How to preserve cucumbers for the winter

How to preserve cucumbers for the winter, knows the vast majority of hostesses. Every family has a recipe from great-grandmother, which is inherited. And each next generation brings something new from itself. But sometimes it happens that the recipe is here, on a piece of paper or in a notebook, but there are no secrets of mastery or step-by-step actions. And great-grandmother too. How to know what to do right? It's simple. It is only necessary to carefully read and follow the recommendations.

What cucumbers can be canned

In the jar, you can cram absolutely any fruit. That's just the result can be disastrous. Sour, smelly cucumbers or plucked lids - this is not what was intended.

Many like Zelentsy with small pimples.They are so neat, fluffy and look beautiful. In winter, open a jar, bite this and ... at least you will make a face. This is a salad variety. Fruits suitable for preservation - krupnupupyprychatye, with black thorns.

Another sign: the presence of a color transition from dark green to white or light green. If the cucumber is completely uniform in color, feel free to burst it fresh or make spinning salads. The exceptions are huge cucumbers, the so-called Chinese, but more on that later.

Naturally, the ripeness of the vegetable is also important. Never preserve overripe cucumbers, yellow or brown in color with hard seeds. They have hard skin and loose flesh. But they are not thrown away. After removing the skin and rubbing on a coarse grater, you can use the resulting mass for the basis of brine. Cucumbers in their own juice are original and fragrant.

Too small fruits are also unsuitable. They have not yet gained juiciness and flavor inherent in this variety. The exceptions are pickles and gherkins. They must be preserved literally microscopic.

The standard size of greengrass is 7-9 cm in length. It is convenient to eat, put in balloons and looks beautiful on the table.

Preliminary preparation

Someone will say - and why prepare them? Lavat and in the bank! No doubt, it can be so. If you are going to cook anyhow, then there is nothing to break your head. And if you can preserve cucumbers for taste and yourself, then kindly work a little bit. Do not worry, seven pots will not come down. It only takes time.

First, gently wash the cucumbers. Brush do not use. A soft cloth or sponge is perfect. Then they are put in a large bowl and poured with cold water. Purchased for 7-8 hours, you can overnight. From your backyard for 2-3 hours. Why do this? Then, so that the green stuff absorbs as much moisture as possible and there are no voids in the pulp during the preservation process. Then they will remain firm and crunchy in the pot for a long time.

Why such a time difference? And when you buy cucumbers, do you know how long they have been ripped off? Not. Or on the site - the bushes are in the water, as in rice paddies? Also no. And the water from them evaporates very quickly. Therefore, we do not spoil the workpiece, soak it.

If the room is very hot, then at least once we change the water to the cold.

CouncilIn the water, which you will pour cucumbers, rub your fingers with a few sprigs of green dill. A lot is not necessary. For 10 liters of liquid enough 5 pieces. Let it soak in a magical scent.

Proper dishes

Traditionally, cucumbers canned in three-liter jars or oak barrels. This was taken by our grandmothers. But then there were many children in families. He took out such a container from the cellar, and at dinner she was all gone. Now there is no need. A family of three will eat such a tub for a long time. And the open and standing jar is far from being.

Capacity of 1 and 1.5 l is the most convenient container. And about the oak barrels ... They are not in the afternoon with fire. Why exactly oak? Wood tannin allows cucumbers to stay crispy for a long time. Well, what prevents to throw a pinch of oak bark in the pickle? Moreover, it is sold in every pharmacy, already crushed.

Council Before laying, pour over the bark with boiling water, just in case.

Sterilization for canned cucumbers

There is no need to sterilize vegetables with pickle. There is no benefit from 2 minutes of boiling, and from 10 minutes green stuff will be boiled.Why the hell are we? It will be enough to process the container itself and the lid. Any usual way will do: oven, microwave, boiling kettle. Do as you are accustomed to or look for information on the network, the benefit is now full of it.

Council If you are sure of the good quality of your water, then stop torturing yourself with homemade clubs with steam and temperature, like in a bath. Hot water and the most ordinary baking soda. Hard jars rubbed the jars thoroughly, rinsed thoroughly and use.

Spice. What are needed?

The classic recipe assumes such a set of necessary spices (based on a 3-liter jar):

• green leaves of black currant, 5 pcs.
• dry umbrellas of dill with seeds, 3 pcs.
• black pepper peas, 5 pcs.
• peppercorns, 4 pcs.
• peeled garlic cloves, 3 pcs.
• rock salt, 2 tbsp. l
• sugar, 3 tbsp. l
• acetic essence of 70%, 1 tbsp. l

This is a standard set, it should be by all means. And then let your fantasy does not know tired and is limited only by personal taste preferences. Roots or burdock of horseradish, cherry and raspberry leaves, basil, tarragon, hot red pepper, mustard seeds, nettle sprigs ... The list of all that add hostess when canning cucumbers, is very long. Try, experiment.Perhaps your personal set of spices will be included in cooking books as a reference!

