Do you like crispy barrel cucumbers? But don't want to use additional ingredients such as vinegar or citric acid? Then the cucumbers are pickled in a cold way, which does not require pouring a boiling solution. We list the main methods and recipes for preparing this vegetable without heat treatment.
Methods for pickling cucumbers
The difference in the options for preparing a crispy snack will be in the size of the pickling containers, the use of seasonings and the concentration of the saline solution. Of course, nothing can compare with real cucumbers from a barrel, but not everyone, especially city residents, has the opportunity to store large containers, and they won’t have that much food. Therefore, most people prefer to use small containers - glass jars or plastic buckets.
Cold pickling of cucumbers directly depends on the set of seasonings. The more varied the herbs and spices, the tastier the final product will be. After all, without heat treatment, the saturation of the solution is not so high. Therefore, it is worth taking care of the required amount of fresh herbs (dill, parsley, currant leaves, horseradish, celery, cherries), herbs (basil, coriander, tarragon) and aromatic vegetables (garlic, hot and bell peppers, wild garlic). Using salt according to the recipe is of particular importance. With a low concentration, you will get “semi-fresh” instant cucumbers that cannot be stored for long. But at the same time, cold pickling of cucumbers does not always involve excessive saturation of the solution. Follow the proportions indicated in the recipe and the cooking technology. The dish options below will help you make an unusual winter preparation in a barrel and a quick snack of crispy cucumbers for consumption in the summer a few days after pickling.
Original pickling of cucumbers for the winter. Recipe for "Bochkova"
The peculiarity of the dish lies in the original salt solution, which contains the pulp of overripe cucumbers. Horseradish leaves and green dill branches along with inflorescences are placed at the bottom of the prepared barrel. Then the cucumbers (preferably the same size) are placed in layers alternately with spices and finely chopped overripe fruits, fresh hot pepper and garlic. The last layer is similar to the one that covers the bottom. The entire mass is filled with a solution prepared in a ratio of seventy grams of salt per liter of water. In this case, the mass of overripe fruits is equal to the volume of fresh cucumbers. Several layers of gauze or thin cloth are placed on top (to collect mold formed during fermentation) and oppression. The barrel of pickles should be stored in a cool place. Periodically (every 5-7 days) the fabric is replaced with a clean one or washed with cold water.
Quick cold pickling of cucumbers
With an abundance of fresh vegetables in the summer, sometimes you want to “salt.” You can prepare cucumbers very simply and quickly by using them in small quantities. A small bucket will be useful as a container. Place the cucumbers in a container, cutting them off on both sides. Seasonings are taken from what is on hand - dill leaves, parsley, currants, cherries. Craving a spicy snack? Then cut the hot pepper and garlic into strips. The prepared products are filled with a solution made from one liter of cold boiled water and a full tablespoon of salt. After pouring the cucumbers, leave them to stand at room temperature for 20-25 hours, and then place them in the refrigerator. After two or three days, the appetizer is ready!
In order to include pickled and salted vegetables in the winter menu, you need to devote a total of a day or several days (depending on the volume!) to canning and pickling in the autumn-summer season. In fact, you need to spend a little time, because the recipes that we will try to prepare today are very simple, but they will delight you with amazing taste. If you like to add pickled cucumbers to dishes and use them as a simple appetizer as a side dish (cooked in a cold way), then you will probably be interested in the following methods of preparing them.
Canning cucumbers for the winter
Delicious pickles on your table
Every housewife probably has her own signature recipe, which she uses year after year to preserve cucumbers. It is incorrect to call any one cooking method correct and ideal, because different seasonings, dosages are used and, in the end, the technological process is different.
Cucumbers can be salted whole, or cut into strips or slices. They attract with their exquisite, piquant taste and crunch, retain their color and are an excellent addition to salads, side dishes and even hot dishes such as solyanka. A barrel for pickling in an apartment is not always appropriate, and if there are no other utility rooms, then there is simply nowhere to place it. Therefore, we will use ordinary glass jars, but prepare according to this recipe so that the cucumbers taste like real ones from a barrel.
