Recipes for lightly salted cucumbers for the winter in jars

The annual closing of cucumbers for the winter has long been equated with a national tradition. Every autumn, many housewives compete with each other in the number of closed cans. At the same time, someone closes pickles, someone marinates them. But there are also those who close salted cucumbers in jars for the winter.

What cucumbers to choose

Lightly salted cucumbers for the winter are a great alternative to already boring pickled and pickled cucumbers. Due to the low salt content and the absence of vinegar, they can be given even to kids, but only within reasonable limits.

In order for such cucumbers to turn out well, you need to choose the right fruits. Cucumbers ideal for lightly salted pickling should be:

• dense and hard;
• slightly pimply;
• not bitter in taste;
• no more than 7 – 10 centimeters in length.

Cucumbers that meet these conditions will acquire not only an excellent taste, but also a special crunch during pickling.

A little bit about spices and seasonings

Adding spices and seasonings when spinning salted cucumbers is a very important procedure that can affect not only the taste of the future snack, but also its structure and shelf life. Most often, when preparing salted cucumbers, the following spices and seasonings are added:

• Bay leaf;
• horseradish;
• garlic;
• black pepper;
• dill;
• blackcurrant leaves.

These seasonings can already be called “salting classics”, but this does not mean that other seasonings for salting will not work. Some, for example, successfully use cherry and oak leaves, someone adds red pepper instead of black pepper. This departure from the usual seasonings will help to get a new, richer taste of cucumbers.

You can also do without seasonings at all, adding only salt and pepper. But if the desired result of salting is crispy cucumbers, then horseradish should not be bypassed.

Classic recipe

It is this recipe that is used annually by many housewives to prepare lightly salted cucumbers for the winter. Most of the ingredients that it will require can be found in every garden plot, namely:

• 5 kilograms of cucumbers;
• 7 liters of water;
• 7 tablespoons of rock salt;
• garlic;
• dill;
• currant and horseradish leaves.

Before proceeding with salting, fresh cucumbers should be washed well, washing off all the earth and dirt from them. Now they can remove the tips from both sides and put the cucumbers in a large deep enamel or glass container for soaking. They should be filled only with cold water, and the soaking time should not exceed 2 hours. Moreover, the colder the water, the more crispy the cucumbers will become.

While the cucumbers are soaking, you can prepare the brine and seasonings. To prepare the brine, all prepared salt must be dissolved in boiling water. As for the preparation of the seasoning, the garlic must be peeled, and everything else washed. You don’t have to cut the dill and garlic.

Now you can either take another large container, or use the one in which the cucumbers were soaked. Part of the greens with garlic is laid on its bottom, then part of the cucumbers. In such layers, you need to lay out most of the greens and all the cucumbers. The rest of the greens with garlic should be set aside for spinning in jars. When this is done, pour hot brine into the container. It must cover all cucumbers.

If the cucumbers are completely covered, then there will be no problems, and you can start preparing the brine.

On a container with cucumbers, you need to put a load in the form of a large can of water or a heavy stone and leave it for 48 hours at room temperature.

When the specified time comes to an end, you can begin to sterilize the jars. The easiest way to do this is over the ferry. You can learn about this method of sterilizing jars from the video:

When the cucumbers are pickled, they must be pulled out of the brine and washed well in clean cold water. In this case, the brine must be drained through gauze into a clean pan, but greens with garlic can be thrown away. All drained brine should be boiled. In the process of boiling, foam will form, which must be removed.

Now we take pre-sterilized jars. At the bottom of each jar lays greens with garlic, and then cucumbers. At the same time, you should not try to cram as many cucumbers as possible into the jar. They should have some free space. After the cucumbers are in the jar, they must be poured with boiling brine and the jar closed with a lid.

Closed jars with salted cucumbers should be turned upside down and wrapped in towels or a blanket. In this position, they must be within 24 hours. Store ready-made cans in a cool, dark place.

Cucumbers with apples

This winter version of lightly salted cucumbers in jars perfectly combines herbs and the sweet and sour taste of apples. To prepare such a snack you will need:

• cucumbers;
• 1 – 2 apples;
• garlic;
• dill;
• cherry and currant leaves;
• black pepper peas;
• cloves;
• Bay leaf;
• rock salt.

Therefore, before preparing the brine, it is necessary to measure how many liters are included in jars of cucumbers.

First, let’s deal with cucumbers. They must be thoroughly washed from the earth and dirt and cut off their tips. Now, as in the previous recipe, they should be soaked in cold water for 1 to 2 hours.  

While they are soaking, prepare the rest of the ingredients: peel the garlic and wash the herbs. Apples should not only be washed, but also cut into slices. In this case, the core and seeds do not need to be removed.

When the soaking time of the cucumbers comes to an end, they must be pulled out of the water and put in an enamel container for pickling. Apples with herbs and other seasonings should be sent to them. All contents of the container must be thoroughly mixed with each other. Now let’s prepare the brine. To do this, dissolve salt in boiling water and mix well. Hot brine is poured into a container with cucumbers, apples and herbs. They should be left to soak for 8-12 hours.

After this time, when the cucumbers absorb the aroma of apples and herbs, they can be closed in sterilized jars. To do this, all the brine from them must be drained and boiled again. While the brine is boiling, cucumbers with apples should be placed in jars on pillows of greens. After the boiling brine is poured into jars, they can be closed with lids. Ready jars must be turned upside down and wrapped. When the jars are completely cool, they can be turned back and stored in a dark, cool place.

When preparing salted cucumbers for the winter, it is worth remembering that the longer they stand in jars, the more they are salted. Therefore, it is desirable to use them in the first 2-3 months after spinning.