There are few families where in the winter they do not “crunch” canned cucumbers. However, for some they turn out appetizing, while for others they are soft and tasteless. From the article you will learn not only a few new recipes, but you can also learn how to choose the right ingredients, as well as get acquainted with the secrets of preparing the most delicious preservation.
Selection and preparation of cucumbers for canning
To get a delicious preservation for the winter, you need to choose the right cucumbers:
- Buy in the market. In supermarkets, they are often coated with paraffin, grown in greenhouses, designed for salads.
- Do not trust the sellers who indicate the well-known names of the varieties (if you yourself cannot distinguish one variety from another).
- Look at the color of the pimples - cucumbers designed for blanks have black spikes on them, and there are a lot of pimples themselves.
- Touch - vegetables should not be soft, with a feeling of emptiness inside, lethargic. The peel should be thick so that it does not pierce with a fingernail, pimples - prickly.
- Pay attention to appearance - curved, scratched, with rotten spots are not suitable. But the dirt is not an obstacle, as washed vegetables deteriorate faster.
- Choose the right color - only young vegetables are suitable for preservation, they have a juicy green color.
- To taste - the bitterness of the peel will ruin the taste of conservation. You can also evaluate the thickness of the peel, crunch, juiciness.
- Look at the tail, feel it - normally it will not be flabby, hanging.
- Do not choose vegetables longer than 12–13 cm. An ideal option is the length of cucumbers 9 cm.
Before preservation, cucumbers must be prepared:- Soak in cold water for several hours to restore elasticity slightly wilted. This procedure also reduces the nitrate content by 15%.
- You can trim the tips or chop with a fork to better soak in the marinade.
- Wash thoroughly. Even small contaminants can contribute to the development of harmful bacteria. You can wash it with your hands or with a soft brush that does not damage the peel.
Recipes for the preservation of cucumbers
There are many conservation options:
- in one or three liter containers;
- with the addition of vinegar, tomato sauce or citric acid;
- with or without sterilization of contents;
- sweet, sour-sweet or salty;
- with various flavorings or without them;
- in Bulgarian or traditional.
Before starting the preparation, containers and lids are sterilized. Greens are washed and dried.
After rolling up the preservation with lids, the containers are turned upside down, wrapped in a blanket or blanket and left for a day. After checking for leaks and cooling, they are transferred to a cool, dark place for storage.
The blanks will get the right taste after 1–1.5 months. Preservation is not stored for 2 months, provided that the contents have not changed color, and the lids are not swollen and have no signs of rust.
Crispy in cans per 1 liter
Important! The volume of marinade in the container is determined by the compactness of the cucumbers laying there, so for a start it is better to measure its amount after you merge and adjust the weight of the additives in the spin, do not change the volume of vinegar.
60 minutes
vinegar essence 70%
1 tsp
blackcurrant leaves
2-3 pcs.
black peppercorns
2-3 pcs.
allspice
1-2 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Cucumber cut edges.
- Lay dill and currant leaf on the bottom of the prepared container.
- Hold cucumbers up to 1/2 capacity, dill, again cucumbers, blackcurrant leaves, peas of black and allspice.
- Boil water, pour a jar of cucumbers on the neck, cover, wait until it cools down so that your hands are not hot.
- Remove the lid, pour water into the pan, pour salt and sugar.
- Transfer to a stove, wait for boiling, pour cucumbers, pour vinegar.
- Roll up.
Video recipe
3 liter jar recipe
60 minutes
vinegar essence 70%
1 tbsp. l
blackcurrant leaves
2–4 pcs.
black peppercorns
3–6 pcs.
allspice
2–4 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Cucumber cut edges.
- Lay dill and currant leaf on the bottom of the prepared container.
- Hold cucumbers up to 1/2 capacity, dill, again cucumbers, blackcurrant leaves, peas of black and allspice.
- Boil water, pour a jar of cucumbers on the neck, cover, wait until it cools down so that your hands are not hot.
- Remove the lid, pour water into the pan, pour salt and sugar.
- Transfer to a stove, wait for boiling, pour cucumbers, pour vinegar.
- Roll up.
Important! You may get a different amount of marinade, it follows that the volume of drained water is best measured. If it differs from the specified, salt and sugar must be recounted, while vinegar does not recount.
Sweet crispy cucumbers
1 hour
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Cut the edges of the cucumbers.
- Put greens and cucumbers on the bottom of the container.
- Boil water in a saucepan, add to a jar of cucumbers, cover with a lid.
- Leave it alone for 2-3 minutes, then return the liquid to the pan.
- Pour in salt and sugar, wait until it boils.
- Add vinegar, pour cucumbers in the marinade.
- Roll up the jar.
