Peoples living in a warm climate, and having the opportunity to eat fresh vegetables all year round, have no idea why cucumbers should be preserved. Therefore, no kitchen in the world has such a rich experience in preserving heat-loving vegetables as in Russian cuisine, and all the secrets in this direction are the unconditional achievement of our housewives.
The variety of marinade recipes for cucumbers is gradually increasing, because Russian cuisine is characterized by a constant change that comes from outside. Features of the national cuisine of neighboring nations are welcomed by our housewives even in canning.
The second important question in this matter is quick methods of harvesting, because our people are accustomed to the table always being generous, and after harvesting, we need to have time to process it - after all, summer in temperate latitudes is short, and you have to wait a long time before the next harvest.
A quick recipe for pickled cucumbers - basic technological principles
If you choose a suitable variety of cucumbers for canning, then there will be no problems with their harvesting and storage. For pickling and pickling, medium-ripening varieties grown in open ground are most suitable. You can determine the grade of pickled cucumber by appearance: the fruits have a thin skin with large tubercles and black spikes, dense flesh. The skin color of pickling cucumber is light, almost white - from the side of the inflorescence, turning into a saturated green hue near the stalk.
Of course, there are other subtleties that must be considered when preserving. For pickling, it is recommended to use freshly picked fruits, as long-term storage of their quality deteriorates. Also, small-sized fruits should be selected, in the stage of technical ripeness, when the seeds have not yet had time to form. They are denser, and small cucumbers are more densely packed in jars, which allows the economical use of containers, storage space.
True, it happens that the fruits correspond to the stage of technical ripeness, but at the same time, their sizes reach 10 cm and above. Such cucumbers are perfect for canning in sliced form, for preparing winter salads.
The process of preserving cucumbers always begins with sorting the fruit, preparing the appropriate number of cans of the desired volume.
Soak cucumbers before laying in a jar: sometimes the skin of the fruit contains bitterness, which is removed due to aging in cold water.
While the cucumbers "take water procedures, the cans are carefully checked for cracks, chips and other defects, then they are cleaned and sterilized, along with the lids. The next step is to prepare the herbs, roots, spices that need to be washed, peeled and cut. Next - everything is simple and very fast. Cucumbers can be canned by double pouring or pasteurization. For subsequent storage of workpieces in a city apartment, at room temperature, nevertheless, pasteurization is a more reliable way.
An essential component of the marinade is an acid that provides a conservation effect. This can be ordinary table vinegar, citric acid, juice of tomatoes, currants, apples, containing acetic acid. The content of acetic acid in the marinade for cucumbers should be at least 12%. When using fruit juices as a preservative, be sure to pasteurize jars; pickling using vinegar is more reliable, and the classic pickle allows you to roll cans without pasteurization.
1. Pickled cucumbers - a classic quick recipe
Ingredients:
Dill umbrellas 400 g
Cherry leaves (or green shoots) 300 g
Red carrots 1.2 kg
Table horseradish roots 700 g
Pepper: sweet Bulgarian - 1.2 kg; sharp, leguminous - 300 g
Garlic 450 g
Sliced blackcurrant leaves 300 g
Stinging nettle (dried or fresh) 100 g
Bay leaf, whole 50 g
Mustard (grains) 70 g
Peas: allspice 60 g; black - 40 g
Coriander Seeds 60 g
Oak bark, dry (or oak leaves) 90 g
Vinegar (9%) 750 ml
Rock salt 360 g
Unrefined sugar 250 g
Purified water 15 l (+ / - 3 l)
Cucumbers of technical ripeness (up to 7-8 cm) 17 kg
Yield: 10 cans of 3.0 L each
Order of preparation:
Sort cucumbers, wash and wet, soak in cold water for five hours. At the bottom of each jar, put cooked spices, roots, chopped leaves. Drain and lay the fruits firmly in sterile jars.
Prepare the marinade: put a tablespoon of salt and sugar per liter of water. Boil a bowl of water with sugar and salt for 5-7 minutes. Add boiling cucumbers in jars. Cover the bottles with sterile lids and allow to cool completely. Drain the cooled water back into the pan using a special cover with holes, and boil the solution again.
Pour 75 ml of vinegar into each jar, and immediately pour each bottle to the neck with boiling brine, immediately seal and turn the bottles over.
Please note that part of the marinade is absorbed into the cucumbers after they have cooled, so the water should cover them 2-4 cm above the level. Wrap blanks with a warm blanket, soak the cans until complete freezing.
Transfer to a designated place for storage.
2. Spicy pickled cucumbers - a quick recipe
For 1 bottle (3 L):
Cucumbers "Nezhenskie", technical ripeness 1.5 kg
Salt 60 g
Sugar 30 g
Bay leaf, whole 3 pcs.
Juniper berries, dried 4 pcs.
Hot red pepper, chilli to taste
Table horseradish root 40 g
Umbrella of ripe dill
Chives 25 g
Black currant leaves and cherry, fresh
Nettle 30 g
Black and Jamaican pepper 6 g
Mustard Seeds 3 g
Water 1.5 L
Vinegar 50 ml
Order of preparation:
Sort the cucumbers, wash and soak for eight hours. Scalp fresh nettle leaves with boiling water so as not to burn your hands, and chop. Fresh fruit leaves can be put in whole bottles of 5-6 pieces. Arrange chopped leaves, garlic, sliced, slices, slices of horseradish roots, dill umbrellas and half hot pepper in prepared bottles.
