Why cucumbers become soft when pickled

Pickled cucumbers become soft in a jar for many housewives, but this situation is not normal. Harvested vegetables should be strong and crispy, and softness indicates that they are spoiled.

Why canned cucumbers become soft

Some mistakes made when canning cucumbers can be corrected and saved. But if the cucumbers become soft after pickling, it will no longer be possible to return density and crunchiness to them.

So that the cucumbers in the jar do not have to be disposed of, it is necessary to initially preserve them correctly. And for this you should know what mistakes lead to the softening of pickles.

Violation of sterilization technology

Pickled cucumbers in a jar can retain their qualities for many months only on the condition that the jar is completely free of harmful microorganisms. That is why it is customary to carefully sterilize the jar before salting.

If sterilization was insufficient, the workpiece will quickly become sour

Sometimes housewives approach the process of sterilizing containers not carefully enough. Cucumbers after pickling become soft if:

• the jar is poorly washed, and dirt or detergent residues remain on its walls;
• sterilization was carried out not long enough and did not bring the desired effect;
• the jar was not completely processed, and sterilization did not affect its neck, which often accumulates dirt and microbes;
• during the processing of containers, no attention was paid to seaming lids.

It is necessary to sterilize the salting container in accordance with all the rules, following all the prescribed steps. It is impossible to reduce the sterilization time, it is better to slightly exceed it than to finish the treatment ahead of time. Together with the jar, it is imperative to process the lids, since their cleanliness when preserving pickles is also of great importance.

Lack of tightness

Pickled cucumbers may become soft due to the fact that the jar with the workpiece was closed too loosely, and it was not possible to achieve complete tightness. If air seeps into the jar through at least a small hole, fermentation processes will begin in the brine, and the vegetables will become soft.

Tightness in blanks is most often violated due to the following points:

• low-quality lids that do not fit tightly to the neck;
• defects on the neck of the jar, chips, chips and cracks;
• a faulty can-sealing machine that doesn’t do its job.

Also, the tightness can be broken already during storage, if you carelessly drop or hit the jar. Sometimes the container remains intact at first glance, but the lid is knocked off, or microcracks are formed that allow air to pass through.

The tightness of the twist is one of the main conditions for high-quality salting

Mold fungi in conservation

Pickled vegetables may be soft after seaming due to the formation of mold in the brine. It occurs for many reasons – on poorly washed cucumbers, because of poor-quality salt, because of poor sterilization of containers.

At first, the mold fungus looks like a viscous thin film on the surface of the brine. If the pickles still retain their firmness and have not yet become soft, you can try to salvage the brine. For this you need:

• drain the liquid from the jar and wash off the traces of mold from pickles, and then scald them with boiling water;
• re-sterilize the jars and prepare a new brine by boiling it for several minutes on the stove;
• put the vegetables back in a clean jar and fill with fresh salted brine, and then roll up the container tightly.

If the mold has not had time to seriously damage the pickles and make them soft, then after scalding and reprocessing the vegetables will still be suitable for storage.

Mistakes when preparing brine

When pickled, cucumbers become soft due to the fact that the brine was not prepared correctly during the preservation process. Housewives often make several common mistakes:

1. Lack of salt, cucumbers in this case quickly become soft. For 1 liter of water in a jar, there should be at least 1 large spoon of salt.
2. Lack of vinegar – when pickling vegetables, you need to add at least 70 ml of vinegar per 1 liter of water, otherwise the cucumbers will become soft in a few days. Also, you can not take citric acid instead of vinegar, it can be used in pickling, but does not replace acetic acid.
3. Inappropriate salt – pickled and pickled cucumbers are made using ordinary edible salt for universal use, and it is advisable to take coarse salt. “Extra”, iodized or sea salt are not suitable, because of them the brine begins to ferment, and the cucumbers become soft.
4. Poor water quality. If the cucumbers are soft when salted with cold water, then most likely it contains impurities that negatively affect the quality of the brine. Water for preserving vegetables in a jar is recommended to take purified or well, spring, with medium hardness.