"Assorted" cucumbers and tomatoes
1–1.5 hours
horseradish leaves (large)
3 pcs.
blackcurrant leaves
8 pcs
black peppercorns
10 pieces.
sugar
3 tablespoons with a slide
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Cut off the ends of prepared cucumbers.
- Free the garlic from the husk, cut.
- Rinse the tomatoes. With a wooden skewer, pierce the stalks to a depth of 1 cm.
- Add all the greens to the bottom of the container, except for 1 sprig of dill.
- Half fill the container with cucumbers.
- Throw 5 cloves of garlic, then - tomatoes to the top. Again 5 cloves of garlic, pepper, dill umbrella.
- Boil water, pour into a jar of vegetables, cover.
- After 15 minutes, return the liquid from the cucumbers to the pan, put on the fire, wait until it turns brown, and again add to the jar, cover.
- After another 15 minutes, return the liquid to the pan, dilute sugar and salt in it, wait until it boils, pour in the vinegar.
- Pour the assorted seething marinade, tighten the jar.
Did you know? In Shklov, Mogilev region (Belarus), Lukovitsy, Moscow region (Russia), Nizhyn, Chernihiv region (Ukraine), there are monuments to cucumber.
No sterilization
0.5 hours
blackcurrant leaves
5 pieces.
chili pepper (small)
1 PC.
black peppercorns
5 pieces.
drinking water
before filling
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Pour boiling water over a clean jar.
- Peel the garlic and horseradish root, rinse.
- Pour peas, horseradish, garlic and chilli to the bottom of the container.
- Tamp the cucumbers in a jar, alternating with greens.
- Sprinkle salt over cucumbers, pour vodka.
- Add liquid to the top layer, cover with gauze, tie.
- Do not touch for 3 days, placing a tray or bowl under the bottom in case the brine flows over the edge.
- Close with a cleanly washed lid, transfer to the basement or cellar.
Did you know? The largest cucumber more than 129 cm long was grown in the UK by a farmer named Ragbir Singh Sanger in 2018.
With mustard
Important! You can measure the right amount of vinegar with a medical syringe.
0.5 hours
mustard powder
0.5 tsp
ground black pepper
on the tip of a knife
sugar
1 teaspoon without top
vinegar essence 70%
1.8 ml
refined sunflower oil
4 sec l
dill greens finely chopped
0.5 s l
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Trim the edges of the cucumbers.
- Using a knife, peeler or shredder, cut the green leaves lengthwise into 1–1.5 mm plates.
- Free the garlic from the husk, chop finely.
- In a bowl with chopped vegetables, mix garlic, dill, salt, pepper, mustard, sugar, vinegar, water, oil.
- After 2 hours of infusion, decompose the mixture into the prepared container, ramming tightly.
- Distribute the juice that stood out when insisting between the banks.
- Lay the bottom of the pan with a cloth, put the blanks on top so that they do not touch, cover them with lids, pour hot water (at least + 30 ° C) along the “shoulders”.
- Transfer the pot to the stove over high heat.
- Wait until it boils, reduce the heat so that it shakes slightly, cover the pan with a lid.
- In 20 minutes. take out the blanks one at a time, roll up.
With vinegar
Important! The composition of greens can be changed to your taste.
Step by step recipe:
1 hour
vinegar essence 70%
1 tsp
blackcurrant leaves
2-3 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Tamp the prepared greens, garlic, horseradish root, cucumbers in a jar.
- Boil water in a saucepan, add to the jar to the brim, cover with a lid, do not touch for 10-15 minutes.
- Return the liquid to the pan and do it all over again. If not enough, you can add boiling water.
- Once again, return the water to the pan, stir the salt in it, wait until it boils, add to the jar.
- Pour vinegar on top, roll up.
With citric acid
1,5 hour
black pepper peas
5-6 pcs.
lemon acid
1 tsp with a slide
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Release bell pepper from seeds, wash, divide in half.
- Tamp in the prepared jar dill (leave 1 umbrella), pepper, bay leaf, ½ bell pepper, cucumbers.
- The top layer will be the remaining dill and bell pepper.
- Boil water in a saucepan.
- Pour boiling water into the jar along the edge, cover with a lid, put a towel.
- 20 minutes later return the water to the pan, mix in the salt, wait until it turns brown.
- Remove the garlic from the husk, wash, crumble in large slices, dip in a jar.
- Add citric acid.
- Fill with boiling marinade, roll up.
Important! The specified amount of salt, sugar and spices in the ingredients can be adjusted to your taste, but it is not recommended to open the spins before 1-2 months have passed, since the cucumbers have not yet absorbed all the components.
In own juice
0.5 hours
overripe cucumbers
1 kg
black peppercorns
5 pieces.
allspice
5 pieces.
oak leaves or bark
2 pcs.
blackcurrant leaves
2 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Prepare cucumbers, peeled garlic and herbs.
