What kind of salt to pickle cucumbers for the winter: plain or iodized, product choice

The middle of summer is behind us and it’s time to think about creating the first preparations for the winter. One of the main ingredients in every recipe is salt. In this regard, many summer residents ask a reasonable question: what salt is best to use?

Salt for pickling and pickling

Read on dacha6.ru:

Why are cucumbers not crispy?

Tables for preparing marinades for various vegetables

What influences the choice of salt for preservation?

When purchasing, choose between iodized, stone and sea. The choice of the right option for pickling cucumbers depends not only on the quality of the resulting product, but also on the composition.

It is a common belief that, although iodized salt is good for health, it is nevertheless not suitable for pickling vegetables.

Seafood and regular table salt are often used to make pickles, but the former contains a much more useful composition.

Sea salt for pickling mushrooms

Lamellar mushrooms - milk mushrooms, honey mushrooms, russula, tremulous mushrooms and others - have their stems cut off before salting.

Boletus, boletus, boletus, oak, and champignons can be salted immediately after cleaning, but milk mushrooms and valui must be soaked in cold salted water, changing it several times.

Cold pickling of mushrooms. With this method of preparing mushrooms, there is no need to boil them first. Suitable for cold salting are saffron milk mushrooms, milk mushrooms, volushki, russula, nigella, and valui.

Mushrooms are cleaned, trimmed, washed. New enamel dishes are suitable for pickling. Leaves of black currant, cherry, oak, and horseradish will give mushrooms good taste and strength. Bay leaves, allspice and garlic will be useful.

sea salt (Salute di Mare) to mushrooms , you can be sure of the quality of the product.

Sea salt is produced in the Black Sea basin. Purified seawater from salt lakes is evaporated, leaving a precipitate of pure snow-white salt.

Thanks to the preliminary purification of water, sea salt does not contain impurities of chalk, sand, gypsum, and does not require additional purification. This is what allows you to preserve all the beneficial natural substances, and these are almost 40 micro- and macroelements necessary for the body.

Place clean gauze on top and cover with a lid on which a weight is placed. Different varieties of mushrooms “ripen” after different times - from a week to 1.5 months of pickling.

Product Options

Salt is divided according to the method of extraction and processing:

They can be mined underground using machines or by washing with a special solution.
Deposits of this product lie at the bottom of reservoirs.
It is quite acceptable to extract salt from sea water.

After receiving, it is purified and enriched with useful substances.

Another important feature is the size of the grains, which characterizes salt as:

crushed;
large;
fine-crystalline;
powdery.

Stone

If you use rock salt when pickling, the taste of cooked cucumbers will be classic tart. The price of this variety is lower than in other cases.

With this pickling, the cucumbers will remain firm and crunchy. In this case, explosions of cans during storage are excluded.

Table salt is made from rock salt. The latter is mined underground using special machines.

Self-settling is found in the form of sediment at the bottom of reservoirs, gray in color and characterized by a large number of impurities.

Iodized

This type is gaining more and more popularity. It is known that a person needs to constantly consume a certain amount of iodine in food. On the other hand, in some areas residents suffer from iodine deficiency. Sometimes they consume no more than 20% of the required amount. As a result, brain function deteriorates and the thyroid gland suffers. Therefore, using this variety has health benefits.

However, an experienced housewife knows that this salt cannot be used for pickling. This affects the quality and shelf life of the pickling. This salt changes the taste of the product. It contains a characteristic taste of iodine and its inherent slight bitterness. Gradually the fruits soften.

There is a type of iodized salt on sale, which, according to manufacturers, is free from these disadvantages and has been processed with sodium iodate. It is believed that sodium iodanate does not decompose during heat treatment, as well as for a long time during storage.

Marine

Sea salt can be used for pickling and salting. However, it is usually more expensive compared to stone or iodized. Its use prevents the formation of edema in those who have eaten a lot of pickles. Sea salt contains dozens of beneficial substances included in its composition. It is believed that the use of coarse grinding is more suitable for pickling cucumbers.