Only high-quality brine can keep the fruits firm.

For salted vegetables in a jar, it is important to strictly follow the proportions and algorithms indicated in the recipe. If you put too little of the main ingredients in the brine or exceed the recommended amount, then the liquid will ferment, and the cucumbers will become soft.

Incorrect stacking of cucumbers

If pickles turn out soft, then the ratio of fruits and brine may have been violated during the preservation process:

1. If there are too few cucumbers and a lot of liquid, then the vegetables may be overly saturated with brine and will be soft.
2. If pickles are packed too tightly in a jar, and there is little brine, and the jar itself is large, then the upper layers of the fruit will put a lot of pressure on the lower ones. As a result, the vegetables at the bottom of the jar will become soft.

Poor quality cucumbers

The quality of pickling directly depends on the quality of the cucumbers themselves. Soft pickled cucumbers spoil the workpiece in the following cases:

• salted fruits were sluggish already in the garden, and in salting they only completely sour;
• for preservation, poorly washed fruits were used, on which dirt and bacteria remained;
• cucumbers of an unsuitable salad variety went into pickling in a jar, such vegetables quickly become soft, since only universal varieties or special cucumbers for pickling can be rolled up for the winter;
• for canning, they took cucumbers with stale barrels, traces of mold, yellow spots and other damage.

You can roll up for the winter in a jar only completely healthy, strong fruits, plucked from the garden no later than a day before processing. For pickling and pickling, small-sized vegetables are suitable, with hard pimples on the skin and dense pulp, for example, varieties Nezhinsky, Rodnichok and others.

Salad cucumber varieties are not suitable for conservation – you need to take pickled cucumbers

Improper storage

If the pickles in the jar become soft after a certain time after canning, then the storage conditions may have been violated. The fruits become sour from too high a temperature, because lactic acid breaks down in the brine, which, when salted, acts as the main preservative.

It is required to store pickles in cool conditions, at temperatures up to 3-5 ° C. It is best to put the jar in the refrigerator or cellar in the country.

How to pickle cucumbers so that they are not soft

The classic recipe for pickling vegetables suggests using a cold canning method and a minimum set of ingredients:

1. Jars and lids are sterilized by steam or in the oven before creating the workpiece.
2. Cucumbers of a suitable pickling variety are soaked for several hours in cold water to remove air and possible harmful substances from them.
3. 2 leaves of horseradish, cherries and black currants are placed in a jar, as well as 2 chopped garlic cloves, a little dill and hot pepper.
4. Cucumbers are added to the ingredients and they are tightly packed in containers.
5. Dissolve 3 large tablespoons of salt in a glass of clean water.
6. The ingredients in the jar are filled with cold water to half, and then salt solution is added and a little more cold water is added to fill the jar to the end.

The workpiece is covered with a tight lid and immediately put in the refrigerator. If you strictly follow the recipe, then pickles will turn out crispy.

Before harvesting, the fruits must be soaked in water for a long time.

Tips from experienced housewives

A few simple recommendations will help to avoid a situation in which cucumbers become soft after pickling:

1. So that the liquid in the jar does not ferment, and the vegetables do not become limp, you can add 1 large spoon of vodka or 5 mustard seeds to the brine.
2. To prevent mold, you can put a small piece of horseradish root on top of the jar, in addition, it will give the cucumbers hardness and improve their taste.
3. To prevent the appearance of mold and to maintain the hardness of cucumbers, an aspirin tablet or oak bark is also added to the salting.
4. If you cut off the tails of cucumbers before salting, then the brine will reach full readiness faster.

Experienced housewives recommend sending vegetables collected from a personal garden or bought from farmers for conservation in jars. Store-bought cucumbers often contain excess nitrates, and in random markets it is difficult to guarantee that purchased vegetables will be of high quality and safe.

Conclusion

Pickles go soft in the jar due to several common canning mistakes. Since it is almost impossible to save sour vegetables, it is better to initially follow the technology and not neglect the recommendations in the recipes.