TOP 8 step-by-step recipes for preparing cucumbers and currants for the winter

With the onset of summer, people begin to prepare various vegetable products from their gardens for the winter. The most popular method of canning is pickling cucumbers. This is especially true in the summer. Each housewife has her own unique recipes. In the cookbooks of our mothers and grandmothers there are unusual methods of salting cucumbers with various varieties of currants for the winter.

What ingredients are needed for canning?

There are quite a few recipes for pickling and canning cucumbers for the winter, but they all have approximately the same list of ingredients:

• cucumbers;
• white or black currants;
• table salt;
• granulated sugar;
• sprigs of dill;
• laurel leaf;
• clove buds;
• peppercorns;
• garlic cloves;
• drinking water.

The ingredients can be changed according to your recipe, using cherry leaves, spices, herbs, honey instead of sugar, horseradish and other elements. If the family likes sweet cucumbers, then add less salt than sugar; if salty, add more. Typically, a three-liter jar is filled with 3 tablespoons of salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of vinegar. This is a classic recipe for pickled cucumbers, the quantity can be adjusted to suit your taste.

Preparing vegetables and berries

The key to successful conservation is proper preparation of all components. The main steps will be: choosing the right vegetables and berries, washing them.

It is better to take small cucumbers, of the same size, without black spots or drying out; they should have an elastic consistency. Next, they should be washed well, cut off or leave the ends and placed in cool water until they are stored. Cucumbers should be dried before pickling.

Leaves must be intact and undamaged by pests. Currant berries must be taken on branches and washed thoroughly with water.

Choose garlic that is young, juicy, not overdried and whole. Preparation involves peeling, washing and cutting into slices. Collect or buy young dill. Rinse well before storing in jars. If you use horseradish, it should be washed, peeled and chopped.

Preparing the jars

Before preservation, it is mandatory to prepare the jars. If they are dirty, the workpieces will swell and deteriorate. The preparation of containers begins with washing. This must be done using soda or a special cleaning product. Then disinfection is carried out. It is performed according to the following algorithm:

1. Place a large bowl of water on the stove and immerse the colander.
2. Let the water boil.
3. Place the jars neck down in a colander.
4. Wait for 5 minutes, the jar should become hot when touched from the outside.
5. If you use metal lids for seaming, be sure to wash them and immerse them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Plastic devices can simply be rinsed.

How to preserve cucumbers with currants

Preserving cucumbers with berries is not much different from other types of pickling. All the main steps are similar. Differences will vary depending on the recipe and ingredients used.

A simple recipe for canned cucumbers with red currants for the winter

In the list of main ingredients listed above, you also need to take cherry leaves, currants and allspice. Step-by-step preparation:

1. Preparation of components and sterilization of jars with lids.
2. Soak the cucumbers in water first so they become crispy.
3. Place the first layer of bay, currant and cherry leaves, as well as spices, dill umbrellas, horseradish leaves and garlic.
4. The second time, add cucumbers mixed with branches of red berries.
5. Make a marinade from water, granulated sugar and salt.
6. After the brine boils, pour it into the jars.
7. Disinfect the jars in the usual way, roll up the lids, and place to cool in a place at room temperature.

Recipe for pickled cucumbers with red currants

If you decide to pickle cucumbers, you need to prepare the following components:

• gherkins;
• red currant fruits;
• cherry leaves;
• garlic;
• horseradish leaves;
• currant leaves;
• dill umbrellas and stems;
• salt;
• sugar;
• black peppercorns.

You need to prepare the marinating according to the recipe:

1. Place half of the leaf components and dill on the bottom of the jars.
2. Cut the garlic into slices and add to the greenfinch along with the pepper.
3. Throw in gherkins and branches with currants.
4. Stir in remaining leaves and spices.
5. Place vegetables and add berries.
6. Pour in boiled water twice, leaving for half an hour.
7. Boil new water along with granulated sugar and salt, add it to containers and roll them up.

With black currant

Salting cucumbers with blackcurrant berries will give the vegetables an unusual taste, as well as a different color due to long-term storage. Recipe for preparation:

1. Throw horseradish leaves, dill and garlic cloves into washed liter jars.
2. Immerse the cucumbers with the ends cut off so that the berries can fit.
3. Fill the currants to the brim, pour boiling water over them and set aside to steep.
4. Prepare the brine mixture: pour sugar, salt and black peppercorns into a bowl.
5. Pour liquid from jars into them and boil.
6. Pour acetic acid into the brine.
7. Fill liters with the resulting marinade, roll up and place on the neck to cool.

With white currants

The advantage of this type of canning is that the berries and cucumbers ripen at the same time, so after picking you can immediately start pickling. Recipe:

1. Throw oak, currant and cherry leaves, as well as dill umbrellas and garlic cloves into washed half-liter jars.
2. Remove the spines from the gherkins, leave the tips, and immerse them in containers.
3. Fill with berries to the brim.
4. Pour hot water and let all ingredients steam.
5. Place cloves, peppercorns, granulated sugar and salt in a ladle, you can add chopped chili, then pour in liquid from the jars.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn it off and pour in the vinegar solution.
7. Pour the brine mixture, keep the jars in boiling water, roll them up, and let cool.

Without sterilization

There are many options for salting without disinfection. Let's take a closer look:

• You should put the cucumbers in a container for pickling.
• Add horseradish, currant and cherry leaves, black peppercorns, bay leaves and halves of garlic cloves.
• Fill the preparations with boiling water, cover the necks and set aside to steep for 10 minutes.
• Make the marinade - pour water from the jars into a boiling container, add salt and sugar to it, bring to a boil.
• At this time, add whole berries to the cucumbers in the jar until the entire space is filled.
• Pour the prepared marinade into the container up to the neck and seal with sterile lids.
• If you preserve without sterilization, you should use the preserves within six months.

Without vinegar

The danger of preserving with a bite is the possibility of exceeding the volume and concentration of acid, so you can prepare it without it. Recipe:

1. Place horseradish and cherry leaves, garlic, cloves, hot peppers and cucumbers in washed and sterile jars.
2. Fill the remaining space with berries and pour boiling water to the top, leave the container to steep for 20 minutes.
3. Pour water from the jars into a boiling container, add salt and sugar and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Pour the cooked marinade over the workpieces again.
5. Cover with sterile lids and cool to room temperature.

Cucumbers in red currant juice

Pickling recipe:

1. Place the gherkins in cold water.
2. Mix berry juice with water, add sugar and salt, bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Immerse greenflies, garlic cloves, peppercorns, cloves, laurel leaves in the first layer, and place gherkins in the second layer.
4. Fill the containers with the mixture that has not yet cooled down.
5. Boil the sealing lids and cover the container, then boil everything together.
6. After sterilization, seal the jars and place the neck down to cool.

Pickling cucumbers with red currants

Prepare salted fruits according to the following recipe:

• Cool the cucumbers in water.
• Prepare currant fruits for pickling.
• Place ingredients in washed and sterile jars, add garlic cloves and spices.
• Boil water with salt and pepper and pour it into containers.
• Disinfect the jars and seal them.
• When we salt cucumbers with currants, they taste very pleasant, this is due to the fact that the taste of the berries is delicate and piquant.

How to store preserves

Cans of preserved products, especially those using vinegar, should be stored in a dark, dry and cool place. Usually this is an underground or cellar; if there is no such room, you can leave it in a living space without light - it could be a corridor, mezzanine or closet. If there is no pantry, basement or cellar, then you can put them under a bed or sofa.

A prerequisite for successful storage is to prevent exposure of the preservation to sunlight.