Contents
Salted tomatoes are a classic tomato recipe that has never lost its popularity. Every year there are more and more recipes for pickling green tomatoes. They are improved, allowing you to turn unripe fruits into a savory appetizing snack. And if earlier our grandmothers salted vegetables mainly in barrels, now the choice of containers is much wider. In this article, we will learn how to make pickled green tomatoes in a bucket.
Benefits of using a bucket for salting tomatoes
Salting tomatoes allows you to reveal the taste of green tomatoes from all sides. The fermentation process takes quite a long time and at each stage the vegetables have their own unique taste. At first, tomatoes are more like lightly salted, and then every day they will open more and more. The result is wonderful spicy and mouth-watering tomatoes. And if you add more hot pepper, you can get a real explosion of taste.
Pickled tomatoes are in many ways inferior to salted ones, as they have a monotonous inexpressive flavor. Most often, tomatoes are salted using the cold method. This simplifies the cooking process, as nothing needs to be boiled. From this, the taste of the workpiece does not suffer in any way. Tomatoes remain the same juicy and fragrant.
It is very convenient to salt tomatoes in a bucket. Thus, you can save a fairly large area for storing blanks. The bucket will fit a lot of tomatoes, so it’s enough even for a large family. If you put the same number of tomatoes in jars, they will take up much more space in your cellar.
Selection of fruits for pickling
Absolutely all varieties of tomatoes are suitable for salting. And it does not matter at what stage of maturation they are. The size of the fruit also does not matter, even the smallest cherry tomatoes will do. In this case, you can focus on your own taste and preferences.
If you like soft tomatoes, then it is better to salt ripe red fruits. They secrete a lot of juice and will turn out very juicy and tender. And for those who prefer hard tomatoes, green unripe fruits should be salted. No matter how much they stand, the workpiece will not lose density, and the taste will turn out to be no worse than red tomato pickles.
Either one or the other tomatoes are good. However, in no case do not salt both of them in the same container. You can pickle ripe and green tomatoes. But salting in these cases occurs in different ways. Red fruits pickle faster, while green ones take longer. As a result, vegetables will have a strange and completely different taste.
Recipe for pickling green tomatoes in a bucket
This recipe involves salting tomatoes in a cold way. It will take quite a bit of time, and, most importantly, will retain most of the nutrients. Greens and other additives will give green fruits an appetizing taste and aroma.
To prepare a snack, you will need the following ingredients:
- green unripe tomatoes – the amount depends on the size of the bucket;
- edible salt – two tablespoons per liter of liquid;
- hot pepper – from four to six pods to your taste;
- granulated sugar – a large spoon for three kilograms of tomatoes;
- favorite greens (parsley, dill);
- clove buds;
- black peppercorns and allspice;
- fresh garlic.
And of course, you need to prepare the bucket itself. The container is pre-washed with hot water and soda. Then all prepared vegetables and herbs are washed. Do not take fruits with rot and damage for pickling. Leave such tomatoes for adjika.
If you do not know what greens to take, then use the standard set. Usually dill, bay leaf, parsley and celery are chosen for pickles. It is advisable to take not only young sprigs of dill, but also upper umbrellas. Also, many housewives put all kinds of leaves in salted tomatoes. Currants, cherries and horseradish are suitable here. You can put a little of everything or choose only your favorites.
Greens must be cut into pieces of at least three centimeters in length. At the same time, we do not touch the leaves, we will add them entirely. All green components must be mixed to get a more or less homogeneous mass. Line the bottom of the prepared bucket with this mixture. A few bay leaves, a couple of buds of dried cloves, three peas of allspice and 10 peas of black pepper are also thrown there. Hot pepper is cut into small pieces and also added to the rest of the ingredients.
Next, proceed to the preparation of the brine. The amount of liquid is easy to calculate. A ten-liter bucket will need about five liters of finished brine. However, it is better to make it bigger so that it is sure to be enough and you do not have to finish an additional portion.
To prepare the brine, you need to combine water, salt and granulated sugar in a large container. Everything is thoroughly mixed until the components are completely dissolved. The brine is ready, so you can put all the prepared tomatoes in a bucket and fill them with liquid.
From above, you should lay a wooden circle, install some kind of load and cover everything with a towel. The first few days the tomatoes should stand at room temperature. During this time, the active process of tomato fermentation will begin. Then the bucket will need to be moved to a cool room.
Conclusion
As we have seen, there is nothing easier than pickling green tomatoes in buckets. It is very convenient and practical. The blanks are enough for a large family, and the container will take up very little space. A great way to process green tomatoes. So feel free to pickle unripe vegetables in a similar way!