Recipe for barrel pickles (cold method)
We will need 2 kilograms of cucumbers, several dill umbrellas, 23 pieces of leaves from blackcurrant or cherry bushes (can be halved). Don't forget to prepare a couple of cloves of garlic and peeled horseradish root. This method uses vodka, don't let that surprise you. In this case it is a preservative, and we use it very little.
Well-washed cucumbers should first be doused with boiling water, then placed in a large container and filled with cold water. After two hours, transfer them to jars, not forgetting to put herbs and spices between each layer. Fill with cold water, adding two tablespoons of vodka to the jars (table spoons, of course!). There is no need to seal it, just cover it with plastic lids and put it in the refrigerator. This snack can be stored for as long as needed, but according to the housewives, it is difficult to hide such a tasty treat from your family for a long time.
Cold-processed young pickles (almost in barrels)
Try to choose small, uniform-sized vegetables for this cooking method. They should be seedless and have thin, delicate skin. Overripe cucumbers will not work.
For the recipe we take:
1.5 kilograms of fruit per one three-liter jar;
- 2-3 sprigs of dill umbrellas;
- 2-3 leaves of black currant;
- 2-3 oak leaves;
- 2 cherry tree leaves;
- 3-4 cm of horseradish root;
- 1 pod of hot hot pepper;
- garlic cloves;
- 40 grams of salt for every liter of water.
We process vegetables before salting. To do this, rinse them under running cold water, and then place them in a container with ice water for 20-30 minutes. This technique keeps the cucumbers crisp and firm after pickling.
While we are preparing the herbs and greens: scald all the leaves with boiling water, do not chop the garlic, leave it in large slices. Three-liter jars can be pre-sterilized in a microwave oven or in another way convenient for you. Place dill, leaves, horseradish and garlic at the bottom of each bottle. By the way, adding oak leaves is one of the secrets of many housewives. They know that this will allow the cucumbers to remain crispy yet tender. But don’t get carried away with oak leaves; too much of them will cause the peel to become excessively hard.
The next step is to place the cucumbers as close to each other as possible. The final touch is hot pepper, but many people prefer not to add it. It makes the appetizer very spicy. You need to pour the prepared brine over the vegetables: prepare it by adding 40 grams of table salt for each liter of cold water. Stir the mixture well so that no undissolved salt remains. Immediately fill all jars to the very top; cucumbers can absorb a lot of marinade. Cover the containers with gauze bandages and leave them in the room on the table for 3-4 days.
Gradually, you will be able to observe how the contents in the jars become cloudy, and sometimes a layer of mold even forms. This shouldn’t scare you; it means everything was prepared correctly! If you prepare such cucumbers in large quantities, then several jars can be rolled up for long-term storage. To do this, drain the marinade from them and remove any mold that has formed. Bring to a boil, pour into bottles and roll up very quickly.
Put what remains unclogged in the refrigerator; such cucumbers can last a month or more. They can be served with porridge, potatoes, meat, added to snacks and salads. This dish can easily be called a traditional appetizer for any winter feast.
Barrel cucumbers are the most delicious. In addition, they are healthier than salted and pickled ones due to lactic acid, which the body requires for metabolic processes. If you don’t have a barrel, you can pickle cucumbers in jars according to this recipe.
There are several methods for preparing cucumbers for the winter. When actually salting, only salt is used. When pickling, one of the acids is added to the jars: acetic, citric or tartaric.
Cucumbers in barrels are preserved using the method of fermentation - fermentation of the product. As a result of this process, lactic acid is produced in cucumbers, which prevents the vegetables from spoiling. Only this method gives cucumbers a unique smell and taste, an appetizing crunch and density.
Vegetables cooked with a little salt contain beneficial lactic acid. This product contains a lot of vitamins. Barrel pickled cucumbers replenish the lack of fluid in the body, suppress the activity of harmful bacteria in the intestines, and reduce cholesterol levels.
The most valuable are barrel cucumbers prepared by pouring cold brine without subsequent pasteurization in hot water.
For pickling, it is advisable to use the freshest cucumbers that do not require pre-soaking.
