How to pickle cucumbers? Delicious recipes. Pickling crispy cucumbers for the winter: the secrets of delicious pickling
How much salt do you need to add, what spices should you add, how to preserve the cucumber so that it is tasty and crispy? Many housewives think about this. If you haven’t yet got your own recipe, I suggest you choose - a cucumber recipe for every taste.
Classic pickled cucumbers (in barrel)
- 200 g blackcurrant leaves
- 300 g dill (inflorescences and stems)
- 1 medium head of garlic
- 2-3 leaves of horseradish
- 1 small horseradish root
- 5 kg fresh cucumbers pickling varieties
For the brine:
- 1 liter of water
- 70 g coarse non-iodized salt
How to cook:
Sort the cucumbers, remove limp and spoiled ones. Wash the selected cucumbers thoroughly, rinse the greens separately.
Place the cucumbers in a container where they will be salted (tub, barrel). Pour in the required amount of water to completely cover the cucumbers, then carefully pour it into a large saucepan. This way we measured how much brine we needed. Dissolve the salt in cold water and strain the brine through cheesecloth.
Peel the garlic and separate it into cloves. Place a layer of greens on the bottom of the pickling container. Place cucumbers on it, tightly to each other, placing them with leaves and garlic cloves.
Pour cold brine over the cucumbers and cover with the remaining leaves on top. Place a boiled canvas napkin or gauze on them, folded in 2-3 layers, then a wooden or polyethylene circle, and pressure on it (the weight of the pressure is approximately 10% of the weight of the cucumbers). Leave the cucumbers for pickling for 2-3 days at room temperature, then take them to a cool place. The cucumbers will be ready in 3-4 days.
Cucumbers from a barrel
- 10 kg of late harvest cucumbers 8-12 cm long
- 4-5 pieces of horseradish root
- large bunch of horseradish leaves
- 2 medium heads of garlic
- 2 tbsp. l. honey
- 1 tbsp. l. coarse salt per 1 liter of water
- a large handful of blackcurrant leaves
- 1 red hot chili pepper
- 300 g dill (inflorescences and stems)
How to cook:
Prepare the wooden tub: wash it well hot water with soda, pour over boiling water and dry. Soak the cucumbers in cold water, changing the water frequently. You can soak cucumbers for no more than 8 hours.
Drain the water. Place the cucumbers in a tub and pour in the water from which you will make the brine - the water should completely cover the cucumbers. Pour this water into a large saucepan, add honey and salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 1 liter of water, put on fire and heat slightly to dissolve the salt. Cool the brine.
Rub the sides of the tub with garlic. Place a third of horseradish leaves, garlic and dill on the bottom, and place half of the cucumbers tightly on top. Then another layer of leaves, garlic, horseradish and dill, chili and the remaining cucumbers. Cover with the remaining spices.
Pour cold brine over the cucumbers, cover the top with a canvas napkin, place a wooden circle and pressure (for example, a thoroughly washed stone).
Keep the tub with cucumbers at room temperature for 3-4 days, and then transfer to a cold place. Make sure that the cucumbers are completely immersed in the brine, add new brine if necessary. The cucumbers will be ready in 1.5 months.
In the same way, you can pickle cucumbers in three-liter jars, with the difference that you pour boiling brine over the cucumbers and immediately seal the jars. As seasonings in any combination you can use: cherry and oak leaves (give cucumbers strength), black currant leaves, dill, fennel and caraway umbrellas, tarragon, allspice and black pepper.
Pickled cucumbers with vinegar
For the brine:
- 10 liters of water
- 500 g salt
- 1 cup grape vinegar
- 3/4 glass of vodka
- spices
How to cook:
For salting, we take medium-sized ones with thin skin, fresh cucumbers. It is best if they are picked on the day of pickling. Sort and wash the cucumbers cold water. Place washed oak, blackcurrant or cherry leaves at the bottom of a barrel or jar. Then add dill, horseradish, tarragon and garlic.
Place cucumbers in dense rows in a vertical position. Pour hot brine over them, add vodka and grape vinegar. Roll up the jar.
If you pickle cucumbers in a barrel, the next day add cold brine to it and fill the bottom. Place it in a cool place. These cucumbers are stored for a long time.
