Contents
- Salting and fermentation
- Rules for pickling cucumbers by fermentation
- Classic fermented cucumber recipe
- An adaptation of a classic glass jar recipe
- Crispy fermented cucumbers for the winter
- Stray cucumbers in jars for the winter with horseradish and dill
- Fermented pickled cucumbers: a recipe with cherry and currant leaves
- Stray cucumbers for the winter with garlic
- Fermented cucumbers in jars with tarragon
- Cucumbers fermented in jars without sugar
- Stray cucumbers in the cold way
- Spicy stray cucumbers in jars for the winter: a recipe with chili peppers
- How to close stray cucumbers with mustard for the winter
- Storage Rules
- Conclusion
Crispy fermented cucumbers for the winter in jars are a fragrant snack that allows you to diversify the menu when fresh vegetables are not available. They are a traditional preparation in Our Country and Germany, more useful than pickled with vinegar. Herbs and roots allow diversifying the taste and smell, the main of which are dill, horseradish, blackcurrant leaves.
Salting and fermentation
Some believe that pickles and fermented cucumbers are made in different ways. But at the heart of their preparation is one process – lactic acid fermentation.
The second name is not as common as the first, but probably arose due to the replacement of barrels with glass jars with a capacity of 1 and 3 liters. There, fermentation processes are more noticeable, especially if vegetables are cooked in an ordinary living room.
When greens are made in barrels, oxidative reactions are slow. After laying the cucumbers, the container is left in a warm place for 1-2 days so that fermentation has just begun, but has not entered the active phase. Then immediately transferred to a cool place. If they are left at normal temperature, the process will be turbulent, and not all greens will be salted equally.
Fermented cucumbers in jars for the winter are prepared quickly. They are usually left in a warm place until the reaction is completed or it is stopped artificially so that the greens do not peroxide at too high a temperature. After all, they cook cucumbers in the summer.
The lids of the jars are not closed until the fermentation process stops. The containers are placed in deep bowls or basins so that the foam does not stain everything around, it is collected as needed, at first several times a day. To prevent midges attracted by seductive smells from getting into the jar, the necks are covered with gauze or other fabric that allows air to pass through well.
Rules for pickling cucumbers by fermentation
Sometimes cucumbers come out tasteless, even though the hostess tried them at a party, and received the recipe first hand. Of course, it happens that women keep the family secrets of salting. But usually the cause of failure is the wrong ingredients, the sequence of actions, or other subtleties that are rarely paid attention to.
Cucumber selection
It is widely known that cucumbers must be fresh, and those bought on the market or in a store before salting must first be soaked in cold water. But not everyone knows that some varieties are unsuitable for harvesting:
- The best fermented cucumbers are obtained from varieties with a “” shirt – large rare pimples and black spikes.
- The “German” shirt is more suitable for marinating. But it is also suitable for salting. Cucumbers are distinguished by small frequent pimples with black spines.
- Greens with white spikes are best eaten fresh. They can be used in the preparation of winter salads. As a last resort – make lightly salted cucumbers. But you need to eat them right away. The fruits become soft as soon as they are completely salted.
- Cucumbers with a smooth skin without pimples are eaten fresh. They are unsuitable for preparations.
Spices for salting
It is wrong to assume that the more spices you put in a jar, the tastier the workpiece will turn out. In everything you need to know the measure. Those who do not believe can cram as much greens into one jar as the main ingredients. Perhaps someone will find them tasty, but most people will refuse to eat such fruits.
For all recipes for fermented cucumbers, traditional spices are:
- salt;
- dill;
- black currant leaves;
- horseradish root and greens.
Strictly speaking, there is enough water and salt for salting in jars. The rest of the spices are added to add strength and flavor. Previously, this list included cherry leaves, but now they are rarely remembered.
Additional ingredients include:
- tarragon (tarragon);
- hot red pepper;
- thyme;
- Bay leaf;
- mustard;
- black peppercorns.
Almost all aromatic herbs can be used. The main thing is to observe the measure, otherwise the workpiece will send the taste and olfactory receptors into a knockout.
Why don’t cucumbers crunch?
Garlic should be mentioned separately. For fermented cucumbers, it has become a traditional spice. But how rarely do they turn out crispy! Many housewives recall grandmothers with a sigh and assure that modern cucumbers are “not the same”. The reason is the garlic. It is he who makes the greens tasty, fragrant and soft. Grandmothers, if they wanted to make cucumbers stronger, put horseradish root in the preparation, not garlic.
Tips and Secrets
Water for fermented cucumbers should be taken from a well or spring. The liquid that flows from the tap in city apartments cannot be used. It is better to buy bottled water. And bring it to the standard, adding a tablespoon of calcium chloride for every 3 liters. This will make the water hard.