- Fruits that look worse, grate on a grater with large holes, if the peel and seeds are hard - remove.
- Stir in salt, leave for 1-2 hours.
- Pour boiling water over a clean jar.
- Put spices, spices, herbs, chopped garlic in a jar (leave 1 leaf of horseradish).
- Put some grated vegetables with the juice, on top - whole, alternate.
- Cover with the remaining leaf of horseradish.
- Install oppression.
- Leave in the kitchen until bubbles appear in the brine.
- Remove the yoke, cover with a pre-washed lid, take to a cold place.
- If necessary, it is allowed to add salt drinking water to the jar: 70 g of salt per 1 liter of water.
- After 2 weeks, the cucumbers are ready.
Important! Pounded cucumber mass in winter can be used to make pickle or make salad out of it.
Sweet and sour
40-50 minutes
sugar
200 g (per 1.5 l of brine)
salt
3 tablespoons (per 1.5 l of brine)
ground black pepper
1 teaspoon
vinegar essence 70%
3 tablespoons per jar
blackcurrant leaves
2 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Put the prepared greens in a sterilized jar, tamp cucumbers on top.
- Boil water, pour into a jar.
- 10 minutes later pour the liquid back into the pan, measuring its volume.
- Stir in the marinade salt and sugar in an amount that corresponds to its volume, transfer to a stove, wait until it boils.
- Put pepper in a jar, add marinade and vinegar, roll up.
In tomato sauce
60 minutes
small cucumbers
about 2.5 kg
black peppercorns
4 things.
bay leaf (small)
4 things.
water
1.5 L + for sterilization
tomato sauce, juice or ketchup
200 g
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Free the garlic from the husk, put the jars along with the herbs, add pepper and bay leaf.
- Tamp cucumbers in a container.
- In a pot with high walls, lay a towel, pour half the water, transfer to a stove, wait until it becomes hot.
- Pour 1.5 liters of liquid, tomato sauce into another pan, add salt, sugar, transfer to a stove, stirring, wait until it boils.
- Add vinegar to the sauce, stir, pour into billets, cover.
- Place the blanks in a wide saucepan on a cloth so that they do not touch each other (the water should be at the level of the “shoulders” of the containers), wait until the water boils, reduce heat, boil for 20 minutes, remove the blanks, roll up.
In Bulgarian
1–1.5 hours
onions (small)
1 PC.
vinegar 9%
4 tablespoons
black peppercorns
2 pcs.
allspice
2 pcs.
bay leaf (small)
1 PC.
blackcurrant leaves
1 PC.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Free garlic and onion, rinse, crumble with rings if desired, toss in a jar with black and allspice, bay leaf, dill, and currant leaf.
- Tamp cucumbers.
- Boil water in another pan, pour into a jar, cover with a lid.
- After 15 minutes pour water back into the pan, transfer to a stove, bring to a boil, pour into a jar, cover.
- After 15 minutes return water to the pan, pour salt, sugar, transfer to a stove, bring to a boil, pour vinegar, mix, pour into a jar, roll up.
Important! For any of the pickling recipes, do not take iodized or finely ground salt: in the first case you get an unpleasant aftertaste of the spin, in the second - add chemicals that protect against the formation of lumps together with salt.
Secrets of Crispy Preservation
In order for the canned cucumbers to crunch pleasantly and not lose their taste, use our tips:
- Choose the right ingredients.
- Horseradish and mustard powder, laid on top, will protect the workpiece from mold.
- The leaves of cherries, black currants, horseradish, oak not only improve the taste, but also keep the vegetables crispy.
- For small cans, small cucumbers are more suitable, for larger ones, larger. Too large fruits can be overripe, they should not be used.
- If signs of fermentation appear in the container with the pickled product, they must be opened, discarded, and refilled with boiling brine.
- Crispy cucumbers will not work out crisp billet, so it is better to go shopping in the morning.
- Pre-soaking in cold water contributes to a crispy taste, but the process should not last more than 10 hours, otherwise rot will begin. In order not to keep cucumbers in warm water, change it every 2-3 hours.
- Spins that are not sterilized should be filled with boiling water 1-2 times before pouring with brine.
- Thick-skinned cucumbers crunch better.
- If the vegetables are of different sizes, then small ones are best placed on top of large ones.
- They should not have cracks or other damage, otherwise a crispy taste can not be achieved.
Important! The first week after cooking, it is recommended to observe the workpieces: if mistakes are made during their preparation, during this time they will appear, and the lids will begin to swell.
The preservation of delicious and crispy cucumbers is a whole science in which there are secrets.
If until now this science was not available to you, now you can surprise your relatives and friends with conservation by choosing one or more of the proposed methods. Use the tips and the glory of your culinary skills will surpass yours
