You breathe, sweat, preserve cucumbers for the winter, and they turn out to be tasteless. Unfortunately, it happens. It's a shame for the products spent, time and effort. Why cucumbers do not crunch, turn out tasteless, smell bad? Let's look at typical mistakes!
Why cucumbers are soft, do not crunch
The most appreciated are the elastic and crunchy pickles. But not always they are obtained. Well, if they are just a little lethargic. Much worse when they are soft, falling apart, empty inside, of incomprehensible color. The main thing that needs to be learned is that special pickling varieties are used for canning. Salad varieties for blanks are not suitable. Ideal cucumbers of small size, dense, without seeds and always fresh. The optimal length is from 5 to 12 cm. If they have already managed to wilt, then you need to soak in cold water.
For some other reasons, cucumbers do not crunch:
- Little vinegar. It is necessary not only to strictly observe the proportions indicated in the recipe, but also to check the concentration. On average, 1 liter can pour 1 tbsp. l vinegar 9%.
- Increased sterilization time. As a result, cucumbers are cooked, they turn out soft, gray, the taste is lost.
- No horseradish added. It is this leaf that is responsible for the crunch and gives its taste. If there is no green horseradish, you can enter a piece of the root.
An important rule. For canning, it is important to choose the freshest and quality vegetables. If they knowingly withered, got spoiled, there are traces of rot, then there is no need to try to determine them.
Salt and sugar: disassemble proportions
Sometimes the cucumbers are crunchy, green, but completely tasteless, like grass. On a three-liter jar of cucumbers, our ancestors laid an incomplete pile of salt. This is about 80 grams. Sugar was not always added, but with it is much more tasty. Usually, two times more sugar than salt is added to pickled cucumbers. Tomatoes also like sugar, they drive even more sand. If you just want to get pickles, the sand is excluded.
Classic pickle on a three-liter jar of cucumbers:
- 3 tablespoons of salt;
- 6 tablespoons of sugar;
- water to the top.
Salt with sugar and water can be boiled. If cucumbers are marinated in a drain mode without sterilization, then for the first time just boiling water is injected, heated, drained, then spices are added, re-boiled.
If cucumbers are prepared without vinegar, and with citric acid, then it is introduced into the boiling brine, immediately turned off, poured into jars. Vinegar is poured under the cover just before laying, it can not be boiled.
Spices: how much is possible?
Without aromatic spices, you can close the tomatoes, but not the cucumbers. It is so accepted to add fragrant greens, pepper, garlic and other products to jars. But it is very important not to overdo it. Otherwise, it will not taste very good, even bitterness. Most often it gives a bay leaf. On a three-liter jar you need to lay one small piece. During storage, it will give a rich aroma.
What else gives a strong flavor:
- peppercorns;
- clove;
- coriander.
The second moot point is greens. Housewives love to combine dill with parsley, which is better not to do, we lay one thing. Also, do not further rip off the garden. Currant, cherry leaves are good in tomatoes, you should not add them to cucumbers, and even everything together. Plus the necessary horseradish and it turns out that there is more grass in the jar than vegetables. Cucumbers turn out tasteless, too spicy, not everyone likes such preservation. The only thing that can be laid without measure is garlic. But why? 1-2 cloves are enough per jar.
Good advice. All leaves and additives need to be washed and dried before putting them into jars. The more greens are used, the greater the likelihood of fermentation.
Why cucumbers grow cloudy
It's a shame when dregs appeared in a jar of cucumbers, as if someone had poured milk. The same brine is obtained by adding mustard powder. It is a preservative, often used in conservation. But when adding mustard cucumbers do not disappear. If they are dimmed for another reason, then there is an unpleasant taste and smell, vegetables will limp, the lid swells.
Why the pickle in the cucumbers dimmed:
- Sterility was not observed. Banks and lids need to be steamed or heated. Use pure water, preferably from the filter and be sure to boil.
- Low-quality vegetables. If some cucumber has already started to disappear, it will ruin the whole jar. The same applies to additional ingredients. Leaflets also need to be washed, dried.
- Garbage was caught in salt or in sugar. And it happens. For conservation, you need to open new packs. Never use salt and sugar from the salt shaker and the sugar bowl, they may contain crumbs, dust particles.
- Iodized salt is used. No matter how much is said about this, many hostesses still do not know. For conservation, only pure rock salt without additives is suitable.
- Hit the air. The most common cause is a loosely screwed cap. It is necessary to inspect it, check the zakatochny key, and immediately turn the jar. If it is not sealed, bubbles will rise to the bottom.
Sometimes the housewives try to save the clouded cucumbers. They are opened, washed, re-mortgage spices, pour boiling water. But is it worth doing? If the fermentation process is already running, then it is better not to risk, not to waste additional time and energy.
Secrets of cooking delicious cucumbers in cans
- If bitter cucumbers have grown, then there is no need to preserve them, the unpleasant taste will not disappear. It is better to peel and use for summer salad or roll up for the winter pieces.
- In the old days, only well or spring water was used for canning. C Brine with bleach is not the best solution. If it is not possible to go to the spring, it is wiser to buy water in bottles.
- To make the cucumbers salted faster, tips are cut from them. If in the coming months there is no plan to try the blank, then you can put the whole in banks.
- You can preserve cucumbers immediately with tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers. Get a wonderful assorted.
- Vinegar, sugar, salt are always laid strictly according to the norms specified in the recipe. Ingredients need to measure the same spoon or through the scales.