Delicious canned cucumbers recipe
- 1 kg of cucumbers per 1 liter of brine
- greens: black currant leaves, horseradish, dill umbrellas
- 4-5 cloves of garlic per 1 liter of brine
For the brine
- 1 liter of water
- 2 tbsp. with a heap of coarse salt
- 1 tsp dry mustard
How to cook:
Sort the cucumbers and wash thoroughly. Soak them in cold water for 6 hours or overnight.
Let's prepare a brine based on 1 liter of water - 2 tablespoons of salt. Boil water with salt. Cool the brine and strain. Prepare herbs: dill, parsley, blackcurrant or cherry leaves, horseradish, garlic.
Pickle cucumbers in an enamel bucket or in glass jars. Layer layers of greens, garlic, cucumbers. Pour brine, place a plate or wooden circle on top, and place a weight on it (so that the plate remains immersed in the brine).
Leave the container with cucumbers in a warm place for 3-6 days so that the cucumbers are salted. From time to time remove the foam that forms on the surface. After this, the cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator or canned.
To roll cucumbers, you need to sterilize the jars. Place herbs and garlic on the bottom. Remove the cucumbers from the brine, rinse, place in jars (place the cucumbers vertically. Strain the brine into a saucepan, put on fire and bring to a boil. Pour hot brine over the cucumbers in the jars to the top, the brine should spill out a little. Sprinkle a little dry mustard on top of the brine.
Roll up the jars and place them upside down, cover with a blanket until they cool completely.
French gherkins
- 1 kg small young cucumbers
- 250 g salt
- 3 red hot peppers
- 5 small white onions
- 5 sprigs thyme
- 5 sprigs tarragon
- 6 clove buds
- 2 bay leaves
- 2/3 l white grape vinegar
How to cook:
Bring vinegar to a boil with the same amount of water, adding tarragon and thyme. Cool.
Rinse the cucumbers in cold water, place in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and leave for a day.
Dissolve 2 tablespoons of vinegar in cold water and rinse the gherkins in it. Wipe each cucumber with a towel and place tightly in sterilized jars.
Add peeled onions, pieces of hot pepper and seasonings. Pour the vinegar mixture over the gherkins and seal the jars tightly. Store in a cool, dark place. The cucumbers will be ready in 10 days.
You can add pieces of citrus fruits to the marinade: lemon, orange, grapefruit (with thoroughly washed peel). Then the gherkins will acquire a completely new flavor.
Sliced cucumbers
- 4 kg fresh cucumbers
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup vinegar (9%)
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp. l. ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp. spoons of salt
- 3 heads of garlic
How to cook:
Wash the cucumbers and cut off the ends. Cut into 4 pieces lengthwise. Grate the garlic on a fine grater. Prepare a marinade from sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil, salt and pepper, do not cook it.
Mix cucumbers with garlic and marinade. Leave in a cold place for at least 7 hours, optimally leave overnight. Place the cucumbers in jars and fill with the resulting liquid. Cucumbers are ready in 7-12 hours. They can be rolled up for the winter by sterilizing liter jars for 10 minutes.
Cucumbers with garlic and sweet pepper
- 200 g red onion
- 800 g sugar
- 4 tbsp salt
- 80 g garlic
- 2 red sweet peppers
- 1.5 kg cucumbers
- 1 liter grape vinegar
- 1 tbsp. peppercorns
- bay, currant leaf
- parsley and celery roots
How to cook:
Cut the pepper pods in half and peel. Wash peppers and cucumbers. Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the garlic cloves in half. Cut the onions into slices, cucumbers into slices, peppers into cubes.
Boil vinegar. Add sugar, salt, pepper, roots, vegetables and blanch for 2 minutes.
Remove the ingredients with a slotted spoon and arrange in layers in clean, dry jars, placing bay and currant leaves between the layers. Pour over the marinade. Close the banks. Ready in 1 week.
Gardeners consider overgrown cucumbers picked at the wrong time to be a defect. But this does not mean that such cucumbers should be thrown away. Preserve them according to our recipe - in winter you will have an excellent side dish for meat and fish dishes.