Council Do not chop the garlic. Its juice makes pouring an unpleasant cloudy look. Put them in a container whole.

Marinade or pickle

How to preserve cucumbers for the winter? Looking for what vegetables are intended for. If you put on the table among the assorted, stuffed pies or add to the salad, then choose the hot pickling. If cucumbers are intended in pickle, solyanka or vinaigrette, then prefer salting with the cold method.

What is the difference between these options? A set of spices is the same, the size of the cans, too. The difference in preservative and harvesting technology.

Pickling
The safety of the fruit is provided with acetic acid and boiling water. The procedure is described below. The calculation is taken on a standard set of spices for a three-liter bottle. With an increase or decrease in volume, we recalculate. The technology is the same for cans of all sizes:

1. Prepare greens, dishes and spices.
2. Seasoning is placed on the bottom of the jar. Salt, vinegar and sugar are not taken yet.
3. Set vegetables strictly tails down. Without fanaticism, do not shove with all the dope!
4. Boil 2 liters of pure water, pour cucumbers in a jar, cover with a lid.
5. Leave on for 35-40 minutes. During this time, the remaining water is added 2 times.
6. The liquid is poured into a saucepan, add the right amount of "white poisons", boil.
7. In the cucumbers splash essence and pour brine.
8. Rolled, turned upside down, left to cool.

After seaming, many hostesses still sterilize containers, then wrap the finished cans with jerseys and blankets. Why such difficulties? Too little work? Then in the winter they wonder why green leaves are shriveled and soft. So they themselves "cooked"!

If something is done incorrectly, then the bank will open in any case, even if you dress her up like a princess, although not. So why these dances?

Council If there are no fennel umbrellas on hand, you can simply put dry seeds in a jar. Taste and aroma will remain on the level.

Pickling
Conservation occurs due to natural fermentation and the presence of lactic acid. The set of spices is identical to the first recipe, except for the essence and sugar. Here they are not needed. Procedure:

1. Cereals and spices are placed in a container.
2. In cold water dissolve the salt in proportion to 1 liter of liquid 3 tbsp. l without slides.
3. Pour the vegetables and close the plastic covers.
4. Leave at room temperature for 3 days.
5. Under the container must substitute a deep pan or bowl. Wandering pickle quite briskly "runs away."
6. After 3 days the brine is added to the top.
7. Then the banks are gently wiped with a dry cloth and removed for storage in the cellar.

Some after fermentation add crushed aspirin tablets to containers. It is not necessary. A sufficient amount of lactic acid was produced in the billet for good preservation.

Council Such cucumbers do not clog tin lids, only kapron. The fermentation process continues for some time, so why do we need a flight of lids and a fountain of brine in the cellar?

Chinese giants

Today, cucumbers with a length of more than 50 cm will not surprise anyone. The so-called Chinese vegetables have already firmly occupied their niche in our private plots. It is considered that they are all of the salad type, and the external signs clearly indicate this.

However, they behave perfectly in the marinade! Of course, cramming them in the jar is problematic, but even if cut into barrels, they are just gorgeous! Marinade is always transparent, the taste can not be distinguished from salted, even if the balloon stood until spring.Hard, crunchy, amazing!

No one knows in what way the breeders have achieved such qualities, but many thanks to them for such a gift. Try to preserve one jar of these giants. There are suspicions that you will be disappointed ... that they made so few pieces.

Delicious canned cucumbers. Subtleties

1. To prevent mold film on the surface of the pouring, it is recommended to pour shavings from horseradish root under the lid. Lesson is very cruel and causing a stream of tears. You can do much easier. Or freeze the roots and then cut, or instead of roots put leaves. Everything is easy and without sobbing.
2. If you got a billet, ate a few cucumbers, and the jar is not over, then spray the brine with a thin layer of mustard powder. The taste will hardly change, but a nasty white film will not appear.
3. Extra grade, sea or iodized salt is not recommended to be used for conservation. Covers will always pluck. Good old cookery - tested by many generations.
4. Bay leaf - a very strong natural antiseptic, and yes even fragrant. Therefore, it is also added to the spices.Only very few, otherwise cucumbers will taste bitter.
5. By the way, there is an erroneous opinion that fruits with a bitter aftertaste are not suitable for blanks. Nonsense! In the process of preservation, all the bitterness disappears and is absolutely not felt in the pulp or brine.
6. No normal recipe will give accurate information about the weight of cucumbers. Always consider the volume of the marinade in relation to the volume of the jar. And how many Zelentsi will get there depends on their size. You can pour three handfuls of pickles or cram 2 Chinese giants with barrels. How to determine by weight? Yes, nothing. Impose how much will go and that's it.

How to preserve cucumbers for the winter? Feel free to, without fear of new experiments and old familiar tastes. Homemade will certainly appreciate your ability to make blanks, and girlfriends will ask for the exact recipe. Good salting you!

Video: recipe for crisp marinated cucumbers for the winter