Tasty, crispy, pickled cucumbers are a pleasant variety in the diet of every family. In winter, they are great for fried or boiled potatoes, are a complement to any second dish and just decorate the table. The whole secret is how to execute the right ambassador. Today we decided to collect all the recommendations of specialists who will be very useful for the young housewife. And we begin with the question of how much to soak cucumbers before preservation.
Choose vegetables
Before proceeding with conservation, you need to prepare the best cucumbers. The main criteria are color, size and elasticity. Experienced housewives know that ideal vegetables are those that have black pimples. Jars with such fruits almost never explode.
Never get deformed fruits that are overgrown and yellowed. They should be the same, even and small. The optimal length is from 5 to 13 centimeters. The rest of the illiquid can be used to make salad.
Big or small
Depending on how you want to prepare vegetables, you need to choose the size. For conservation, it is better to select medium specimens that do not exceed 13 centimeters. For lovers of exotic, tiny pickles are suitable, less than 5 cm in length. But large specimens are best used for salting. Growths with signs of yellowing are best left aside altogether. If you think that they are suitable for salad, then use them in this way.
Does the grade matter
Can early vegetables be used for salting? This is not recommended. All ultra-early varieties are salad. That is, their skin is thin and delicate. In addition, the earlier the cucumber ripens, the more harmful elements are in it. This problem is partially solved by soaking. However, experienced housewives still recommend waiting until the market has a large selection of seasonal vegetables.
Cleanliness is the key to health
This question is directly related to how much to soak cucumbers before preservation. A typical market situation: one seller has clean, shiny, attractive vegetables, while the other has a lot of garden soil. Choose the first? Take the risk of your labor. They were washed for a long time, and then transported in closed containers. As a result, acidification processes could already begin inside. This will lead to clouding of the brine, and the bank will simply “explode”. But the fruits with traces of fresh land - this is a product just from the garden. Buy calmly and prepare for salting. And now let's go directly to the topic of our conversation. So, how much soak cucumbers before preservation?
Elasticity will not hurt
Back to our example again. A summer resident brought fresh vegetables to the market. They are taut and elastic, ideal for salting. However, a hot day quickly changes the situation, and the tail of the fruit withers. This is noticeable if you press the cucumber with your fingers. It is best to look for more fresh fruits, but if there is no choice, then we take these. Then resuscitation is needed. Here the question is very relevant: "How many hours to soak the cucumbers before preservation?" Before proceeding to salting, it is necessary to allocate maximum time for the fruits to lie in cold water. They will restore their elasticity. To do this, every half hour the water is drained, after which a new portion is poured. The fruits seem to “get drunk” with it and become dense. Thus, we have identified the first goal that the housewives pursue by placing cucumbers in the water. But she is not the only one.
Additional advantages
Speaking about how much it is necessary to soak the cucumbers before preservation, it should be noted that everything is individual. Fresh vegetables, just removed from the garden, do not need this, you can just wash them. But if you bought them in a store, do not spare time. A great advantage of soaking is that in water they get rid of nitrates. Between 15 and 20% of all harmful substances that enter vegetables during cultivation are completely gone. To do this, it is advisable to leave them in the water for a day, changing it every half hour. However, do not go too far. If you observe that white circles have appeared on the surface of the water, it means that cucumbers should be immediately pulled out and washed thoroughly under running water.
Experienced housewives recommend using a soft rag with a small pile for washing cucumbers. This is a great option in order to rid the fruits of dirt after soaking. At the same time, the fabric does not spoil the skin and pimples. Here is another important point. When choosing fruits for salting, press the peel with your fingernail. If damage remains on it, then this is a salad vegetable, it will not crackle after salting. For harvesting for the winter, special grades are needed, with denser skin.
Which water is better for soaking
Below we will talk about how and how much cucumbers can be soaked before preservation. And now I would like to pay attention to what water can be used for this. Spring or well is best. If you do not have such an opportunity, then put a container of tap water in the refrigerator in advance. About 8-10 hours, and it will become somewhat closer to the standard in its properties.
All the housewives emphasize that the taste of cucumbers, which were soaked in well water, will certainly surprise you. They turn out crispy and tender, resilient and deliciously delicious. What other ways are there to improve ordinary water? You can use bottled, but this is only in case the amount of vegetables for pickling is small. Tap water can be boiled or passed through a filter, and then insisted on silver.
If conservation is yet to be
All women have had moments in life when there is fruit for pickling, but there is no time to deal with them. Perhaps this is also why the question often arises: "How many hours do you need to soak the cucumbers before preservation?" They are not recommended for long periods in water. If the vegetable is only from the garden, then just wash it. Store cucumbers, dense and resilient, are soaked for 3-4 hours, changing the water once. If they have already lain, it may take a whole day.
And if today is only Monday, and you are not going to engage in pickling before Friday? Then you need to worry about keeping the fruits as fresh as possible. A paper bag is ideal for this. Put cucumbers in it and put it in a cool place, protected from the sun. But the refrigerator does not fit well, here they can lie only about three days.
Cutting or soaking
Many housewives, giving advice on how long to soak cucumbers before preservation, recommend trimming the tail. This is due to the opinion that it is this part of the fetus that contains the most nitrates. However, there are several nuances. Violation of the integrity of the fetus reduces its taste. Usually it doesn’t turn out as crispy and elastic as it could be. And again, if nitrates are in the tail, then most likely they penetrated the rest of the vegetable. Therefore, to cut off the tail or not is purely voluntary. You can chop vegetables with a fork and place in cold water before pickling, the effect will be the same.
Thus, we already know how much to soak the cucumbers before preservation. The average duration of the preparatory process is 3-4 hours. This time can be reduced or increased depending on the specific situation. Using our recommendations, you will certainly be able to prepare delicious cucumbers for the winter.