Preserve cucumber — The art of pickling cucumbers

The art of preserve cucumber

Now, the stores offer a large assortment of pickled vegetables; homemakers make preserve cucumber every summer and autumn. This can be called our national tradition. Home-made pickles create warmth and comfort in the house because they are prepared with love and care for loved ones.

Soups and salads and toppings from aromatic and crunchy preserve cucumber, but they are also tasty as an independent snack. It seems that there is nothing easier than pickling cucumbers, but in fact, this is a real art. However, they can quickly learn it. The end of summer and autumn is the best time for pickling. It remains to choose a recipe for delicious pickled cucumbers and learn some tricks to make them beautiful, mouth-watering, and fragrant.

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How to choose cucumbers to preserve cucumber?

It is better to use vegetables grown with your own hands for cucumber preparation, but if you do not have a vegetable garden, it does not matter — buy cucumbers at the market or from farmers. It is best to salt small cucumbers with a length of 7 to 13 cm, since they are tastier and sweeter and salted better. They have a denser flesh, which crunches pleasantly after salting — at least in all recipes to preserve cucumber, you will find such recommendations.

Choose cucumbers for canning are usually not smooth but with bumps and dark thorns. Soft cucumbers with white thorns are salad vegetables. The cucumbers should be firm to the touch and green, but not too dark and without yellow spots. Pickled cucumbers also have a thin skin that allows them to be well salted. Be sure to try the cucumbers before pickling so that they do not taste bitter. Otherwise, it will be a pity for the effort spent.

How long to soak cucumber in water?

This is a significant point, and each housewife has their own opinion on this matter. However, practice shows that when cucumbers are soaked for several hours, they become more tasty and crispy. If it is best to preserve cucumber right away without soaking, voids may form inside, which is not very aesthetically pleasing — at least, such cucumbers in dishes will not look at all presentable. To preserve the rich green color of pickled cucumbers, you can first douse them with boiling water and then soak them in cold water.

Pickling salt: How do you keep preserve cucumber crisp?

It is definitely better to use pickling salt, which gives a concentrated solution with a rich taste. It is the use of rock salt that makes the preserve cucumber firm and crispy. Since from small salt, they soften over time and lose their bright taste. Classic proportions for pickling cucumbers, 2–2.5 tbsp. l. for 1 liter of water.

What utensils to use for canning?

Use glass Mason jars or enamel dishes. Banks well with a soda solution rinsed thoroughly, poured over with boiling water, and then sterilized — either boiled with lids for 15 minutes or calcined in an oven at a temperature of 230 °F (110 °C) or kept over hot steam.

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What spices and herbs are for salting cucumber?

The amount of spices depends not only on the recipe for pickles but also on taste preferences. Commonly used are black and allspice, horseradish leaves and root, mustard seeds, cloves, dill umbrellas, currant, oak and cherry leaves, garlic, dried bay leaves, currant berries, celery grains, basil, mint, marjoram, and caraway seeds. It is better to cut the herbs just before salting so that they do not wilt, while it is required to rinse them thoroughly. You can add dried herbs and spices from your pantry.

Aromatic herbs and spices not only give preserve cucumbers freshness and piquancy. Spices make pickled cucumbers healthier and have many essential functions. Mustard seeds prevent cans from exploding, horseradish root under the lid protects against mold, and oak bark makes cucumbers crispy. Oak and cherry leaves give the cucumbers the flavor of the wood barrels in which they were once salted. But vinegar, when salting, do not add. Otherwise, there will be pickled cucumbers. Usually, cucumbers on coarsely chopped leaves, slightly covered with lids. Leave a small hole and the fruits, with a spicy aroma, for 1.5–2 hours. These preserve cucumbers are delicious!

How to put cucumbers in a jar

Some recipes for pickled cucumbers are to place large cucumbers in jars on current leaves or cherry leaves horizontally or vertically, then put small cucumbers on them. With prolonged salting, the cucumbers slightly decrease in size, so you can stack them in dense rows, sprinkling with spices. After that, brine into the jar, and the top layer is closed with fragrant horseradish and currant leaves.

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Today I want to share with you a recipe for delicious preserving cucumber without sterilization and vinegar. Instead of vinegar, we will use red currants. It will give a unique and unusual taste to cucumbers.

Alton Brown Makes Homemade Dill Pickles

Today I want to share with you a recipe for delicious cucumbers without vinegar with red currants. Instead of vinegar, we will use red currants. It will give a unique and unusual taste to cucumbers.