Not every cucumber is suitable for cold pickling using the barrel method. Vegetables choose:
It is advisable that all the cucumbers in the jar are approximately the same size.
Store-bought vegetables will have to be soaked. This is necessary so that they are filled with liquid lost during storage. In addition, such fruits may contain nitrates, which will mostly dissolve in water when soaked.
You should not soak for a long time, at most 6 hours. The water is used very cold. You can keep it in the refrigerator or add ice to the container.
Water needs to be changed frequently - preferably every hour.
To make the cucumbers tasty and aromatic, add a lot of herbs: dill (leaves and stems with green seeds), tarragon, horseradish leaves, parsley, savory, basil, celery.
Horseradish is required because it will protect the preparations from mold formation.
The remaining herbs are chosen according to your preferences, but always fresh. It is advisable to collect them in the morning. Their total quantity is 60 grams per three-liter jar. For 10 kg of cucumbers, on average, you need to take about 600 g of spices, almost half of which is dill.
For strength and crunch of cucumbers, you can add oak, cherry, and currant leaves.
For a spicy taste, horseradish root, pepper, garlic, and bay leaf are added to the brine.
It is better to salt and ferment cucumbers with coarse rock salt.
Iodized ones should not be used. The main reason is the potassium iodate it contains, which slows down the fermentation process. Sometimes cucumbers fermented with iodized salt may taste bitter, lose density, or acquire an unpleasant odor.
A large amount of salt also suppresses fermentation: the cucumbers will be salted before they have time to produce lactic acid.
The ideal ratio of salt to the main product is 600–700 grams per 10 kg of cucumbers.
To speed up the fermentation process, you can add a little sugar - 1–2% of the brine volume. Sugar is especially useful when the cucumbers are slightly wilted or too large.
You need to ferment in glass jars with a volume of at least three liters, otherwise the product will not ferment properly.
Cucumbers are pickled in enamel buckets, tanks or pans, since hermetically sealed pickles are not required. But if you plan to store the preparations for a long time, then it is better to transfer the cucumbers into jars before putting the supplies in the basement.
Wash the cucumbers thoroughly but gently. Try not to damage the skin, otherwise rotting processes may develop, and this will destroy the workpiece.
The greens need to be sorted out, rough parts, yellowed and limp leaves removed, and the roots trimmed. Wash it under running water or in a bowl, changing the water at least four times.
Horseradish and parsley roots are carefully washed and cleaned. The scales are removed from the garlic and divided into cloves, which are used whole or cut.
Banks or enamel containers are washed with soap and soda. Rinse thoroughly. They must be sterilized for at least 10 minutes in boiling water or over steam.
After washing, nylon lids are doused with hot water.
This recipe is very easy to pickle cucumbers. But they require a suitable storage place - a cold basement or caisson. And it is very important to strictly adhere to the cooking technology.
The greens should be the same size and without any damage. For the top layer, you can take smaller cucumbers. They are washed clean. There is no need to trim anything.
Seasonings are placed at the bottom of sterilized three-liter jars - horseradish leaf, garlic (3-10 cloves), dill (leaves and stem), peppercorns (black and allspice).
You can add parsley, tarragon, oak leaves, black currants, cherries.
It turns out very tasty if you put washed and peeled thin horseradish root 10 cm long at the bottom of the jar. It can be cut into small pieces.
Cucumbers are placed vertically, tightly. It is advisable to lay an additional layer of greenery between the rows. Smaller cucumbers are placed horizontally so that the jar is completely filled. Lay out another layer of spices on top and, of course, a horseradish leaf and a sprig of dill with green seeds.
Prepare the brine. The amount of liquid depends on how full the container is. A three-liter jar usually requires 1.5 liters of liquid. The exact volume can be easily calculated by filling the jars with clean water and measuring the amount using a large measuring cup.
For the brine you will need:
Ideally, if there is good well water. You don’t even have to boil it - the cucumbers will turn out tastier. It is allowed to use bottled water or filtered water with a high degree of purification.
The salt is stirred until completely dissolved, then the liquid is filtered through 4 layers of gauze.
