Fruits of a non-marketable appearance and shape are best used in pre-cut pieces. Consider the best way to preserve cucumbers in circles, how to prepare vegetables for harvesting, how to store them, as well as useful tips for pickling.

How to prepare cucumbers for pickling

Experts recommend preparing cucumbers for pickling in circles as follows:

• first, all fruits are sorted out and removed by rotten, diseased specimens;
• the selected items are thoroughly washed;
• freshly cut cucumbers are pickled on the day of collection, but if they lay for several days, they must be soaked for 3-6 hours in water;
• the ends are removed from the fruit with a knife on both sides, and then cut into a thickness of 1.5–3 cm.

Important! Overripe yellow specimens are completely unsuitable for processing.

For cucumber blanks, circles can take specimens of a deformed shape, as well as large ones - more than 10 cm in length.

How to store cucumbers

Pickled cucumbers are stored in glass jars in the summer. If the fruits are rolled up in sterilized jars with the same lids, then preservation can be stored in an ordinary pantry in room conditions for up to a year. It is enough that the place is dark and dry, as well as cool.

When storing under a nylon cover, it is best to move the cans to the basement, balcony or on the shelf of the refrigerator. When salted by natural fermentation, the shelf life is short. Barrel cucumbers are stored at a temperature of about 0 ° C.

Important! When defrosting such products, they are used for pickle, cooking pizza, ase, but not as an independent dish.

When you open the jar with pickles after 7 days, the product begins to mold and deteriorate. So that it does not deteriorate, the remaining copies in the bank can be frozen. To do this, vegetables are removed from the brine, dried, placed in a bag, which is then transferred to the freezer.

Useful Tips

Professional chefs give the following tips for pickling cucumbers:

1. For salting, it is better to choose small specimens that are dense in structure and with a darkish, prickly surface. Varieties with white thorns are best not to salt, as they are perishable.
2. Only freshly picked specimens should be taken for harvesting.rather than stale.
3. Before use, it is better to soak the cucumbers for 3-6 hours in cool water - this will make them more crispy. The addition of oak leaves and bark also gives crunch to cucumbers.
4. To prevent the workpiece from exploding, throw mustard seeds into the pickling brine or add 1 tbsp. l alcohol.
5. Mold can be crushed on a coarse grater or chopped into a horseradish root. It will also sharpen the workpiece. Supporters of spicy foods can take 2 times more with salting of garlic and horseradish than with a prescription.
6. For pickles you need to take large rock salt. Do not take iodized or extra salt. It is coarse salt that better salts and does not soften vegetables.
7. All salting dishes must be washed well.so that the cucumbers do not spoil and become moldy.
8. Fruits should be doused with boiled water before pickling. In this case, they will better absorb spices and marinade. When using vinegar in brine, these vegetables are stored longer in time.
9. Such seasonings as black pepper, peas, bay leaf, cloves, allspice protect the brine from mold.
10. When salting in barrels of wood on top, it is desirable to put branches of black currant and cherry instead of oppression.
11. When salting large volumes, it is better to use a food processor for slicing. It will greatly facilitate the process and save time well.
12. For salting, it is advisable to choose such varieties of cucumberslike Nezhinsky, Debut, Murom, Coastal, Altai.

Did you know? Cucumbers were grown by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. In biblical texts he is referred to as the vegetable culture of Egypt.

This type of blanks will be well stored and will delight you with its piquant taste in winter.