Overripe cucumber rolls
- 1 kg cucumbers
- 1 small bunch of dill
- 1 small bunch of tarragon
- 1 head of garlic
- 20 currant leaves
- 2 tbsp. spoons of salt
- 2 tbsp. spoons of apple cider vinegar
How to cook:
Peel the cucumbers. Cut into longitudinal slices approximately 1 cm thick. Chop the dill and tarragon. Separate the garlic into cloves and chop coarsely. Wash and dry the currant leaves.
Place the cucumbers in layers in a glass or ceramic container, sprinkling each layer with salt, chopped herbs and garlic. Place some currant leaves on top so that the cucumbers are completely covered.
Add vinegar to 1/2 liter of water, boil, then cool to room temperature. Pour the resulting solution over the cucumbers, cover with a plate or an inverted lid, and place pressure on top. Leave in a cool place for one day.
A day later, when the cucumber slices become soft, roll them together with the herbs and garlic into rolls. Place half of the remaining currant leaves in the bottom of the sterilized jar, then pack the rolls tightly.
Strain the brine through a sieve and boil. Pour hot brine over cucumbers and place currant leaves on top. Seal the jar hermetically and store it in a cool, dark place. The cucumbers will be ready in a week.
Maria Soboleva
How to pickle cucumbers? Delicious recipes
Almost every experienced housewife knows how to pickle cucumbers. But everyone has their little secrets and signature recipes. What gives cucumbers their special taste, piquancy and crunch?
Cucumber secrets
It is best to pickle small, young cucumbers. But if the vegetables are different in size, then first we place the larger ones in the jar, maybe vertically, and on top those that are smaller.
We place the cucumbers close to each other, we usually put the spices on the bottom, many housewives like to put them between the layers of cucumbers.
It is good to cover the brine in the jar with horseradish and currant leaves on top.
What spices are best? Classics of the genre - currant leaves, horseradish, peppercorns and dill umbrellas.
And you can add all sorts of things at your discretion: oak leaves, cherries, mustard seeds, cloves, horseradish root, currants or grapes, garlic, caraway seeds, coriander, mint, basil, parsley, celery.
But it’s better to listen to the advice of experienced housewives: too many different seasonings and spices are not always good. This can cause the brine to ferment and cause the jars to explode.
For pickling, there is nothing better than coarse rock salt; iodized and fine (extra) salts make cucumbers soft and the jars can explode.
Traditionally, for 1 liter of water you need to take 50 (or 60) g of salt - this is approximately 2-2.5 tablespoons.
You can pickle cucumbers in cold or hot brine.
It is important what kind of water you take - spring, well or bottled water will significantly improve the taste of your homemade preserves.
Before pickling cucumbers, they need to be soaked, usually for 4-6 hours. At the same time, do not forget to change the water every hour.
Vegetables that have absorbed fresh cool water will be hard, and after salting they will definitely be crispy.
In addition, cucumbers left in liquid will not absorb too much brine, which will allow them to be stored longer.
Do I need to trim the stems of cucumbers? Not necessary, it will just speed up the salting process.
A small pinch of mustard seeds will help prevent the jars from exploding. For the same purpose, add 1 tablespoon of vodka or alcohol and an aspirin tablet to the brine.
To prevent mold from forming in the jar, place 2-3 thin slices of horseradish root under the lid.
Before pickling the cucumbers, prepare the jars: soak them in a soda solution, wash them with hot water and soap, rinse them and pour boiling water over them.
Then we dry it, and it’s a good idea to sterilize it by calcining it in an oven preheated to 110 degrees.
How to pickle cucumbers - delicious recipes
Recipe No. 1. Cucumbers with barrel flavor
We will need:
2 kg of cucumbers;
6 cloves of garlic;
8 peppercorns;
2 leaves of horseradish;
5 leaves of cherry and black currant;
3 dill umbrellas and some greens;
3 tablespoons salt.