Types of salt

Salt, depending on the type, can have a variety of sizes and colors, composition and degree of salinity. All these indicators will ultimately affect the taste of the finished dish, so when preparing marinades and brines you should pay attention to the following types of product:

Cooked, or food. The most affordable option, it is obtained in two ways: rock salt is purified or the brine is recrystallized multiple times. After all the manipulations, a product appears that is devoid of foreign impurities and consists of almost 100% sodium chloride. This salt is ideal for pickling and salting, but when purchasing, you need to carefully study its composition. To prevent caking, manufacturers sometimes add E536 to salt. This is potassium ferrocyanide, its use is prohibited in many countries, and this salt cannot be used to prepare canned vegetables.
Marine. It comes in both coarse and fine grinding. It is obtained by evaporating sea water. This product is not recommended for canning, as it contains a large amount of trace elements and foreign impurities, such as algae. All this affects the salinity, so there will be problems with calculating the right amount of salt. In addition, the complex composition can negatively affect not only the safety, but also the taste of canned food.
Iodized. This is classic table salt, which has been enriched with iodate. This component does not in any way affect the safety or taste of canned food, so the product can be used for preparing brines and marinades.
Stone. This variety includes many types of salt, ranging from regular coarse table salt to pink Himalayan or black. Coarse white salt can be used to make brine, but colored salt cannot. Due to the high content of foreign impurities, no one can guarantee that canned food will be tasty and will not explode a week after capping.

If you really want to use an exotic product for marinade or brine, then it is better to roll up 1 or 2 small jars and see how long the canned food will be stored and what taste the vegetables will acquire.

What salt should I use for canning cucumbers?

Each type has its own characteristics. In order to figure out the problem yourself, you should make several jars of pickles, where different pickling options were used.

Then you will need to compare the results and choose the one that is most suitable.

Myths and reality

Iodized salt is not a new product. In most European countries, it has long been widely used in food production, and in some countries this practice is even enshrined in law. But people are wary of using this product in everyday life. There are many myths associated with its use. Let's try to debunk them.

Myth No. 1. The consumption of iodized salt must be controlled to avoid an overdose of iodine.

The concentration of iodine is such that to exceed your daily requirement you would have to eat 50 g of salt. This is unrealistic. Myth No. 2. When heated, iodine completely evaporates, so this seasoning is not suitable for hot dishes.

If so, then opponents of iodine have nothing to fear. With strong heating, only 10% of this trace element is lost. Therefore, the use of the product is still justified. Myth No. 3. When using iodized salt, canned vegetables darken and acquire an unpleasant odor.

Previously, potassium iodide was used as an additive, which supposedly could affect the taste and color of vegetables. But that was in the last century.

Is it possible to cover cucumbers with fine extra salt?

If you roll cucumbers, it is better to use a coarse-grained product. If it is too fine, then dissolution will occur quickly and the fermentation time will be reduced. When using large crystals, dissolution will be slower and during this time the bacteria will cope with the pickling process and the housewife will receive tasty and crispy cucumbers.

Grinding salt for different products

Despite the variety of product grinds, it is recommended to use coarse white table salt for most preparations and pickles:

Tomatoes and cucumbers. These vegetables contain a lot of moisture, so the salting process should be slow. Coarse salt is best suited for this, as it dissolves slowly and gradually salts the vegetables, preventing them from fermenting and the appearance of sourness.
Cabbage. Thanks to large salt crystals, the salting process occurs slowly, fermentation does not occur, and the product turns out crispy, with a piquant flavor and is stored for a long time.
Greenery. Salt acts as a preservative, thanks to which the mixture of dill, parsley, basil and cilantro will remain fresh for a long time. You need to put all the herbs in glass containers and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Mushrooms. Despite its density and meaty structure, this product is very capricious. For pickling, you do not need to use salt with various additives, as the mushrooms can turn out bitter, ferment or become soggy.
Fish. To prevent the development of botulism, only coarse salt is used when salting carcasses. It gradually salts the meat and prevents pathogenic microorganisms from multiplying. In addition, it is impossible to overdo it with such salt - the fish will take exactly as much product as it needs.

It is important to remember that all recipes for brines and marinades are developed taking into account the use of coarse white salt. If you use another product, it will be difficult to calculate the required amount and there is a high risk of spoiling the workpiece.

Let's sum it up...

So, so that the wrong choice of salt does not ruin your entire season, remember these rules.

An ideal and time-tested option for preserving herbs, vegetables, mushrooms (as well as meat and fish) is coarse or medium-sized table salt.
“Extra” salt (finely ground) is suitable for marinades. However, it is better to limit its use solely to improving the taste of everyday dishes. It is absolutely not suitable for fermentation. And when preparing the marinade, there is a risk of oversalting.
Special salt for canning (medium grind) - ideal for those who are just mastering the art of homemade preparations.
Any impurities and mineral additives in salt can cause changes in the taste, consistency and color of products. Therefore, it is better to carefully check the composition of the salt and opt for pure sodium chloride.

Salt is one of the main reasons why trouble can happen to products. However, do not forget that there are also varieties of vegetables that are unsuitable for preservation. In addition, the quality of seams depends on the water. It is recommended to use spring, well or filtered tap water.