Soft for barrel cucumbers can not be used, the rules for jars with a capacity of 1 or 3 liters are looser. But the preparation will turn out much tastier, and the pharmacy drug is inexpensive.
In addition to the careful choice of water, spices and fruits, you must adhere to the following rules:
- Salt is taken only rock or sea.
- Fruits in a jar are placed vertically, “standing”. When there is room on top, several fruits are placed flat.
- If fermented cucumbers are salted for the winter, the tips cannot be cut off. This speeds up cooking, but reduces the shelf life, makes the fruit softer.
- When soaking not too fresh greens, it is good to add ice cubes to the water.
- It is better to take the old dill, with an empty stem and large umbrellas that have begun to turn brown.
Classic fermented cucumber recipe
Of course, the classic recipe for crispy stray cucumbers for the winter should be cooked in barrels. Now you can buy a not too large capacity, which is easy to knead even in a city apartment.
Ingredients for a 10 liter tub or barrel:
- cucumbers in a “” shirt – how much will go in;
- blackcurrant – 30 leaves;
- dill – 5-6 old hollow stems with umbrellas beginning to ripen;
- horseradish – 5-6 leaves;
- rock salt – 2 tbsp. l. with a slide for 1 liter of liquid;
- water.
For spiciness, you can add 3-5 pods of red hot pepper, and for strength – a peeled and chopped or grated piece of horseradish root.
Preparation:
- Wash cucumbers with black, rarely located large pimples, pour over ice water for 1-2 hours.
- Rinse the greens. Dill and horseradish leaves can be cut into large pieces or simply broken.
- At the bottom of the prepared barrel, place a piece of greenery. Lay the cucumbers flat.
- Place the remaining seasonings on top, or layer the fruits. Pour in cold brine.
- Cork the barrel and send it to a room with a temperature of 6-7 ° C for a month and a half. Then you can eat pickles.
An adaptation of a classic glass jar recipe
But even for the smallest barrel there is not always a place in a city apartment. Yes, and a low temperature can only be provided in winter on the balcony. And preparations are made in the summer, then intensive fermentation occurs, which is contraindicated for barrel cucumbers. Even rural residents living in houses built several decades ago do not always have a cold cellar or basement.
You have to preserve fermented cucumbers in small glass jars and adapt recipes to them.
Sometimes the hostess finds a description of the process of cooking vegetables in tubs or barrels, but does not know how to make it in 1-3-liter jars. There is nothing difficult in this.
The next 4 paragraphs are about adapting the classic pickles recipe to glass containers. Their taste will differ slightly from barrel ones.
Fermented cucumbers: recipe for a 3-liter jar
If you simply proportionally divide the ingredients, cucumbers may not work. In jars and barrels, their preparation, although slightly, is different, there are certain subtleties.
Ingredients:
- cucumbers – 1,7 kg;
- horseradish leaf – 1,5-2 pcs.;
- water – 1,5 l;
- salt – 2 Art. l .;
- black currant leaf – 7 pcs.;
- dill – 1 old stem;
- bitter pepper – 1 pod;
- piece of horseradish.
If we compare recipes on how to salt fermented cucumbers for the winter in barrels and jars, it is easy to see that the amount of food is not always reduced proportionally. That’s the way it should be. Rapid fermentation occurs at high temperatures. Salt and greens will need less.
Preparation:
- Sterilize jars and lids.
- Soak cucumbers in cold water for 1-2 hours.
- Boil and cool the brine completely. Or stir well – the salt should dissolve. Fermentation is fast. If the preservative lies at the bottom, the cucumbers can become soft even before the salt is completely dissolved, and there is already less of it than in barrels.
- Rinse the greens, chop coarsely. Immediately put a portion on the bottom of the jar.
- Cucumbers set in containers vertically. Place the rest of the greens on top. Fill with brine.
- Set the jar in a deep wide pan or bowl. Cover with gauze. Collect and remove foam as needed.
- When fermentation goes into a calm phase, close the jar with a lid and put it in a cool place. A month later, the cucumbers are ready.
Fermented cucumbers: layout per liter jar
The sequence for preparing cucumbers fermented in liter jars is the same as for 3 liter containers. The layout is as follows:
- cucumbers – 0,5 kg;
- horseradish – 1 sheet;
- red hot pepper – 1 small pod or a piece of large;
- water – 0,5 l;
- salt – 2 tsp;
- blackcurrant – 3 sheets;
- dill – 1 umbrella;
- a small piece of horseradish root.
Choosing greens for salting in liter jars should not be too large. Otherwise, only a few pieces will fit into the container.
Fermented cucumbers under a nylon cover for the winter
This is one way to seal cold-salted vegetables. When the fermentation process becomes almost imperceptible, the outer part of the jar is rinsed. Remove the remaining foam from the neck with a clean cloth. Add cold brine if necessary.