Sequencing:
- Place the washed cucumbers in a container and fill with cold water for several hours;
- prepare the greens - coarsely chop the dill and cherry, currant and horseradish leaves;
- add garlic cloves, cut in half, and mix;
- pour a third of the seasonings onto the bottom of the jar;
- lay the cucumbers vertically, then horizontally;
- pour the remaining spices and herbs into the middle of the jar and on top;
- Dissolve salt in 1 liter 300 ml of chilled water;
- pour the saline solution into a jar, cover with gauze and leave for 2 days at room temperature;
- drain the brine, boil it, cool it and pour it back into the cucumbers;
- close the jar while it's hot nylon cover and store in a cool place.
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Recipe No. 2. “Long-lasting” cucumbers in cold brine
For pickling, take about 2 kg of cucumbers in a 3-liter jar.
Spices and seasonings:
salt - 3 tablespoons;
bay leaf - 2 pcs.;
black peppercorns - 5 pcs.;
currant leaves - 3 pcs.;
garlic - 5 cloves;
horseradish - 1/3 of the leaf;
dill - 2 stems and 2 umbrellas.
Before pickling cucumbers, soak them for 4-5 hours.
Place the spices in the jar, then place the cucumbers in rows.
To determine the exact amount of brine, pour cold water to the brim of the jar, drain it and stir the salt into it.
Carefully pour the brine over the cucumbers to avoid any salt residue.
Keep the nylon lid in boiling water for 15 seconds and cover the jar with it.
Place the pickle to ferment in a cool, dark place.
The cucumbers will be ready in 2 months, if you want to try lightly salted cucumbers, 4-5 days will be enough.
The brine may become cloudy, do not worry - this will not spoil the taste of the cucumbers.
If you do not have a basement or cellar, store the preserves in the refrigerator; in this case, it is more convenient to pickle cucumbers in liter jars.
The main thing when preparing pickles is to follow the proportions: take 1 tablespoon of salt for a liter jar, 2 tablespoons for a 2-liter container.
Cucumbers can be salted in the most in unusual ways, sometimes very original.
Recipe No. 3. Frozen pickles
Let's take:
1 kg of cucumbers;
3 onions;
1 piece bell pepper (green);
3 tablespoons salt;
1 cup of sugar;
1 glass of wine vinegar (white);
1 tablespoon celery seeds.
How to prepare:
Wash the cucumbers, cut them into slices, put them in a plastic conveyor;
Add thinly sliced onion, chopped bell pepper and 2 tablespoons of salt;
- pour crushed ice into the container, mix, put in the refrigerator for 8 hours;
- wash the vegetables with running water and dry;
- prepare the filling: mix the rest of the salt (1 tablespoon), sugar, vinegar, celery seeds;
- Bring the mixture to a boil, cook for 1 minute;
- pour in the vegetables, cool, close the container with a lid and place in the freezer;
- The cucumbers will be ready in a month and a half; before serving, they need to be defrosted for at least 3 hours at room temperature.
Recipe No. 4. Quick pickles
To prepare them you will need only 8 hours, the taste will be slightly salty, the crunch will be like fresh cucumbers. We choose small vegetables and start pickling.
Ingredients for a liter jar:
500 g cucumbers;
330 ml sparkling mineral water;
1 tablespoon salt;
1 bunch of fresh dill;
5 cloves of garlic;
5 currant leaves.
Cooking steps:
We wash the cucumbers with running water, cut off the tails;
Place garlic, dill and currant leaves (whole) at the bottom of the jar;
Place the cucumbers tightly, add salt;
Pour mineral water into the jar and leave for 8 hours at room temperature.
Store in the refrigerator.
Although it’s unlikely that such a tasty treat will last long.
You can pickle cucumbers in different ways, using traditional advice our grandmothers, adding something of their own or even experimenting with unusual recipes.
The main thing is to do it with soul and pleasure, in order to please your loved ones with crispy deliciousness.
Take it for yourself and tell your friends!
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Preparing cucumbers for the winter is a very delicate topic. Any recipe or recommendation on this matter will immediately find its opponents and defenders. On the other hand, this is good: from many tips and recipes, you can choose the most suitable one and enjoy cucumbers all winter, delighting your family and guests. Well, we will now outline the basic postulates for the correct preparation of cucumbers.
