How to cook quick salted cucumbers

Many dishes are prepared from cucumbers: they are used for salads, salted and pickled. In the summer, on the tables of many people there are pickled cucumbers. Such a dish is loved by many and cooked often. There are many ways of salting, they differ in preparation time and spices, which are put into it. Lightly salted cucumbers are prepared according to the classic recipe in brine or by dry salting in a package.

Recommendations for cooking salted cucumbers

In order for the dish to be tasty and kept for a long time, you need to follow certain rules of its preparation.

It is very important to choose the cucumbers for salting, they should not be very large, with thin skin, elastic and have pimples. Most importantly, they should not be bitter and overgrown with hard seeds. Cucumbers with a yellowish color is also not recommended. Vegetables of about the same size are best suited, and they are advised not to buy in a supermarket, but in a country market. If cucumbers are different in size, they are not salted evenly.

Water is an important component in the preparation of canned food. Ideally, you need to take spring water, besides, for salting it does not need much. On average, 5 kg of vegetables need 10 liters of water, it is needed for soaking and brine. If you are not able to use spring water, take filtered or bottled water. Water can also be taken tap, filter it and defend for 2 hours with silver or copper. Metals greatly improve the taste of water and kill harmful microorganisms.

You can pickle cucumbers in a jar, but it's best to do it in a saucepan. Dishes should be stainless or enameled. Ceramics and glass are also suitable. It is more convenient to work with the pan because it is easy to put cucumbers into it and get them out. You will also need a small lid or plate, which is used to press the inside of the vegetables and put a load on them. A small weight or a can of water will be suitable as a load.

Soaking is an obligatory stage of pickling cucumbers. Thanks to soaking, they will become firm and crispy. Even if you picked up cucumbers, soaking will help them regain their strength and crunch. Washed vegetables should be put in cold water for 4 hours, and then you can put them in a saucepan for salting. Freshly picked cucumbers also need to be soaked.

Fragrant herbs and spices in lightly salted cucumbers need to be put. Without them, they will not be so crispy and fragrant. It is recommended to add sheets of horseradish, greens and dill flowers, cherry leaves and currants. Horseradish gives the dish a pleasant taste and aroma, prevents the appearance of mold on vegetables and disinfects. Currant leaves will make the cucumbers crispy and give them a delicate flavor. Leaves of laurel and pea of ​​fragrant, black pepper are put into hot pickle.

For salting, it is best to use large table salt. Iodized and sea is not very suitable for preparing such dishes, and fine salt is not at all suitable for canning and salting, it softens vegetables and they will not be crispy. The average rate of salt per 1 liter of pure water 2 tbsp. l, at will this amount can be changed.

In addition to the standard spices described above, you can put red and black currants, apples and lemons in lightly-salted cucumbers. These products are perfectly combined with vegetables, give them their pleasant aroma and acid. You should also be prepared for the fact that when you add berries and fruits of classic taste, salted cucumbers will not, but they will also be tasty. It is recommended to add not a lot of berries, so as not to kill the flavor of vegetables.

If you cook cucumbers in hot brine, they will be ready for use in a day. Vegetables cooked in cold brine, you can eat after 3 days.

To preserve cucumbers for a long time, they need to be refrigerated when the brine has cooled to room temperature. Thus, the fermentation processes in the brine will become less active, and the vegetables will remain slightly salted longer. Nevertheless, over time, they will still become salty, so it is recommended to cook this dish in small portions so that it does not lose its freshness.

Recipes for every taste

Classic salted cucumbers

Composition:

1. Cucumbers - 5 kg
2. Large salt - 6 tbsp. l
3. Garlic - 1 head
4. Dill (inflorescence) - 10 sprigs of dill
5. Horseradish - 30 large leaves
6. Peas allspice and black pepper - 4 tbsp. l
7. Currant, cherry - 20 leaves
8. Ground red pepper - 2 tsp.

Cooking:

• Rinse the cucumbers and remove the dried flowers and stems. Soak the vegetables for 3 hours in cool water.
• During this time, prepare greens and seasonings. Dill cut not very finely, separate the umbrellas from the stems.
• Peel and wash garlic cloves, cut into several pieces.
• Cut horseradish leaves large, 3 pcs. leave whole.
• Cherry and currant leaves are carefully washed, it is not necessary to chop them.
• In a large enamel or ceramic container, put whole horseradish leaves on the bottom, and then a layer of chopped dill, garlic, pepper, cherry leaves and currants, spices. Then place cucumbers on top in 1 layer, cut at both ends.
• On cucumbers, put a new layer of greens and spices, then again a layer of vegetables.
• Cover the cucumbers with whole horseradish leaves.
• Heat 3 liters of water in a saucepan, but do not bring to a boil. Add salt to the water and stir until it is completely dissolved.
• Pour the cucumbers with brine, place a plate or lid on them, and install a press on top. Vegetables will be salted for 2 days. Then they need to be removed in the refrigerator.

Quick pickling option

Composition:

1. Cucumbers - 2 kg
2. Allspice and black pepper - 10 grains each
3. A small bunch of dill with flowers and seeds
4. Sugar - 1 tsp.
5. Lemon - 2 pcs.
6. Large salt - 2 tbsp. l

Cooking:

• Crush the salt and hot black pepper in a mortar, then add sugar to them.
• Wash the lemons and peel off. Cut the zest into small pieces, add to the mixture of salt and pepper. Make a juice from lemons.
• Cut dill as small as possible. Pound seeds in a mortar.
• Wash cucumbers and soak them in cool water for 1 hour. Cut tails on both sides.
• Knock each cucumber with a pestle and cut them lengthwise into thin strips. This will allow vegetables to soak up the brine and salted.
• Put the vegetables in a small enamel saucepan and sprinkle with a mixture of spices and salt. Then pour vegetables with lemon juice and mix everything very well.
• Put another 2 tsp. salt, sprinkle with herbs and cover with a lid.
• The dish will be cooked for about 30 minutes. Before use, it is recommended to blot cucumbers with a paper towel.
• If you are in too much of a hurry, you can skip the soaking step. Then the cooking will take only 1 hour.

Malosolim cucumbers in a package

This method of salting is very convenient and reduces the time of cooking. It is convenient to take such cucumbers with you on a picnic or hiking. Instead of a package, you can use a plastic container.

Composition:

1. Cucumbers - 1 kg
2. Large salt - 1 tbsp. l coarse salt
3. Garlic - 3 slices
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
5. Small bunch of dill
6. A few leaves of horseradish, cherry and currant
7. Ground black and red pepper - on request
8. Sweet peppers allspice - to taste

Cooking:

• Put chopped greens of dill and horseradish leaves, currants with cherries torn into pieces by hand in the package.
• Rinse and cut cucumbers on both sides, you can cut them into several pieces, this will reduce the cooking time.
• Send the cucumber bag to the spices and greens.
• Garlic pound in a special press or chop finely. T
• min mash in a mortar or crush with a rolling pin.
• Put the garlic and cumin in the bag with the salt.
• Tie the bag tightly and shake it so that the spices mix and cover the cucumbers on all sides.
• The bag can be put in the refrigerator for 1 hour or left at room temperature. In an hour, salted cucumbers with garlic aroma will turn out.

There are many recipes for cooking salted cucumbers and all of them are very diverse. When preserving vegetables, you can put ground mustard and add sesame seeds. They are perfectly combined with fresh and dried paprika. To enhance the piquancy and taste in the marinade are advised to add a little sugar and vinegar.