A nylon cover (leaky) is doused with boiling water. Close the bank. Stored in the coolest possible place. At high temperatures, fermentation processes will continue, and cucumbers may turn sour.
Fermented cucumbers for the winter under iron lids
To better store the workpiece, some housewives prefer to close the jars with tin or screw-on metal lids. They drain and boil the brine, immediately returning it to the container. Cucumbers roll up.
Here you need to remember that the fermentation processes, although slowly, continue in a warm room. If there is no cold cellar or basement, tin lids are more likely to puff up, even after boiling. Kapron, on the other hand, will slowly release fermentation products, and the workpiece will remain intact.
It is not recommended to take out the contents from the jars in order to rinse it and sterilize the container. But some landlords do this. The taste from this deteriorates, and in general the workpiece may be spoiled. Together with the ugly sediment, the preservatives that cover the fruits and greens are washed off.
Cucumbers can be rinsed right before serving. If you do not put a jar in front of the guests, but use any saucer or plate for its intended purpose, everything will be beautiful.
Crispy fermented cucumbers for the winter
To make the cucumbers crunch better and be strong, you can add vodka to the brine. But they do it just before capping the jar. Alcohol serves as an additional preservative and stops the fermentation process.
Ingredients for a 3L can:
- cucumbers – 1,7 kg;
- blackcurrant – 7 leaves;
- dill stalk without root with an umbrella – 1 pc.;
- vodka – 75 ml;
- salt – 2 Art. l .;
- horseradish leaves – 3 pcs.;
- water – 1,5 l.
Preparation:
- Wash greens and cucumbers. Cut horseradish leaves and dill into large pieces.
- Sterilize and refrigerate jars. Lay some greens on the bottom. Fill the container with cucumbers, exposing them vertically. Put the rest of the greens on top.
- Pour in cold brine. Remove fermentation products regularly. When it stops, pour in vodka, close the nylon lid scalded with boiling water.
Stray cucumbers in jars for the winter with horseradish and dill
Horseradish leaves and dill are almost always added to cucumbers. This is one of the simplest recipes that will appeal to people who do not like the smell of blackcurrant, even in blanks.
Ingredients per liter jar:
- cucumbers – 0,5 kg;
- horseradish leaf – 0,5 pc.;
- dill umbrella – 1 pcs.;
- salt – 2 tsp;
- water – 0,5 l.
Preparation:
- Small elastic cucumbers are washed and soaked in cold water.
- A dill umbrella and half a chopped horseradish leaf are placed at the bottom of a sterile jar.
- Cucumbers are placed vertically in a container. The rest of the greens are placed on top.
- Pour in cold brine. Cover with gauze. Fermentation products are regularly removed. When it subsides, rinse the outer part of the can, wash the neck. Cork with a scalded nylon lid.
Fermented pickled cucumbers: a recipe with cherry and currant leaves
Cherry leaves are now rarely added to pickles, but few old recipes could do without them. The main thing here is not to shift the spice. Cherry leaves, although they make the taste play with new notes, in large quantities can spoil the workpiece. Currants can not be spared.
Ingredients for a 1L can:
- cucumbers – 500 g;
- black currant leaf – 3 pcs.;
- salt – 2 tsp;
- dill – 1 umbrella;
- cherry leaf – 1 pcs.;
- water – 0,5 l;
- horseradish – 0,5 sheets.
Preparation:
- Put greens in a sterile jar.
- Place the washed cucumbers vertically on top and fill the container with brine.
- When the fermentation subsides, drain the liquid, boil, immediately return to the jar. Roll up with a sterile tin lid.
Stray cucumbers for the winter with garlic
If you add garlic when salting, the cucumbers will not crunch and become softer. This spice is designed for pickling and hot pouring, not cold fermentation. But for many, a specific taste and aroma is more important than crunch and tight greens. This recipe is for them.
Ingredients for 3L container:
- cucumbers – 1,7 kg;
- horseradish – 2 sheets;
- garlic – 2-3 large cloves;
- dill – 1 old stem with an umbrella;
- blackcurrant – 7 leaves;
- horseradish root – a small piece;
- red hot pepper – 1 small pod;
- salt – 2 Art. l .;
- water – 1,5 l.
Preparation:
- Wash cucumbers and herbs under running water. Soak vegetables if necessary. Peel garlic and horseradish root.
- At the bottom of a sterile jar, put some greens, garlic, a whole pod of hot pepper, randomly chopped horseradish root. Cucumbers in a container should be placed vertically. Sprinkle remaining spices on top. Pour in cold brine.
- Cover with gauze. Remove foam regularly. When fermentation is over, cork with a nylon lid.
