For a long time, various pickles have been honored and respected in Our Country. These include pickled, pickled, and soaked vegetables and fruits. After all, winter in our conditions is long and harsh, and initially all these delicacies were invented, first of all, in order to preserve the harvest, to prepare for the future products that were grown during a short summer period. At present, when modern technologies allow you to have almost any fresh vegetables and fruits on your table all year round, the taste and healthy properties of pickles come to the fore.
But for the happy owners of household plots, the problem of processing and preserving vegetables and fruits grown by one’s own hands remains relevant. After all, they were grown with love and care, usually without the use of chemicals and pesticides, so the dishes obtained from them carry a special charge of energy and cannot be compared with those bought in stores. This article will focus on green tomatoes – vegetables that can certainly be found on the site of any self-respecting gardener. But it is green tomatoes that have long been salted along with cucumbers, because in terms of their taste characteristics they are in no way inferior, and sometimes even superior to their mature, red counterparts.
Pickles and their importance for humans
For many, the differences between different types of pickles are still not very clear. In fact, everything is quite simple – pickling, salting and urinating differ mainly in the concentration of the salt solution used to preserve vegetables.
- If water and salt are used to make the brine in a proportion of at least 6-8%, and sometimes reaching up to 15-20% of the mass of the original vegetables, then you have salting.
- When fermenting, as a rule, the brine is not prepared in advance, but arises on its own in the process of fermentation from vegetable juice under the influence of salt. Moreover, the concentration of the latter with this method of conservation usually does not exceed 2,5 -3%.
- If the brine is prepared using a small amount of salt, no more than 1,5-2% by weight of vegetables, and sugar is necessarily used in it, and at a concentration of 6-8%, then this method of canning is called urination.
It is clear that today the characteristics of all three varieties of pickles are mixed. Often, brine is prepared for the preparation of pickled tomatoes and even sugar is added to it to enhance fermentation processes.
Nevertheless, all these preservation methods, in which fermentation occurs naturally, without the use of artificial additives like vinegar, not only preserve food, but also add extra flavor and vitality to vegetables.
After all, in these cases, the preservation itself is carried out due to the continuous maintenance of life, in this case, beneficial microorganisms.
Therefore, salted or pickled vegetables, even in small quantities, activate metabolic processes in the body, enhance its cleansing functions.
Cold salting
There are several ways to pickle tomatoes. Recently, the so-called quick method of pickling tomatoes with hot brine has become very popular. But it is clear to everyone that when using this method, part of the vitamins, especially vitamin C, disappears without a trace. Cold pickling of tomatoes has been around for centuries and has established itself as a reliable way to preserve and increase the vitamins in vegetables. The only drawback of this harvesting method is that the tomatoes are cooked for quite a long time, depending on the cutting method, it can take from 2-3 weeks to two months.
Therefore, it is necessary to take care of how to pickle green tomatoes for the winter in advance. Actually, the dates are determined, first of all, by weather conditions. With the approach of stable cold weather, all unripe tomatoes growing in the open field are removed en masse, regardless of their degree of maturity. Even if you do not have your own plot, at this time you can find green tomatoes on the market at a very attractive price, as everyone is trying to sell them as soon as possible so as not to bother with storing vegetables.
In the old days, even poor peasants made pickled tomatoes in wooden barrels and tubs. These tomato pickles were distinguished by their unique taste and aroma, and were stored due to the antiseptic properties of the tree, without spoiling, until the very spring. Now you can also get such products, but their price may not be affordable for everyone.
You have to use enameled or plastic dishes for preparing tomatoes.
If your plans are to create large volumes of workpieces, then cold pickling of green tomatoes is best done in a bucket. Enamel buckets are the most budget-friendly and suitable utensils for pickles today. In no case do not use ordinary metal buckets, as the product will oxidize in them and all vegetables will be hopelessly spoiled.
If the volume of blanks is not very large, then it is quite possible to use small 5-liter plastic buckets.
The method itself is quite simple and even a beginner can handle it. The main thing is to thoroughly clean and prepare the necessary raw materials and utensils for sourdough tomatoes. Buckets are well washed with soda before use, preferably without using chemical dishwashing detergents. Before laying the tomatoes, the containers are scalded with boiling water.
The tomatoes themselves are also thoroughly washed in several waters and then dried on a clean canvas.
In order to salt green tomatoes, it is necessary to prepare the brine in advance: stir 10-600 g of salt in 700 liters of water, boil the resulting brine and cool.
Comment! Please note that this concentration of brine is only suitable for green tomatoes. Already for brown or pink, you need to take more salt. And if you want to pickle ripe red tomatoes, then you will need up to 900 g per 10 liters of water.
A variety of seasonings is one of the most necessary components of the cold method of pickling tomatoes. Indeed, in the process of prolonged and gradual soaking with aromatic and healthy substances of spices, tomatoes acquire an additional taste, thanks to which this vegetable appetizer is popular. In addition, it is spicy herbs, such as oak, cherry and blackcurrant leaves, that significantly increase the shelf life of the workpiece.
So, for pickling tomatoes in a bucket of a standard volume of 10-12 liters, you will need:
- 150 g of dill (you can use not only inflorescences, but also greens);
- 4 heads of garlic;
- A few leaves of horseradish;
- 15-20 currant and cherry leaves;
- 8-10 oak leaves;
- A few stalks of tarragon, basil and savory;
- 100 g celery stalks;
- 15-20 peas of black pepper;
- A couple of pinches of red pepper.
Here is only a minimal set of spices for a delicious pickling of green tomatoes in a cold way in a bucket. If you wish, you can supplement it with your favorite herbs, for example, parsley, cilantro, thyme and others, to your taste.
The further process of pickling tomatoes is very simple. Put some of the spices in the bottom of the prepared bucket, then tightly place the tomatoes in layers. If you’re salting them for the first time, you can even give the bucket a little shake to help the tomatoes stack more tightly. Each row can also be lightly sprinkled with spices. Finally, on top of all the tomatoes should be completely covered with spicy greens. Pour the strained and cooled brine into a bucket, place a plate with a load on top of the tomatoes and cover with a linen cloth. In this form, a bucket of tomatoes can stand at a temperature of + 20 ° C for up to 6-7 days. Then it must be rearranged to a colder place. Tomatoes will be ready in 5-6 weeks after the start of pickling.
Having tried to pickle tomatoes in this way once, you will understand how simple and tasty it is, and you will be able to experiment further by adding other spices and getting a variety of new taste sensations.