Tap water will have to be boiled. This will kill germs and make it easier for the salt to dissolve. The brine must be completely cooled and strained.
All that remains is to fill the contents with cold brine so that the water reaches the edges of the jar. The neck is tied with gauze. The jar is placed in a large bowl or basin, since the fermentation process creates foam, so some liquid will flow over the edges of the jars. At the same time, a wonderful smell of lightly salted cucumbers will appear.
The fermentation process lasts 2–3 days. The timing depends on the temperature in the room where the jars are located.
If the room is warm, then everything will be ready in 2 days. This will be visible by the appearance of a whitish suspension in the jars - this is lactic acid. It will quickly settle and the brine will become transparent. The foam will stop appearing, the smell will change a little, but will remain pleasant.
If the house is cool, the cucumbers will ferment for another day.
Thus, on the third or fourth day, the jars are closed with clean nylon lids (but not sealed tightly!) and put away for storage. If this is not done on time, the cucumbers will turn sour. They will no longer be so tasty, strong and crispy. The smell will become sour.
It should be borne in mind that such preparations will quickly deteriorate in the heat. Cucumbers prepared as barrels using the cold fermentation method should be stored at a temperature of 0 to -3°C. If it is not possible to urgently take the workpieces to a cold place, you can put them in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
In a caisson, cucumbers prepared using the “barrel” method are stored for a whole year without changing their taste and density.
If cucumbers fermented in a barrel are not possible to be stored in a caisson or a cold basement, you can leave the jars in the apartment. But before this, the brine needs to be boiled.
First, the cucumbers are fermented, as in the previous recipe. After 3-4 days, when the vegetables are ready, the brine is drained.
Washing ingredients (options to choose from):
Brine processing:
After washing, the cucumbers and herbs are placed back in the jar and filled with hot brine. It's better to do this twice. The first time, cover the jars with lids, leave for 5–10 minutes, drain and boil again.
The jars filled with hot brine are hermetically sealed with thick nylon lids. They are not turned over. The heat is covered and left until cooled, after which it is removed to a permanent storage place.
In this way, you can salt cucumbers not in jars, but in a saucepan or tank. And only after fermentation, transfer to jars.
Pickles prepared using this method will be slightly different than cold pour, but still very tasty and crispy.
If there are no suitable storage conditions for cucumbers fermented in barrels, and there is a fear that the jars may “explode,” you can add a little vinegar during the last boiling. But these will already be pickled cucumbers, although with a different taste than with regular canning.
Cucumbers pickled with mustard for the winter will never become moldy. In addition, this seasoning will make the preparations even more delicious.
|
Ingredients |
Quantity |
Preparation |
|
| 1 | cucumbers | 2 kg | Wash thoroughly, soak for 2–3 hours |
| Cold water | completely fill the cucumbers | ||
| 2 | Salt | 2 tbsp. l. | Dissolve salt in water, boil for 2–4 minutes |
| Water | 1.5 l | ||
| 3 | Dry mustard | 1–3 tbsp. l. | Stir in brine, cool |
| 4 | Leaves of oak, currant, horseradish, cherry | 2–4 pcs. | Place half of the total amount on the bottom of the prepared jars. |
| Horseradish root | 5–10 cm | ||
| Basil, tarragon | 2–3 branches each | ||
| Peeled garlic | 1–2 heads | ||
| 5 | Rinse the cucumbers with clean water and place them in a jar in even rows, filling it as tightly as possible. | ||
| 6 | Leftover herbs and garlic | Place on top layer of cucumbers | |
| Dill umbrella with green seeds | 1–2 pcs. | ||
| 7 | Pour cooled brine over cucumbers in jars to the very top | ||
| 8 | Close with tight nylon lids and store | ||
You can add any greens you like. For spiciness, you can add a piece of bitter or 10-20 black peppercorns.
Cucumbers according to this recipe will require 2 months to ripen.