Fermented cucumbers in jars with tarragon
Tarragon or tarragon is a spice that is not always put in cucumbers. The plant belongs to the genus Wormwood, has a strong specific taste and aroma. The seasoning is especially popular in France.
The smell of dry and fresh tarragon is noticeably different. Correctly use them in different dishes. When pickling cucumbers, freshly picked green twigs are taken.
Ingredients per 1 liter jar:
- cucumbers – 500 g;
- horseradish leaves – 0,5 pcs.;
- tarragon – 2 branches about 10 cm long;
- salt – 2 tsp;
- vodka – 25 ml;
- water – 500 ml.
Preparation:
- First put greens in a clean jar, then cucumbers. Fill with brine.
- Before corking, add vodka.
Cucumbers fermented in jars without sugar
Sugar is not needed when pickling cucumbers. Recipes with it have been invented recently and speed up the fermentation process. It makes sense to use a sweetener in the cold summer, when pickles are prepared in the country, and they need to be made as quickly as possible.
The proposed recipe is used more often for salted cucumbers. But this can also be done for winter harvesting. People who do not like the smell of spices will appreciate it.
Ingredients per liter jar:
- small cucumbers – 500 g;
- water – 500 ml;
- salt – 1 tbsp l.
Preparation:
- Cucumbers are washed, if necessary, soaked in cold water. Stacked vertically in a jar.
- Salt is dissolved in water. Pour cucumbers. Cover with gauze. Put in a place protected from the sun. Regularly change the cloth to a clean one, collect the foam.
- When fermentation becomes almost imperceptible, drain the brine. Boil. They return to the bank.
- Close with a capron lid.
Stray cucumbers in the cold way
All recipes in which the brine is not boiled before sealing the jar can be considered cold-cooked. This is how especially tasty, crunchy cucumbers are obtained.
This cooking method is designed specifically for those who like to experiment, without dill and currant leaves, but with fragrant thyme. An additional strength to the workpiece will give hot pepper and horseradish root.
Ingredients for a 3 liter can:
- cucumbers – 1,7 kg;
- horseradish leaves – 1 pcs.;
- savory or thyme – 5 branches;
- salt – 2 tbsp. spoons;
- horseradish root – a small piece;
- hot pepper – a small pod.
Preparation:
- At the bottom of the jar put greens, pepper and horseradish root. Place the cucumbers vertically in the container. Fill with brine.
- When fermentation is over, close with a nylon lid.
Spicy stray cucumbers in jars for the winter: a recipe with chili peppers
Many pickle recipes include red hot peppers. But if you put a lot of it, the fruits will become “thermonuclear”. This recipe will surely be appreciated by guests when drinking hard liquor. The next morning, cucumbers cooked with chili peppers will help to cope with the symptoms of a hangover.
Ingredients per 3 liter jar:
- cucumbers – 1,7 kg;
- horseradish – 2 sheets;
- dill – 1 adult plant with an umbrella, without a root;
- salt – 2 Art. l .;
- chili pepper – 1-1,5 large pods;
- blackcurrant – 7 leaves;
- water – 1,5 l.
Preparation:
- Wash cucumbers, if necessary, soak in cold water. Rinse greens. Pepper cut into pieces without removing the seeds.
- Put pepper, greens on the bottom of the jar. Place cucumbers vertically on top. Pour in cold brine.
- After the end of fermentation, close the nylon lid.
How to close stray cucumbers with mustard for the winter
Mustard will give the cucumbers additional strength, a delicate specific taste and aroma. True, the brine will be cloudy, especially if you use a powder, but the fruits can be washed before serving.
Ingredients for a 3 liter container:
- cucumbers – 1,7 kg;
- blackcurrant leaves – 5 pcs.;
- garlic – 2 teeth;
- dill – 1 stalk with an umbrella;
- horseradish leaf – 1 large or 2 small;
- salt – 2 Art. l .;
- mustard – 1,5 tbsp. l. powder or 2 tbsp. l. grains;
- water – 1,5 l.
Preparation:
- First, a brine is brewed from water, salt and mustard. Cool completely.
- Half of the chopped greens, garlic and horseradish root are placed at the bottom of a sterile jar. Cucumbers are placed vertically. The rest of the spices are placed on top. Pour in cold brine.
- They are left to roam. When the reaction becomes almost imperceptible, cork the jar with a nylon lid.
Storage Rules
Ready cucumbers should be stored in a cool place deprived of light. If the jars are kept at a high temperature, fermentation will continue, the cucumbers will turn sour, become soft and tasteless.
Conclusion
Crispy fermented cucumbers for the winter in jars are made simply, recipes allow for deviations and liberties. To make the preparation tasty, it is better to take hard water, do not be zealous with a variety of herbs. The fruits will be dense and crispy only if garlic was not used in cooking. Fortress can give horseradish root.