Harvesting season is just around the corner. Now you know the reason why, using the same proven recipe, you often get unpredictable results. This means it’s up to you to decide whether to buy coarse or medium-ground table salt, traditional for pickles, or continue experimenting.

Place with us, place like us...

Iodized salt is a safe and healthy product. There are no known cases of illness associated with its use.

In the pasteurization or canning process, where sterility considerations come to the fore, the presence of potassium iodate is more than appropriate. The substance does not affect the smell, taste, or color of your products, facilitating their long-term storage.

To avoid iodine loss, salt the dish at the very end of cooking or immediately before rolling up the vegetables.

When salting and fermenting, the slight antiseptic property of potassium iodate can only slow down the fermentation processes.

Iodized salt does not adversely affect the taste of marinades, sauces or seasonings, as well as the properties of the products for which they are prepared.

Adding an article to a new collection

The only thing better than fresh cucumber, tomato or pepper from the garden is pickled vegetables from a jar! And if you are planning to do some preparation, it doesn’t hurt to know which salt is best suited for this.

The pickled cucumbers have become soft. Sauerkraut is not crunchy. Banks explode. Salted mushrooms are bitter... The reason for this nightmare for an exemplary housewife may lie in the wrong choice of salt. And so that there are fewer unpleasant surprises in your canning and salting practice, let's figure out what types of salt there are and which one is better to choose for homemade preparations.

Popular ways to pickle cabbage

The simplest and most famous is cabbage with carrots . A 5-liter jar usually contains about 4 kg of cabbage.

To prepare you will need:

cabbage;
carrots (10 part of the weight of cabbage);
salt (2-2.5% by weight of cabbage);
a little sugar (if desired).

Recipe:

Chop the cabbage not very finely, not very coarsely. Grate the carrots. Stir with cabbage and place in a container, adding salt and squeezing firmly to squeeze out the juice.
You can put cabbage leaves at the bottom of the container
Currant leaves, bay leaves, garlic, cranberries, dill - all this is added if desired.

Lay very tightly, compact, sparing no effort . But remember that later, for successful fermentation, you will need to remove gas from the pickle, and therefore, pierce this entire mass to the very bottom.

Cabbage is fermented for 3-5 days at a temperature slightly cooler than room temperature (or even at room temperature). Ideally – about +16. +18°C, but provided that you pierce it regularly. If it suddenly happens that the cabbage does not produce enough juice (although this is difficult to imagine), add a two percent salt solution.

Cabbage with cranberries , cabbage with chokeberries , with lingonberries and plums - everything is about the same. It is better to remove the pits from plums first.

You will determine the proportions yourself, but additives should not exceed 10% . You should be especially careful with sweet additives. The problem is not that you end up with dessert (why not?), but that instead of brine you risk getting mash!

German-style sauerkraut can be prepared by chopping it very finely – into thin strips – and adding caraway seeds. A tablespoon of this spice is pre-heated in a frying pan until a thick, pleasant smell appears, and is gradually added to the cabbage along with salt and a small amount of sugar.

Salt the cabbage

Useful tips for pickling

I don’t know how, but I always remove foam if it appears, this is important. When there is no more foam, it means the cabbage has fermented.

If the cabbage is dry, did not give juice when you rubbed it with your hands, and does not ferment, it’s okay. For Russian varieties, sometimes it is enough to increase the oppression.

Russians also love Dutch hybrids, but they are a bit dry and often only require adding a little brine. This is how he prepares. For 1 liter of boiled water 1 tbsp. l. with a heap of salt, pour cold.

Why is cabbage too sour? Perhaps the fermentation temperature was too high and the fermentation process did not go as expected.

Bitter cabbage means it was fermented in a cool place, not for three days, but for a whole week. Soft - may be an unsuitable variety, or the temperature during fermentation is too high, or the air was not released.

Slimy cabbage (what an unpleasant word) - yes, it happens. According to the scientific explanation - there is too much air, in everyday terms - cabbage should always be covered with brine, otherwise putrefactive bacteria will develop. It is possible that the container was poorly prepared.

The cabbage is darkening. It happens, but rarely. It is clear that you cannot ferment cabbage in a metal container, only in glass, wood or enamel. There should be no chips or damage at the bottom of the enamel container.

The cabbage has turned red - most likely this is due to excess salt or carrots.

Happy pickling everyone!

The time has come to salt cabbage for the winter. Pickling cabbage is a very important moment for any housewife, because it may not work out, even according to grandma’s proven recipe. Why is this happening?

A little about the benefits of cabbage

Fresh cabbage, of course, is good for the body, but sauerkraut must be on the table throughout our long winter. It increases resistance to stress and has a positive effect on metabolism.