Barrel cucumbers can be prepared using the hot pour method. This salting will allow you to store supplies at above-zero temperatures at home.
| Stage | Ingredients | Quantity |
Preparation |
| 1 | cucumbers | 2 kg | Soak for 3–4 hours |
| 2 | Water | 1.5 l | Prepare the brine in a cold way (if you need to boil the water, cool it completely) |
| Salt | 100 g | ||
| 3 | Currant and horseradish leaves, dill, parsley | taste | Place in the bottom of a sterilized jar |
| Peeled garlic | 4–5 cloves | ||
| Peppercorns | 10 peas | ||
| 4 | Place the soaked cucumbers tightly in a jar, place the remaining greens and 1-2 dill umbrellas on top. Tie with gauze | ||
| 5 | Leave to ferment for 2–3 days | ||
| 6 | Pour the fermented brine into a saucepan, boil, skimming off the foam | ||
| 7 | Pour hot brine over the cucumbers and let sit for 5–10 minutes. | ||
| 8 | Drain the liquid again and bring to a boil again. | ||
| 9 | Pour the boiling brine into a jar. Roll up with a sterile metal lid | ||
Before pouring the cucumbers a second time, you can add vodka - 3 tablespoons. This will not affect the taste, and the brine will be protected from spoilage. For the same purpose, place a pinch of mustard seeds on top of the contents of the jar.
But you can not use the old brine, but replace it with a new one. In this case, add 1.5 tbsp to 1.5 liters of water. l. salt.
After sealing, place the jar with the lid down and cover with something until it cools completely.
Rarely does a table in our country go without pickles. Pickling vegetables is a long-standing tradition of our vast country. The blanks were made in a wooden barrel, and then in a stainless steel barrel, and they were replaced by plastic. A wonderful appetizer for a festive banquet or for every day. There are many ways to pickle, but my family fell in love with cucumbers in a barrel for the winter, the recipes for which we got from our grandmothers. Today I’ll tell you two recipes for pickling cucumbers. One of which: cold pickling of cucumbers for the winter in a barrel. Pickled cucumbers are firm, crispy and flavorful.
Videos with recipes are full of recipes on the Internet, but which of them will give the same taste sensations as a result is not known. Delicious cucumbers from my grandmothers are always crispy, not over-salted and spicy. Such cucumbers give a special taste and aroma to your favorite Olivier salad, and to other appetizers where they are used as ingredients.
To pickle cucumbers in a barrel for the winter, you need a perfectly prepared tub. To do this, rinse the plastic barrel with soda and hot water, then fill it to the top with cold water and leave for 14-20 days. Then, when the barrel has stood with water inside, it must be thoroughly rinsed again with a soda solution and immediately before adding the ingredients, pour boiling water over it. Then the result will be what you need.
So, salt the cucumbers:
Cold way:
Note to housewives
It is better to take cucumbers of approximately the same size, this way we get uniform salting and the same taste.
For the brine we need:
If the cucumbers are medium-sized, then you need to take 8 kg of salt; for small-sized cucumbers, 7 kg of salt is enough. The amount of water will always be the same.
The process itself is quite simple:
Cold pickling of cucumbers for the winter in a barrel using the method described above produces delicious cucumbers that the whole family will appreciate.
Important point
The taste of cucumbers when pickled is affected by their freshness. The earlier the cucumbers are picked from the garden, the more susceptible they are to brine. They absorb more moisture and flavor properties of seasonings. This needs to be remembered. Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to collect cucumbers from their own beds; in this case, when purchasing, it is better to check with the seller about the freshness of the product.
Another recipe for pickling crispy cucumbers in a plastic barrel. No worse than the previous one, the more recipes you know, the wider the field for culinary and creative activity.
We will need:
All ingredients are taken solely to taste.
Preparing the barrel will be identical to the previous recipe:
That's the whole simple recipe for pickling crispy cucumbers in a plastic barrel. I use this recipe often and recommend it to my friends. It is time-tested. Cucumbers are stored in barrels for a long time without losing their taste.
Pickling cucumbers in a barrel for the winter is the most ancient recipe for long-term storage of vegetables. There are many pickling recipes. There are certain rules that must be followed when pickling cucumbers in any way:
Everyone knows how to properly pickle cucumbers in a barrel for the winter, but not everyone can use them, because they need a cellar to store a barrel of cucumbers. The recipes are simple, the process begins with careful preparation of the container.
