Gherkins, or French cucumbers, are an incredibly tasty vegetable crop, from which delicious summer preparations are obtained. By introducing a variety of ingredients into the marinade, including aromatic spices, you can get a spicy dish that retains its nutritional value for a long period of time.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
Getting to the conservation of gherkins, it is important to know how to obtain high-quality fruits, so that conservation is well preserved and pleases with its taste.
When buying, you should pay attention to the following signs of good gherkins:
- uniform green skin without white and yellow spots. Spotting indicates that the fruits are overripe or the technique of growing them has been violated;
- the tail is solid, dark green in color;
- the fruit is compacted, without signs of lethargy;
- the top cover of the cucumber is covered with pimples - this is an indicator that the fruit is crispy;
- the length of the gherkin should not exceed more than 8 cm.
If you really want to pickle gherkins, you should pay special attention to size. A fruit length of more than 8 cm may indicate that the unscrupulous seller intends to issue ordinary young cucumbers under the gherkins.
Of course, both of them have many common features, but the gherkins differ in more elastic flesh and delicate skin, so they are ideal for canning. Preparing for preservation, vegetables should be washed well, cleaned from tails. It is advisable to soak them in cold water for 2-3 hours, then the fruits will crackle.
Did you know? To quickly peel a lot of garlic, you need to divide the heads into wedges, trim the butt, put everything in a metal bowl, and then cover with a smaller bowl and shake for 10 seconds. Now it remains only to select the peeled cloves from the husk.
Many recipes for preserving gherkins for the winter include adding garlic to the list of ingredients. Choose should be hard, dry heads, not sprouted. Garlic is peeled and cut, as a rule, in large slices.
Canned cucumbers will be more delicious and crispy if you add a little spice. Each hostess picks them to their taste, but there is also a classic set that includes currant, cherry, oak, horseradish, dill leaves, as well as caraway seeds, tarragon, peppermint, peppercorns.
Such additives not only improve taste, but also bring considerable benefits to the body. Leaves should be clean, without spots or signs of wilting. Salt is better to use ordinary coarse grinding without impurities. Fine salt can help soften canned gherkins.
Recipes of canned gherkins for the winter
There are many types of harvesting gherkins for the winter at home. For the most part, the principle of seaming is the same, but the composition for pickling may differ in the list of additives. This is not surprising, because someone likes aromatic spicy dishes, and someone does not mind eating unusual, slightly sweetened fruits.
Classic recipe
1 can for 1 liter45 minutes
greens (parsley, dill, cilantro)
20 g
vinegar essence (70%)
1 tsp
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- At the bottom of the washed and sterilized liter jar, pour out half the chopped herbs and 2 cloves of garlic, cut into 4 parts.
- Place part of the gherkins, previously washed and peeled. Cucumbers should fill about half of the can.
- Pour the remaining greens and garlic.
- Lay the remaining gherkins so that they reach the neck of the jar (when stacking, you can periodically shake the container so that the fruits are compactly located in it).
- Pour boiling water over the container filled with cucumbers, cover and leave for 15 minutes to warm the cucumbers well. After the specified time has elapsed, decant the cooled liquid and repeat the procedure.
- After decanting the liquid a second time, pour in a teaspoon of vinegar essence.
- Prepare a brine from water, salt, sugar, put pepper and cloves in the same place. Boil the marinade, pour the gherkins and roll.
- Having closed, the container should be installed upside down, covered with a towel and left in this position until it cools completely. Gherkins made in this way will turn out delicious and crispy.
- Preservation can be stored at room temperature, without fear of tearing the lid. If desired, in a jar, you can put several leaves of currant, cherry or walnut.
Important! Cans for canning must be washed with baking soda, then rinse well in warm running water and sterilize over steam or in the oven. This procedure will ensure the safety of the workpiece for a long period.
With cinnamon without sterilization
1 can for 3 l45 minutes
black pepper peas
5 pieces.
acetic acid (70%)
5 ml
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Gherkins should be washed thoroughly, put in a glass container.
- Completely pour boiling water over the workpiece. Allow to cool so that the jar can be picked up by hand. Pour boiling water directly on the fruit (in the middle) to avoid splitting the jar.
- When it cools, drain the water into a pan and bring to a boil again.
- In the jar, add all the additives indicated in the recipe, except for vinegar.
- Fill the gherkins with boiling water and add acetic acid from the top.
- Screw on the lid, set upside down, wrap it well and leave it to cool.
Pickled in a liter jar
1 liter can 50 minutes
gherkins
700-800 g (how much will fit)
allspice
5 pieces.
cherry and currant leaves
3 pcs.
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- Cover the bottom of the sterilized jar with leaves, add garlic cloves cut in half, bay leaves and pepper.
- Fall asleep cucumbers.
- Pour water into the pan, boil and fill the gherkins with it. Leave on for 15 minutes to warm the fruits and let the air out.
- Strain the liquid back into the pan, adding salt, sugar and boil again.
- Ready boiled marinade pour cucumbers, introduce vinegar and roll.
- Turn the jar over, wrap it well.
- Fans of spicy spicy foods can add a small piece of chili pepper during the preservation process.
- When the can is completely cooled, it can be left indoors or moved to a cooler storage environment.
Important! Chili peppers should not be allowed to enter the eye membrane - this can cause a serious burn. When preparing dishes, you should wash your hands thoroughly after any manipulations with the product.
With oak leaves
3 liter can 1 hour
gherkins
2.5–3 kg (how much will fit)
blackcurrant leaves
2 pcs.
garlic
1 medium head
Nutritional value per 100 g:
- At the bottom of the prepared cans put oak leaves, peas and peas and garlic, chopped into large slices.
- Fill the container with pre-soaked and dried cucumbers gherkins.
- Top with chopped dill, mustard seeds and currant leaves.
- Put the brine to boil, mixing the water with sugar and salt (mix everything well so that the ingredients dissolve). At the end, introduce vinegar.
- Pour cucumbers with boiled brine and sterilize in a large container for 25 minutes.
- Roll up the jar with a metal lid.
Cucumber storage at home
Storage of canned gherkins practically does not differ from ordinary cucumbers. If all the cooking rules are observed, including high-quality sterilization of the cans and their proper twisting, cucumbers can be stored both in a cool place (cellar, refrigerator) and in room conditions. It is important to ensure that direct sunlight does not fall.
Did you know? Oak leaves have a powerful vitamin complex, which is why they are often used in folk medicine. For the conservation of gherkins, it is better to take the foliage of a young oak tree, which contains much more fragrant components. Oak greens not only gives the fruit a pleasant aroma and taste, but also keeps the cucumbers in a solid state for several months.
In the case when preservation is stored indoors, it needs to be provided with adequate ventilation, the air temperature should not exceed + 20 ° С. In this state, cucumbers will be suitable for eating throughout the year. Open conservation is preserved exclusively in the refrigerator at a temperature of 0 ... + 3 ° C for up to 5 days.
Gherkins canned cucumbers - a delicious treat. These little cucumbers will appeal to everyone, without exception: both children and adults. They will be a great addition to the festive table and will add variety to the daily menu.