Contains a lot of vitamins, helps rejuvenate tissues and cells, protects against heart disease, intestinal cancer, and is good for weight loss. It even contains probiotics, which are now fashionable, which grandmothers had never heard of.

Folk signs and superstitions

Well, where would we be without them? If you want good cabbage, you’ll believe in everything.

Firstly, pickled cabbage must freeze and thaw more than once in the garden, and now there is a scientific explanation for this: the sugar content increases. I completely agree. Until the head of cabbage freezes, it’s tasteless.

Secondly, in warm autumn cabbage is fermented later, this is also understandable. It is supposed to count 10 days after the daytime temperature reaches sub-zero temperatures. Signs say it's the best time.

It is recommended to ferment the heads of cabbage immediately after harvesting. If they sit, the cabbage will be less tasty. But hardly anyone still has cabbages in their garden beds, and the autumn turned out to be warm.

Well, about superstitions. A man should chop vegetables. I like it. The workpiece will be well stored and crunchy if it is made on days of the week that contain the letter “r”. On “critical days” it is better not to eat cabbage.

Even the Moon is believed to influence the taste of cabbage. There are different opinions, but among them there is a common one - do not be salty on the waning moon. Well, if you managed to take into account all these rules, then it’s time to start pickling.

Where to begin?

From the choice of cabbage. Varieties and hybrids of cabbage are added every year, and it is difficult to understand them. There are many of them, but no one has yet come up with anything better than our old Russian varieties for fermentation.

These are Slava, Gift, Nadezhda, Belorusskaya, Moscow late, others. These varieties do not have thick, coarse fibrous veins and smell sweet. When you chop them, the cabbage already gives juice, and this is the guarantee that it will be tasty.

In a good pickled ripe head of cabbage, the upper leaves turn slightly yellow or red, become thin and even dry out. At this time, the greatest amount of sugar accumulates in it.

Which salt to choose?

Experienced housewives buy only coarse, “rock” salt for sauerkraut and other preparations. It seemed to me that this does not affect the pickling of cucumbers and other things, as long as it is not iodized.

But for sauerkraut, you must use only coarse salt. And there is a scientific explanation for this. Fine salt immediately goes into brine, and this inhibits lactic acid fermentation. The large one dissolves gradually, and the fermentation process proceeds as it should.

What to add to cabbage?

Here, of course, it is a matter of taste. But I highly recommend adding carrots even to jars of cucumbers. It makes cucumbers and cabbage crispy, gives color and flavor.

Then there is room for imagination. You can add cumin, dill seeds, cloves, hot and ground peppers, beets, apples, cranberries, and lingonberries.

But in any case, you must put whole cabbage leaves on the bottom of the fermentation container and on top, under pressure, it will turn out tastier.

Various tricks

If you grate the carrots, the cabbage will take on a pinkish color. If you are not lazy and cut the carrots thinly, the cabbage will remain snow-white.

Lactic acid fermentation is a difficult process, it does not like foreign microbes or bacteria, and the containers must be scalded; few people do this.

Grandmother scalded a barrel of juniper, specially brought from the forest, and then smeared the walls with honey. It was believed that honey and juniper would ensure proper fermentation.

Cabbage has never spoiled, neither cucumbers nor tomatoes in barrels, this is a fact. There were no refrigerators, but there was a glacier; in February they put ice in the cellar, and the ice did not melt until almost the next winter. Cucumbers and cabbage were stored, I believe, at a stable temperature of 0 degrees.

To make the cabbage crispy, it is useful to add horseradish roots. And if you cover any pickles, be it mushrooms or cabbage, with horseradish leaves on top, they will never become moldy.

By the way, very often mold appears on top of jars with salted mushrooms, and there is nowhere to get horseradish leaves. A few years ago they suggested a brilliantly simple method. Place cabbage leaves on top of the mushrooms; they can be easily replaced with fresh ones all winter long, and there will be no mold.

When the cabbage begins to ferment, it must be pierced to release gases 2-3 times a day. Otherwise, it will acquire a rotten taste and may become soft. A little cucumber pickle will add flavor to the cabbage and make it crunchy.

Where should city residents store sauerkraut?

Immediately after fermentation, the cabbage is placed in a cold place.

The optimal temperature is from 0 to -2 degrees, but in practice you have to store it in the refrigerator, where the temperature is several degrees higher. Fermentation processes at this time, although slowly, continue, and as a rule, the taste deteriorates.

Sauerkraut does not like temperature changes, and refrigerators have to be opened often, this also affects shelf life. In this case, you will have to freeze it over time.

Many housewives immediately put the cabbage in bags and freeze it on the open balcony. Or, as an option, you can ferment or pickle it several times in the winter in small batches.