How to prepare cucumbers for the winter

Very nice on a cold winter night to open a jar with crisp cucumbers and enjoy healthy and delicious vegetables, to preserve not only vitamins, but the smell of summer. To prepare cucumbers for the winter in different ways: to brine in barrels and jars, pickle and preserve with a variety of spices and herbs.

Cucumbers, pickled in a barrel

Long cucumbers was taken to salt for the winter in barrels. The best barrels are oak, beech, aspen and lime. Preparation of packagings is the most thorough washing and steaming hot water. This kind of harvesting and today is popular, after all vegetables, pickled in the cask, acquire a special unique taste. To pickle cucumbers in a barrel, you will need:
- 10 kg of cucumbers;
- 10 liters of water;
- 600 grams of salt;
- 300 g dill;
- 100 grams of garlic;
- 60 g of horseradish (leaves or roots);
- 30 g of leaves of cherry;
- 100 g of black currant leaves;
- 60 g of parsley, tarragon and celery;
- 30 g mint.

Sort cucumbers, whenever possible, take the vegetables approximately the same size. It is best suited for pickling vegetables and small fruit are bright green in color with thin skins and firm flesh. Then rinse the cucumber with cold water. On the bottom of the barrel lay 1/3 of all spices (all spices before laying wash), then in a vertical position, put a half a serving of cucumbers, over which place another third of all spices. Then the remaining cucumber and top – the remaining spices. Cucumbers lay in serried ranks.

Prepare the brine. To do this, boil water, add salt and boil for a few minutes until it dissolves completely. Stacked cucumbers pour the prepared hot brine, and close with a clean cloth and a wooden circle. So cucumbers does not pop up, put the weight and leave for 3-4 days to zaselyatsya at room temperature. Then the barrels of cucumbers, take out in a cool place. Optimum storage temperature from 0 to +3oC.

Cucumbers pickled

For the preparation of canned cucumbers need to take:
- 1,5 kg of cucumbers (glass jar);
- 4 large garlic cloves;
- 2-3 umbrella dill;
- 5 liters of water;
- 2 tbsp of salt (from top);
- 2 tbsp sugar;
- 3-5 peas allspice;
- 1-2 tablespoons of 9% vinegar.

First of all, thoroughly wash and dry the cucumbers. At the bottom of a clean dry sterilized three-liter jar put 2 large cloves of garlic, seed fennel umbrella. Then fill the jar with cucumbers. They should be laid tightly. On top place a couple of umbrellas dill and 2 sliced cloves of garlic.

Prepare the brine. To do this, pour in the pan 5 liters of water and bring to the boil. Then add salt, sugar and sweet bell pepper. Boil the brine for 5 minutes until sugar and salt dissolve completely. Fill laid in a jar of pickles cooked in hot brine. Let stand 10 minutes and drain back into the pan. Again bring the brine to boiling and again pour over cucumbers. In a jar add a tablespoon of vinegar, close the lid and put in a cool place.

Banks intended for storage at room conditions, thrice pour boiling brine (every 10 minutes) and add the 2 tablespoons of vinegar.