TOP 12 delicious step-by-step recipes for pickling cucumbers for the winter
Although there is an opinion that any cucumbers can be canned, not all varieties are suitable for homemade preparations, and only zelents are suitable, which have a thin skin covered with tubercles and thorns. The crunch of pickled cucumbers is given by the brine. Fruits with a smooth surface and thick skin, when preserved, lose their taste, are not stored for a long time and are used in salads.
Features of pickling
It is better to close greens in jars that have just been torn from the bush. If this is not possible, the fruits are left in cool water for 4-6 hours. Currant or oak leaves, used for conservation, not only have a pleasant aroma, but also give the cucumbers firmness, horseradish - hardness. Mustard seeds retain their rich color. Marinated greens, pouring hot or cold brine, resort to sterilization. Each method produces a spicy, savory snack.
How to choose and prepare cucumbers for pickling
For preservation with vinegar, greens with thin skin and black rare thorns are used. The length of the fruit should be no more than 12 cm, otherwise it is difficult to fit them into the jar. Cucumbers bought at a bazaar or store are placed in cool water, changing it repeatedly.
Soaking restores elasticity to vegetables, allows you to remove nitrates, remove voids.
To remove the bitterness, before pickling, the tails are cut off from the zelents or the fruits are pricked with forks. Pickling varieties are most delicious with vinegar, universal hybrids are suitable. Such cucumbers do not sour, do not soften, since they contain flavonin. Chlorinated water is not used for the preparation of the marinade; it is better to collect it in a spring or spring.
Container preparation
The hostess's gherkins are pickled in small liter jars. The containers are washed with water and soda, sterilized over steam, in the oven or microwave. The lids are boiled for 5 minutes, the jars - 10.
Pickled cucumber recipes
Vegetables go well with herbs. Horseradish destroys germs, prevents mold from forming, garlic improves taste. These ingredients are added when pickling.
The classic way "Lick your fingers"
After waiting for the harvest of juicy greens from their garden beds, the hostesses sterilize the dishes and lids, select a simple and proven recipe for harvesting pickled cucumbers:
- Fresh dill, horseradish leaf, peppercorns, 3 garlic cloves are placed in a liter jar.
- The tails are removed from the washed greens, the container is filled with them, placing the fruits vertically.Carrots, cut into strips, are placed in the free space.
- Oak, cherry and laurel leaves, cloves, dill, horseradish and parsley rhizomes, mustard, mint are placed on top.
- The fruits are poured with boiling water.
- After 10 minutes, the water is decanted into a saucepan, salt and sugar are poured, boiled until the sediment disappears.
- The jar is filled with marinade, vinegar is added, the container is rolled up with a lid.
After 3 or 4 weeks, crispy greens will be saturated with a solution, and will acquire piquancy.
A liter jar takes half a kilogram of cucumbers, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, one sugar and salt each, allspice and bitter pepper, 3 peas each.
Without sterilization
Having collected a rich harvest of green leaves, summer residents rush to pickle them faster in such a way as to preserve vitamins. Dill, horseradish and currant leaves are placed in liter jars, sterilized over steam, cucumbers are placed vertically, poured with boiling water twice, seasoned with marinade for the third time, garlic cloves are added.
One and a half kilograms of zelentz are used:
- 1.5 liters of water;
- 1.5 l. salt;
- vinegar essence - 10 ml;
- 10 g sugar;
- horseradish leaves and dill.
Vegetables undergo minimal heat treatment, but do not spoil for a long time. It is better to store the workpiece in the basement.
With vinegar essence
To please the household with fragrant gherkins of a rich color, one-liter jars are sterilized, cloves of garlic, mustard and coriander seeds, allspice peas are placed in them, greens should be put on top.
A container with vegetables is filled with boiling water, when the water cools down, poured into a saucepan, boiled with spices and salt, add a spoonful of vinegar essence. The gherkins are covered in a hot marinade. For its preparation, 6 glasses of water, 4 liters are taken. sugar, 60 g of salt.
With vinegar
Many housewives pickle cucumbers in 3-liter jars, since crispy and tasty greens are quickly eaten with meat, fried potatoes and mashed potatoes. For such a container, 1.8–2 kg of fruit is enough:
- Cucumbers are soaked in cool water, washed after 2 hours, the ends are cut off on both sides.
- In cans, disinfected over steam, 2 or 3 bay leaves, an umbrella of dill are placed.
- In a saucepan, boil 1.5 liters of water, fill it with a container with greens.