Correct cucumbers
Someone else probably remembers the shelves of Soviet stores lined with three-liter jars of pickles. The cucumbers in them were so large that they were pickled in pieces. But today we all know very well that it is not the half-meter-long yellowed giants that should be salted, but only tender, small cucumbers. The variety is also important: smooth salad cucumbers tolerate pickling worse, so give preference to their pimply, slightly prickly counterparts.
Cucumbers no more than 15 cm long, freshly picked from the garden, are ideal for preparations. If you bought cucumbers at the market, soak them in a saucepan with cold water: they will regain their lost elasticity, and at the same time get rid of excess nitrates (you don’t know in what conditions these cucumbers grew). And select cucumbers for pickling that are approximately the same size. These cucumbers will be salted evenly and will look much nicer in a jar.
Cucumbers for preparations should be beautiful. Discard all hooked, yellowed cucumbers with skin defects without regret. And be sure to make sure that the cucumbers are not bitter, otherwise you will be very disappointed.
Correct brine
When pickling, a lot depends on the brine. If you make it a little more concentrated, the cucumbers will become too salty. If you skimp on salt, the jar may explode and the cucumbers will turn sour.
Use only coarse rock salt for pickling cucumbers. Neither iodized salt nor finely ground “Extra” salt are suitable for pickling. For cucumbers that are supposed to be stored in a cold cellar, the brine recipe is slightly different from the brine recipe that is poured into cucumbers intended for storage in an apartment.
Many people believe that the more garlic, pepper, dill, horseradish, cherry leaves and oak bark you add to the brine, the better. To be honest, this is far from true. All additives increase the risk of getting fermented brine and, as a result, rotten cucumbers and exploded jars. Garlic should be added especially carefully. Add it in minimal quantities if you really can’t imagine making brine without garlic. And be sure to thoroughly wash the cucumbers and everything you plan to put in jars with them.
Procedure
So, the cucumbers, dill, horseradish and other ingredients are well washed, the jars, lids and seaming machine are prepared, there is a small saucepan for sterilizing the lids and rubber bands for them, and a large saucepan for brine, as well as a kettle with boiling water (or microwave) for sterilizing jars. A few aspirin tablets won’t hurt either - only Russian, not flavored or effervescent, but the simplest kind. To those who are scared horror stories about the transformation of aspirin in jars into “phenolic compounds”, it will be interesting to know that aspirin itself is a phenolic compound. And, nevertheless, it is widely used for the prevention of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, thrombosis, atherosclerosis and as an effective antipyretic agent. But if you have a prejudice against aspirin, an allergy to acetylsalicylic acid, gastritis, ulcers or problems with the pancreas, then you can safely replace it with vinegar.
Cucumbers are placed in sterilized jars along with horseradish, cherry, black currant leaves, several peppercorns, dill umbrellas and (if available) a piece of oak bark. If desired, garlic is added, but in very moderate quantities. Do not pack the cucumbers too tightly: the brine should wash them on all sides. Aspirin is added to the jar: 1 tablet per liter jar, 2 tablets per 2-liter jar, etc., and everything is filled with boiling brine. The brine for this method of salting does not need to be very concentrated: for a liter of water, take a level spoonful of salt. The lids with rubber bands are boiled for about ten minutes, after which they are removed with tweezers, the jars are “rolled up” and wrapped in a blanket. In a blanket, turned upside down, the cans should stand until the next morning. If nothing has leaked and the cucumbers look elegant green, everything is in order, you can take the jars to the cellar. This method is the simplest: cucumbers are poured only once, stand perfectly in a cold cellar all winter and turn out crispy and very tasty.
If there is no cellar and the cucumbers are supposed to be stored at home, the brine is made more concentrated: 1.5-2 tablespoons of salt per liter of water. At the same time, simple boiling water is first poured into jars filled with cucumbers and other ingredients for 15 minutes 2-3 times, and only after that the brine is added. In this brine you need to add sugar (2 tablespoons per liter) and vinegar (a teaspoon of essence to a three-liter jar already filled with brine). But this turns out to be more of a marinade than a brine. In addition, the taste of cucumbers in vinegar is completely different, and many people don’t like it too much.
Each housewife has her own method of preparing cucumbers, and the standard recipe for crispy pickled cucumbers has not yet been registered. Perhaps he is known to you? Then share!