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The annual closure of cucumbers for the winter has long been equated with a national tradition. Every autumn, many housewives compete with each other in the number of closed cans. At the same time, someone closes pickled cucumbers, someone pickles them. But there are also those who close salted cucumbers in jars for the winter.
What cucumbers to choose
Lightly salted cucumbers for the winter are an excellent alternative to already boring pickled and pickled cucumbers. Due to the low salt content and the absence of vinegar, they can be given even to children, but only within reasonable limits.
In order for such cucumbers to turn out wonderfully, you need to choose the right fruits. Cucumbers ideal for salted pickling should be:
- dense and firm;
- slightly pimpled;
- not bitter in taste;
- no more than 7 - 10 centimeters in length.
Cucumbers that meet these conditions will acquire not only excellent taste, but also a special crunch during salting.
A little about spices and seasonings
Adding spices and seasonings when curling salted cucumbers is a very important procedure that can affect not only the taste of the future snack, but also its structure and shelf life. Most often, when preparing lightly salted cucumbers, the following spices and seasonings are added:
- Bay leaf;
- horseradish;
- garlic;
- black pepper;
- dill;
- black currant sheets.
These seasonings can already be called "classic pickling", but this does not mean that other seasonings for pickling will not work. Some, for example, successfully use cherry and oak leaves, someone adds red instead of black pepper. This departure from the usual seasonings will help you get a new, richer cucumber flavor.
You can also do without seasoning at all, adding only salt and pepper. But if the desired salting result is crispy cucumbers, then you should not bypass horseradish.
Classic recipe
It is this recipe that is used annually by many housewives for the preparation of lightly salted cucumbers for the winter. Most of the ingredients that it will require can be found in every garden plot, namely:
- 5 kilograms of cucumbers;
- 7 liters of water;
- 7 tablespoons of rock salt;
- garlic;
- dill;
- leaves of currant and horseradish.
Before proceeding with salting, fresh cucumbers must be rinsed well, washing off all the soil and dirt from them. Now you can remove the tips from both sides and put the cucumbers in a large deep enamel or glass container for soaking. They should be filled with cold water only, and the soaking time should not exceed 2 hours. Moreover, the colder the water, the more crisp the cucumbers will become.
While the cucumbers are soaking, you can prepare the pickle and seasonings. To prepare the brine, all the prepared salt must be dissolved in boiling water. As for the preparation of the seasoning, the garlic must be peeled and the rest washed. You don't need to cut the dill and garlic.
Now you can either take another large container, or use the one in which the cucumbers were soaked. Part of the greens with garlic is laid on its bottom, then part of the cucumbers. In such layers, you need to lay out most of the greens and all the cucumbers. The rest of the herbs with garlic should be set aside for rolling into jars.When this is done, hot brine must be poured into the container. It must cover all the cucumbers.
If the cucumbers are completely covered, then there will be no problems and you can start preparing the brine.
On a container with cucumbers, you need to put a load in the form of a large jar of water or a heavy stone and leave it for 48 hours at room temperature.
When the specified time comes to an end, you can start sterilization of cans... The easiest way to do this is over steam. You can learn about this method of sterilizing cans from the video:
When the cucumbers are salted, they must be removed from the brine and rinsed well in clean cold water. In this case, the brine must be drained through cheesecloth into a clean pan, but the herbs with garlic can be thrown away. All drained brine should be boiled. During the boiling process, foam will form, which must be removed.
Now we take pre-sterilized jars. At the bottom of each jar he puts greens with garlic, and then cucumbers. In this case, you should not try to shove as many cucumbers as possible into the jar. They should have some free space. After the cucumbers are in the jar, pour them with boiling brine and close the jar with a lid.
Closed jars with lightly salted cucumbers should be turned upside down and wrapped in towels or a blanket. They should be in this position for 24 hours. Store ready-made cans in a cool, dark place.
Cucumbers with apples
This winter version of lightly salted cucumbers in cans perfectly combines spicy herbs and sweet-sour apple taste. To prepare such a snack you will need:
- cucumbers;
- 1 - 2 apples;
- garlic;
- dill;
- cherry and currant leaves;
- black peppercorns;
- cloves;
- Bay leaf;
- rock salt.
Therefore, before preparing the brine, you need to measure how many liters are in the cucumber jars.
Let's start with cucumbers. They must be thoroughly washed from the earth and dirt and the ends cut off. Now, as in the previous recipe, they should be soaked in cold water for 1 - 2 hours.
While they are soaking, prepare the rest of the ingredients: peel the garlic and rinse the herbs. Apples should not only be washed, but also cut into slices. In this case, the core and seeds do not need to be removed.
When the time for soaking the cucumbers comes to an end, they must be taken out of the water and placed in an enamelled salting container. Apples with herbs and other spices should be sent to them. All contents of the container must be thoroughly mixed together. Now let's prepare the brine. To do this, dissolve the salt in boiling water and mix well. Hot brine is poured into a container with cucumbers, apples and herbs. They must be left to pickle for 8-12 hours.
After this time, when the cucumbers have absorbed the aroma of apples and herbs, they can be closed in sterilized jars. To do this, all the brine from them must be drained and boiled again. While the brine is boiling, the cucumbers with apples should be placed in jars on green pillows. After the boiling brine is poured into the jars, they can be closed with lids. The finished cans must be turned upside down and wrapped. When the jars are completely cool, they can be turned back and stored in a cool, dark place.
When preparing lightly salted cucumbers for the winter, it is worth remembering that the longer they stand in jars, the more they become salted. Therefore, it is advisable to use them in the first 2-3 months after rolling.
whether it is necessary to add vinegar in the first recipe. it is not specified there. did as written. however, after cooling upside down for a day, the lid swelled.