- When the liquid has cooled, the marinade is boiled, adding 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 salt, after a minute, pour 65-70 ml of vinegar, fill the jars with cucumbers, add garlic.
So that the vegetable preparation does not deteriorate for a long time, the container sealed with lids is heated by wrapping it in a thick towel. Cucumbers do not soften and crunch.
With mustard seeds
Cucumbers are canned with other vegetables, different spices, which give them a sweetish taste. Fruits will not lose color after pouring with hot marinade if made with mustard seeds. 7 small greens are placed in a liter jar, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, dill, a spoonful of seeds, laurel and currant leaves are placed on the bottom of the container.
From 20 g of salt, 1/2 cup of sugar and 120 ml of vinegar, marinade is boiled. The solution is filled with cucumber jars, which are sterilized in a metal pan for a quarter of an hour.
In Bulgarian
Small gherkins look beautiful in liter jars. To crunch vegetables, you can cook them using an old recipe. Back in Soviet times, such pickled cucumbers were sold out before they could get on the counter. Zelentsy, and they will hold about 600 g, are soaked overnight in ice water. Jars and lids are sterilized over steam:
- Chop the onion into rings, peel the garlic and pour it into a prepared container with pepper and bay leaf.
- The washed cucumbers are laid vertically and poured twice with boiling water for a quarter of an hour.
- The marinade is cooked by combining 60 g of salt, 4 tablespoons of sugar with strained water, add 80 ml of vinegar.
Jars are filled with boiling solution. Bulgarian gherkins do not have time to stay until spring.
In tomato sauce
Tomatoes are successfully combined with other vegetables, canned cucumbers give an original taste. If we pickle greens according to the classic recipe, use:
- spices and leaves;
- head of garlic;
- 200-250 g onions;
- 5 kg gherkins;
- a glass of tomato sauce;
For pouring, take 1.5 liters of water, 100 ml of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of salt, 100 g of sugar. Cucumbers are soaked for a couple of hours.
The marinade is boiled with tomato paste, where oil, peppercorns and bay leaves are added, boiled for a quarter of an hour.
In sterile jars, layers of greenery are laid out, onions cut into rings, squeezed garlic, dill is placed on the bottom, seasoned with marinade.
With carrots
To emphasize the taste of cucumbers, do not worry that there is nowhere to store the workpieces, vegetables are left overnight in cold water. To seal a 0.5 liter can, use:
- 3 greens;
- 1 carrot;
- a spoonful of vinegar and salt;
- garlic;
- chilli;
- 10 g sugar.
Dill and spices are placed on the bottom of the jar, vegetables cut into rings are placed on top, seasoned with boiling marinade. The container with the workpiece is sterilized for 10 minutes.
Hungarian
If you want to make cucumbers with an original sweet taste, use apple cider vinegar instead of the usual preservative. 3 kg of gherkins, cloves, peppers and mustard seeds are placed in a clean container.
A glass of sugar, 3 l is dissolved in water. salt, after boiling, pour vinegar. Jars of gherkins filled with marinade are sterilized for 15 minutes, stored at room temperature.
With squash
Summer residents who grow vegetables on the site can prepare a spicy snack for the winter. Cucumbers should be soaked in cool water in the evening.
In the morning, you need to cut carrots and squash into slices, onions - into rings. Horseradish leaves, spices are put in a jar, vegetables are on top. The container is filled twice with boiling water, poured with marinade, add 1/2 tsp. vinegar essence.
700 or 800 g of squash, 3 large carrots, 1 onion are taken per kilogram of cucumbers.
In Polish
To pamper a family with pickled greens, 4 kg of fruits are cut into slices and sent to a large saucepan, garlic is squeezed out. After 2 hours, when the vegetables start juice, the ingredients are mixed with a glass of sugar, add the same amount of vinegar, sunflower oil, 4 liters. salt. The mass is transferred to liter jars and sterilized for a quarter of an hour.
Cucumbers with citric acid
For people suffering from stomach pathologies, spicy snacks are contraindicated, vinegar irritates the mucous membrane. You can replace this product with citric acid. Cucumbers are soaked in water for a couple of hours. The garlic is peeled, crushed into plates. Grains of mustard and spices are placed at the bottom of the container, greens are folded. The jar is filled with water. After 10 minutes, the liquid is decanted, combined with salt and sugar, citric acid is added and the cucumbers are poured with marinade.
Specificity and shelf life of conservation
Pickles quickly deteriorate, even in the cellar or refrigerator after 6 months they begin to mold. Cucumbers, which are sterilized or covered with vinegar, are stored at low temperatures for 3 years, in room conditions - 12 months.