We begin preparation 2-3 weeks before harvest. We choose the best barrel - oak. You need to check if the barrel is dry.
Sometimes it’s worth calling a craftsman to knock out the hoops on a barrel if it’s leaking. But usually it is enough to fill the barrel to the top and add water until the wood swells and the cracks disappear.
Then pour out this water and wash the barrel thoroughly with soda solution. To steam well, the barrel is filled with boiling water and a hot, clean cobblestone doused with boiling water is lowered into it. After steaming, the water and cobblestones are removed.
The inside of the dry barrel is wiped with garlic, then the cucumbers in the barrels are cold pickled.
Ingredients:
Preparation:
The temperature should be between zero and three degrees Celsius.
Before laying, rinse the cucumbers with boiling water and immediately pour over cold water to preserve the color of the fruit and quickly begin fermentation.
Ingredients:
Fill an oak barrel, alternately laying out a layer of greenery and a layer of fruit. Finish with a layer of greenery. Pour the salt solution into the filled barrel and leave at room temperature.
The brine needs to be prepared depending on the size of the fruit:
After 2-3 days, fermentation will begin at room temperature. Cover the barrel with a napkin. Place a wooden circle and a clean cobblestone on it. Lower the barrel into the basement. If necessary, brine can be added.
In an oak barrel, pickles remain tasty and crisp until the end of winter. You need to ensure that the storage area is always cool.
What do you need:
Pickling cucumbers in a plastic barrel differs only in that it is faster to prepare the container for the process:
Salt the cucumbers in it in a cold way:
The owners, who have a house in the village with a cellar, already in the spring begin to prepare for how to pickle cucumbers in a barrel for the winter - the recipes are ready, it’s time to buy cucumber seeds. The best varieties for pickling: “Nezhinsky”, “Pobeditel”, “Chernobrivets”.
We got around to telling you how to use the last cucumbers to make something delicious for the fall.
I love barrel cucumbers, but there’s nowhere to store them, so I make only one batch - in a bucket. They are salted for 2 weeks and eaten here until mid-November. Although they are barrel-shaped, they are not so eye-opening. My children and I love to make vinaigrette and solyanka with them, and eat them with potatoes.
I also like the fact that these cucumbers are made quickly in terms of labor costs, do not require any preliminary preparations, are stored in a bucket on the loggia, they do not mold and do not end up with a hole inside. And you don’t have to put country cucumbers here; those that are the last to be sold at fairs - from local greenhouses and fields - will also work.
So, take a bucket and wash it thoroughly. We put all the “grass” on the bottom. My leaves were already dry, so I crumbled them with my hands and compacted them.
We take a head of garlic, you can take one and a half, the cucumbers will only benefit from this.
We peel the garlic, wash it, and simply cut each clove into 2-3 parts.
Place the garlic in a bucket and add black peppercorns there too.
the carnation goes into the bucket,
mustard seeds - there too.
Wash the cucumbers, cut off the “butts”, put them tightly in a bucket.
Now we make the brine. In general, you can just pour salt, fill a bucket with water, stir and then stir. But I make the brine in a small amount of water first so that the salt is guaranteed to dissolve. So, take a glass of salt and put it in a saucepan with two liters of water. Turn on the fire.
Bring the brine to a boil, stir until the salt dissolves. Let the brine cool for 30 minutes.
Pour the brine into a bucket, fill it to the top (so that the water covers the cucumbers) with just boiled water. Mix everything in the bucket with your hands so that the brine is mixed.
Take a clean cloth and cover the bucket with it.
Now a little trick. Take mustard powder
Sprinkle it evenly over the entire cloth. This is necessary to prevent mold from appearing on top of the cucumbers. There won't be mold on the top, and there won't be any on the inside either. Mustard will add a slight piquancy to the cucumbers (they won’t be bitter, don’t be afraid), and the cucumbers will be crispy. We put a load on top, for example, a plate with a three-liter jar of water, and put it in the shade; I put it on the loggia. And we forget for 2 weeks.
