One quick and easy option for pickling in summer is to cook lightly salted cucumbers hot. Thanks to him, the cucumbers are crispy and very fragrant, they are ready the next day.
You can pickle vegetables in any container convenient for you - a jar (1 or 3 liters) or a saucepan, with the addition of your favorite spices, herbs, garlic or hot pepper.
The cooking process is not at all complicated and does not take much time (if you do not take into account the time required for fermentation): cucumbers, together with spices and herbs, are put in a saucepan or jar, then poured with hot brine, and then left to ferment for 10-12 hours. This time, as a rule, is enough for the cucumbers to become lightly salted.
Using my recipes, you can enjoy delicious lightly salted cucumbers in less than a day without making any extra efforts.
The classic recipe for lightly salted cucumbers in a saucepan
Ingredients
For salting:
- Cucumbers - 1 kg
- Garlic - 3-4 cloves
- Cherry - 3-4 leaves
- Currant - 4-5 leaves
- Horseradish - 1-2 leaves
- Dill - 2-3 pcs (twigs)
For brine:
- Salt - 1 tbsp l. (with a slide)
- Water - 1 l
Preparation
- In order for lightly salted cucumbers to turn out really tasty, it is best to take young fruits, it is desirable that they are recently plucked.
Vegetables that have been plucked for a long time, as well as overripe, will turn out to be soft and tasteless, so it is better not to use them in canning.
The cucumbers must be thoroughly washed, put in a bowl and filled with cold water for 1 - 2 hours (it is advisable to change the water several times or add ice during this time), so they will turn out juicy and crispy.
- For washed cucumbers, you must carefully cut off the tails on both sides.
- At the bottom of the saucepan, in which the cucumbers will be salted, you should put a couple of washed currant and cherry leaves, dill sprigs, a chopped horseradish leaf, garlic cloves cut into pieces.
- Next - lay the cucumbers in a dense layer.
- Then cover them on top with the remaining leaves of cherry, currant, horseradish and dill branches.
- Pour the required amount of cold water into a separate saucepan, add 1 heaped tablespoon of salt, stir everything well and bring the brine to a boil, boil for 2 - 3 minutes, then set aside for 5 minutes.
- Pour cucumbers (completely) with hot brine, cover the pan with a lid and set aside until it cools completely.
- When the saucepan with cucumbers has cooled down, for fermentation it should be put in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours (preferably overnight). After the allotted time for fermentation, lightly salted cucumbers can already be tried.
Lightly salted cucumbers in a horseradish jar
Ingredients
For salting:
- Cucumbers - 0.5 kg
- Garlic - 1-2 cloves
- Dill - 2-3 pcs (branches with umbrellas)
- Black currant - 4-5 leaves
- Horseradish - 1-2 leaves
- Horseradish - 1 pc (root, if desired)
For brine:
- Water - 0.5 l
- Salt - 15-20 g
Preparation
- Cucumbers according to this recipe are salted in a liter jar.
They can be safely salted in a two- or three-liter container if you increase the amount of ingredients.
First, thoroughly wash the jar with soda and rinse well with water, then boil over steam (otherwise, when pouring cucumbers with hot brine, the jar can simply burst). Then, put the washed dill sprigs, black currant leaves, peeled garlic cloves into the prepared jar, horseradish leaves divided into several parts. If desired, you can add chopped pieces of horseradish root.
- Young cucumbers (it is advisable to choose a small size so that they fit easily into the jar) must be thoroughly rinsed under cold water.
Remember that homemade, ground cucumbers are ideal, but greenhouse, withered or overripe cucumbers will not work.
- Each fruit should be carefully cut off the tails, cut the middle with a knife (this way the cucumbers will be salted faster).
- Tamp the prepared cucumbers into a jar.
If you are cooking cucumbers in a three-liter jar, first fill it halfway with vegetables, then put some horseradish leaves and garlic cloves on them, then fill the jar with cucumbers to the top.
- Put a leaf of horseradish and dill sprigs on top.
- Next, pour cold water into the pan, add salt, stir and boil.
- Pour cucumbers in a jar with boiling brine.
- The jar itself must be covered with a clean nylon lid (it is better to use a soft rather than a tight lid) and leave the cucumbers to ferment at room temperature overnight. Approximately 12-14 hours.
- In the morning, you can safely try lightly salted cucumbers. You need to store such salting in the refrigerator, the period is no more than 7 days.
Delicious lightly salted cucumbers with herbs and garlic
Ingredients
For brine:
- Water - 1.3 l
- Salt - 2 tbsp l.
- Sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
For salting:
- Cucumbers - 1.5 kg
- Horseradish - 1 leaf
- Currant - 4-5 leaves
- Cherry - 4-5 leaves
- Dill - 3-4 pcs (branches with umbrellas)
- Parsley - 3-4 pcs (twigs)
- Garlic - 4-5 cloves
- Pepper - 0.5-1 pcs (bitter, if desired)
- Black pepper - 3-4 pcs (peas)
- Allspice - 3-4 pcs (peas)
Preparation
- Cucumbers that are small in size (too large, as well as overripe fruits for pickling are not suitable) should be poured with cold water (this is necessary so that the cucumbers turn out to be crispy in the process) for 3 to 4 hours.
- After that, the cucumbers must be thoroughly washed and the ends are cut on both sides, the middle cut with a knife.
- Leaves of currants, horseradish, cherries, sprigs of parsley, dill, peeled cloves of garlic must be rinsed, then some of the greens (chopped sprigs of dill with umbrellas, horseradish leaves, currants, cherries, sprigs of parsley), black and allspice peas, chopped garlic plates - put to the bottom of the enamel pot.
If you want lightly salted cucumbers to turn out spicy, you can also add hot pepper cut into pieces.
- Prepared cucumbers should be folded in layers in a pan, sprinkling each layer with a part of the greens (it is better to initially divide the greens into several parts).
- From above, the cucumbers need to be covered with the remaining leaves of horseradish, currants, cherries and sprigs of dill and parsley.
- Then separately prepare a brine for lightly salted cucumbers: boil water in a saucepan, then add salt and sugar to boiling water, mix everything thoroughly until the bulk ingredients are completely dissolved, boil, and let it brew for 5 minutes.
- Gently pour the cucumbers to the top with hot brine, cover the pan with a lid, leave in this position at room temperature for 12 hours (this time is quite enough for the cucumbers to begin to ferment). After that, the cucumbers need to be stored in the refrigerator.
Keep in a cool place for no more than two weeks (with long storage, salted cucumbers will already become salty).
- After the allotted time, you can already try the fragrant crispy lightly salted cucumbers. Enjoy your meal!