Recipe for salting and preserving vegetables for the winter at home, pickles in oak barrels and tubs, in Armenian

General rules

In order for the result of your efforts to please with your taste, the hostess must adhere to simple rules in the cooking process:

1. Choose only ripe vegetables, without damage and foci of decay. Remember that crushed, overripe or worm-eaten fruits are not suitable for salting, as the imperfection of the raw materials will necessarily affect the taste characteristics.
2. Strictly follow the recipe – do not reduce the indicated amount of ingredients, otherwise the vegetables will not be salted, but spoiled.
3. Use the right utensils and equipment: plastic containers, oak barrels.

The main difference between salting and no less common pickling is that salt acts as the main and only preservative. Vinegar is never used in pickle recipes.

Video “Salting cucumbers in a barrel or tub”

From this video you will learn how to pickle cucumbers in a barrel for the winter.

Salt cucumbers

There are many recipes for harvesting cucumbers. They can be marinated, cooked from them salads and caviar, rolled up with vinegar and spices. But the most favorite way of harvesting homemade cucumbers among our compatriots has always been and remains salting. Let’s look at the most popular recipes.

In banks

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have an oak tub handy, like the one your grandmother used to pickle cucumbers. Believe me, cucumbers prepared according to this recipe in glass jars are in no way inferior to the famous grandmother’s pickles. True, the salting process will take more time, but the result is worth the effort.

To make a three-liter jar, take the following products:

• cucumbers – how much will go into the jar;
• 1 bar of horseradish root;
• 4-5 cloves of garlic;
• 5 currant leaves;
• 2 dill umbrella;
• 10 g mustard seeds;
• 100 g of rock salt;
• 2 laurel leaves;
• 4 carnation umbrellas;
• 5 peppercorns.

Pour vegetables with clean cold water for 4-6 hours – this will make the finished cucumbers crispy. When the water is drained, cut off the ends of the cucumbers. We clean horseradish, garlic cloves, prepare spices and spices. We tightly lay out the cucumbers in jars, pour in spices and salt, pour purified water up to the neck. In this form, we leave the vegetables for several days – they will slightly ferment, foam will appear on the surface of the brine, and it will become slightly cloudy.

Carefully pour the brine into a large saucepan and send it to the stove, let it boil for a few minutes. Pour cucumbers with hot brine again and close with tight nylon lids. Now you can take the jars into a cool closet and be patient for a few weeks – that’s how long it takes for the cucumbers to finally “ripen”.

In a barrel

Dense, crispy cucumbers, pickled in a wooden barrel according to an old recipe, are a constant favorite of any feast, despite their seeming unpretentiousness. In order for everything to work out, the preparatory work should begin in advance. The tub for the upcoming salting should be prepared in a few weeks. It is filled with water and left for 2-3 weeks so that the tree swells and all the cracks are filled.

Now we pour out the water, and thoroughly wash the barrel inside with a solution of soda and rinse with clean water. Shortly before laying the vegetables, the barrel is doused with boiling water. We select cucumbers of approximately the same size, wash them, scald them with boiling water and immediately dip them into ice water – this way the vegetables will retain their natural color.

In a standard barrel, designed for 45-50 kg of cucumbers, you should place 2 kg of dill umbrellas, horseradish leaves and root – about 200 g, the same number of peeled garlic cloves, 50 g of bitter capsicum, 250 g of parsley or celery, fresh black leaves currants and cherries. In total, their weight should be about 500 g. Next, we wash these ingredients, dry them and shift the vegetables with them, gradually filling the barrel.

Barrels filled with vegetables and spices are poured with cold brine, prepared at the rate of 1 kg of salt per 10 liters of water. We keep the barrel for several days in a warm room to start the process of natural fermentation, and then we move it to a cold closet. To prevent the vegetables from rising and becoming moldy, cover them on top with a cloth napkin and press down with a load. After about 30–35 days, the barrel can be opened and the cucumbers can be tasted.

Tomatoes

Another popular vegetable for homemade preparations. Along with the recipe for canning green tomatoes in Armenian style, hostesses are sure to prepare salted tomatoes according to basic recipes.

In a glass container

For salting delicious tomatoes, you will need a minimum of products (based on a 3-liter jar):

• 1,5 Art. l salts;
• 6 Art. l sugar;
• 1 tsp citric acid;
• tomatoes and water – how much will go into the jar.

Pour the spices at the bottom of the jar, put the greens if desired, put the tomatoes. Fill with boiling water, cover with a lid and leave to cool. When the brine becomes slightly warm, it is poured into a saucepan, boiled and poured over the tomatoes again. Now the jar can be rolled up and sent for storage.

In a wooden box

Salting tomatoes in wooden tubs, like other vegetables for the winter, requires preliminary preparation of the container. We prepare it in the same way as for cucumbers.

We need:

• 10 kg of tomatoes;
• 200 g of dill, parsley and currant leaves;
• 1 pod of hot pepper;
• 7,5 liters of ready-made brine (80 g of salt per 1 liter of water);
• spices – optional.

Thoroughly wash and sort vegetables and herbs, put them in layers in a wooden container. Pour the tomatoes with brine and leave for a day at room temperature. After that, we move the barrel to a cool closet for permanent storage.

Cabbage

white-headed

The most popular way to harvest cabbage for the winter is traditional pickling.

From the ingredients:

• 3 kg of white cabbage of a winter variety;
• 3 medium-sized carrots;
• 1 liters of clean water;
• 2 Art. l salts;
• 1 st. l. Sahara.

Finely chop the cabbage, rub the carrots on a coarse grater. Mix the vegetables and pack tightly into a suitable container. We prepare the brine, boil it, let it cool and pour the cabbage. We leave the workpiece for 2 days, stirring daily. As soon as air bubbles or foam appear on the surface, the snack is ready.

Red

Unusual elegant color appetizer gives a bright beetroot.

To prepare you will need:

• 3 kg of cabbage;
• 1,5 kg of table beets;
• 3 pods of hot pepper;
• 2 heads of garlic;
• 3 Art. l salts;
• 2 L of water;
• celery greens – 2 bunches.

We prepare the brine from water and salt in advance – it must cool completely before pouring. Cabbage is cut into slices without separating the stalk, beets – in circles. We clean the garlic, cut each clove in half, pepper – rings. We lay out the vegetables in layers: first beets, then cabbage, garlic, peppers and celery. The beets should be on top. Leave the vegetables soaked in brine for 3 days at room temperature. This time will be enough. Now you can take a sample and send a jar of cabbage to the refrigerator.

Courgettes

To prepare zucchini you will need:

• 1 kg of young zucchini;
• parsley, dill;
• 1 garlic head;
• 4-5 pieces of peeled horseradish root;
• 1 hot pepper;
• 80 g of rock salt;
• 1 L of water.

We prepare the brine: dissolve the salt in boiling water, cool and filter through several layers of gauze. Wash zucchini and cut into slices. We wash the herbs and spices. We put half of the spices and herbs on the bottom of the salting container, put the chopped zucchini, cover the top with the remaining half of herbs and herbs. Pour the vegetables with brine and press down with a load so that the liquid completely covers the contents of the container. We leave the workpiece in a dark place at room temperature (18–20 ° C) for a week. After that, zucchini can be cleaned in a closet or cellar for permanent storage.

Home-made preparations will always taste better than those bought in supermarkets.

Take the time to prepare them in the summer to delight your family with delicious and healthy dishes in the winter.