Fill the bottles tightly with cucumbers. Boil the water by adding sugar and salt in it. Fill the bottles with warm solution to the top. Cover them with plastic lids and leave to ripen at room temperature until the brine becomes acidic. Pour it from the cans into the pan, boil, adding fresh spices. Pour cucumbers in jars a couple of times with boiling water, changing the water.
After that, shift the cucumbers again: since after ripening in the brine their volume will noticeably decrease, condense the fruits. Pour boiling brine one by one, add 50 ml of vinegar, and immediately roll the cans with tin lids. If the cucumbers are stored in a cool place, then vinegar can be omitted.
Turn over, cover the bottle with a blanket until it cools. Transfer the cans to the pantry.
3. Korean pickled cucumbers with carrots - a quick recipe
If you have collected a large number of large cucumbers from the garden, which must be "put into action", then a quick recipe for ready-made snacks from cucumbers, which also have a great taste in Korean carrot marinade, is always useful.
Composition:
Sugar 120 g
Vinegar (9%) 120 ml
Cucumbers 2.4 kg
Salt 50 g
Seasoning for Korean carrots 15 g
Garlic 70 g
Carrot 0.6 kg
Oil150 ml
Cooking Technology:
Choose red carrots, with blunt noses, rinse the root crops well, chop with a thin and long straw. Sprinkle with Korean seasoning, sugar, salt and pour vinegar. Stir and let stand for about half an hour, until the juice is separated. Cucumbers washed and soaked in water, cut into the same strips. Mix vegetables and pack into prepared containers (jars 0.5 - 0.7 l).
Pasteurize ten minutes after boiling water in a pasteurization tank. Cork jars immediately and turn them over. Soak to cool by wrapping them.
4. Spicy pickled cucumbers with vodka and lemons - a quick recipe
Ingredients:
Caraway
Mustard seeds
Dill Umbrellas
Horseradish roots
Hot peppers (pods)
Bay leaf
Garlic
Cherry and blackcurrant leaves, cut
Peppercorns (mix)
Oak bark 300 g
Lemons 10-12 pcs.
Sugar 600 g
Salt 900 g
Purified Water 10 L
Vodka 1.0 L
Cucumbers 12-15 kg
Cooking:
Add spicy roots and spices to the marinade to taste. Sort cucumbers: for canning, select the smallest fruits, and large ones are useful for salads and snacks. Soak the washed cucumbers in cold water. Prepare a strong decoction of oak bark, and for the third time pour cucumbers for an hour with warm infusion.
Peel and chop the horseradish roots into rings, chop the fresh leaves of cherry and black currant, cut the lemons into rings, and the cloves of garlic into slices.
Boil the prepared purified water by adding sugar and salt, caraway seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaves. Spread chopped spices, dill, pepper pods in sterile bottles. Stack cucumbers and slices of lemons. Pour 100 ml of vodka into each bottle, fill it with hot marinade and immediately roll the lids. After cooling, transfer the cans to the basement.
5. Cucumbers in spicy tomato marinade - a quick recipe
Composition:
Water 800 ml
Tomato Paste 250 g
Ground coriander
Allspice
Clove
Salt 75 g
Sugar 200 g
Garlic
Bay leaf
Chile to taste
Vinegar (9%) 70 ml
Cucumbers 1 kg
Exit - 1 can (1.5 L)
Order of preparation:
Wash the cucumbers. Large fruits are suitable for this recipe. Cut them lengthwise into 4 parts, or cut into slices about one centimeter thick. Put in a jar as tightly as possible.
Pour water into a pan, mix it with tomato paste. You can replace the paste with fresh but thick tomato juice: you need to take it in an amount of 2 liters and boil half. Put spices in boiling tomato dressing. Their number can be adjusted to your liking. Boil the marinade for five minutes over low heat, pour boiling water on the cucumbers, adding vinegar to the jar.
Pasteurize the preservation for ten minutes. Cover the hot jar immediately with a lid and cover with a thick cloth. Hold in this position until cool. After checking the quality of the capping, transfer the cucumbers to the pantry.
6. Cucumbers with red currants - a quick recipe for spicy marinade
Ingredients:
Cucumbers (small) 700 g
Garlic
Sugar 50 g
Red currant 300 g
Salt 30 g
Berry puree 250 g
A mixture of peppers (peas)
Clove
Water 300 ml
Technology:
Put spices on the bottom of the jar. Wash the cucumbers, cut the edges on both sides, put them in a jar vertically. Sprinkle currants, shake the jar so that the berries evenly crumble in the jar
For the marinade, boil the water, add the berry puree, sugar, and salt to it. Boil for 3-4 minutes, strain through cheesecloth to make the marinade transparent. Pour into a jar.
Pasteurization time - 7 minutes.
Quick Pickle Recipes - Useful Tips
I always really want canned cucumbers to look as bright and green as fresh.
Our ancestors knew this secret:
Firstly, cucumbers in Russia have long been salted when no one heard of any glass jars, seaming machines and pasteurization. Oak barrels for pickles were scalded with boiling water, rinsed with vodka. Then the barrels were filled with cucumbers, shifting each layer with leaves and stalks of nettles. It is clear that not all housewives have the opportunity to store cucumbers in oak barrels, but you can take note of old secrets when preserving vegetables for the winter. Oak bark, vodka and nettles help preserve the natural green color and crisp density of cucumbers.
To preserve the color of cucumbers, you can use another method: on 10 l of marinade or pickle for cucumbers, instead of vinegar, add 0.7 l of vodka and ½ teaspoon of burnt alum (you can buy them at any pharmacy).
