cloves, dill umbrellas, currant, oak and cherry leaves, garlic, currant berries, celery grains, basil, mint, marjoram and cumin. It is better to chop the herbs immediately before pickling so that they do not wilt, but you need to wash them thoroughly.
Aromatic herbs and spices not only give cucumbers freshness and piquancy, but also make the brine more useful and perform many important functions. Mustard seeds prevent jars from exploding, horseradish root under the lid protects against mold, and oak bark makes cucumbers crispy. Oak and cherry leaves give cucumbers the taste of the wood barrels in which they were once salted. But do not add vinegar during pickling, otherwise you will end up with pickled cucumbers, not pickles. Usually, cucumbers are placed on coarsely chopped leaves, lightly covered with lids, leaving a small hole, and the fruits are allowed to soak in the spicy aroma for 1.5–2 hours. These cucumbers are incredibly tasty!
The art of pickling cucumbers
Aromatic and crispy pickles are used to prepare soups and salads, but they are also tasty as an independent snack. It seems that there is nothing easier than pickling cucumbers, but in fact it is a real art, however, it can be easily learned. The end of summer and autumn is the best time for pickling, all that remains is to choose a recipe for delicious pickled cucumbers and learn some tricks to make the cucumbers beautiful, appetizing and aromatic.
Step-by-step recipe for pickled cucumbers in a bag
It turns out that cucumbers can be dry-pickled in a plastic bag, and they will be ready in a couple of hours. This recipe is for the most impatient!
Wash 1 kg of small cucumbers well, make several deep punctures in the skin with a toothpick and place the cucumbers in a tight bag of cling film. Grind the dill umbrellas in your palms, mash the tarragon, cut several garlic cloves into thin slices. Add seasonings to cucumbers, add 1 tsp. rock salt and 1 tsp. sugar, tie the bag tightly and rub its contents well with your hands - this is how the process of pickling cucumbers occurs. Transfer the bag of cucumbers to another bag and leave for 3 hours, shaking it every 30 minutes, and then place the cucumbers in the refrigerator. After a few more hours, you can taste and enjoy delicious crispy cucumbers.
Many different dishes are prepared from pickled cucumbers. Search the website for recipes with pickled cucumbers, accompanied by photos, and experiment for your health while the cucumber season continues!