Even with the most careful care, it is not always possible to avoid overgrowing cucumbers. In this case, experienced housewives do not give up, but prepare cucumbers in their own juice for the winter without sterilization, successfully using substandard greens. There are easy and quick to prepare recipes for winter preparations.
It is well known how quickly and abundantly a cucumber can release juice; just add salt to it. Moreover, if it is cut or chopped using a grater, vegetable slicer or meat grinder.This is how deformed and overgrown cucumbers are processed into a juicy, aromatic base for various recipes.
Zelentsy is fermented with its own juice, making delicious salads, cold dishes, semi-finished products for soups, pickles, and marinades. With the help of aromatic herbs, piquant, spicy additives, the taste of the cucumber preparation is changed. They make great finger-licking snacks.
The list of ingredients and seasonings largely depends on personal preferences. Traditionally, mustard seeds, all kinds of peppers, dill, celery, parsley, basil, and currant leaves are used. Each addition not only changes the aroma and neutral taste of preserved cucumber, but also adds a share of beneficial vitamins to the overall composition of the dish. Using the basic recipe for preparing cucumbers in their own juice, you can turn a substandard harvest into a delicious snack.
Surprise your friends and family with unusual culinary discoveries.
Traditional recipe
For the recipe you should use freshly picked cucumbers. Zelentsy are sorted, leaving strong specimens without signs of spoilage. Small fruits are folded separately for use as a whole.
The recipe for cucumbers in their own juice is very simple. We select about 1.5-2 kg of small cucumbers and about a kilogram of overgrown greens for making juice. The preservative for pickling will be ordinary rock salt. We select spices to taste.
Ingredients:
- cucumbers – 2.5 kg;
- salt – 100 g;
- garlic – 6 cloves;
- allspice, black – 4-5 pcs.;
- cloves, bay leaves, horseradish leaves, dill umbrellas - 2 pcs each;
- hot red pepper optional.
Step-by-step cooking recipe:
- soak cucumbers for 3-4 hours in cold water, wash;
- We chop substandard fruits.This can be done by passing them through a meat grinder, grating them on a coarse grater, or simply cutting them into several pieces;
- Sprinkle the resulting cucumber mass with salt, leave until completely dissolved and the juice is released for 30 minutes;
- Place spices, cucumber puree and small cucumbers in clean glass jars in layers;
- To protect against mold, place a horseradish leaf under the very neck of the jar;
- Add the remaining juice and close the jar with a plastic lid.
- After a couple of weeks, the pickling process will be completed and the cucumbers will be ready. They are stored in a cold cellar or refrigerator at a temperature of 0 to 10 degrees for no more than 2 months.
Pickled cucumbers prepared in this way for the winter in their own juice have a pleasant fresh taste, aroma, crispy texture, and retain vitamins and microelements in their composition almost unchanged.
If there is no horseradish, use 12 tsp. mustard seeds, which are poured on top before capping the jar.
Cooking pickled cucumbers in their own juice
The greens are pre-soaked for several hours and washed under running water. During this time, you need to prepare containers for canning. Usually these are glass jars. They are washed with soda and sterilized. We use table vinegar, sugar, and salt as a preservative.
For the recipe you will need:
- cucumbers – 1 kg;
- salt – 12 tbsp. l.;
- sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
- vegetable oil – 25 ml;
- table vinegar 9% - 50 ml;
- garlic – 5-6 cloves;
- bay leaf – 3 pcs.;
- red pepper to taste.
Cut the cucumbers lengthwise into four parts, large ones into 8 parts, and place in a deep bowl. Add all the ingredients to them and leave for 2 hours to form juice in which the marinating will take place.Mix the cucumber mixture with spices a couple of times.
When there is enough liquid, transfer the sliced cucumbers into small jars and fill with the resulting juice. Sterilize canned food in small jars for about 5 minutes and seal it tightly with lids. We put the jars upside down and cover them with something warm for longer cooling.
Store canned cucumbers in their own juice in a cellar or cold pantry almost all winter. The recipe can be varied by adding your favorite seasonings, or a little sweet pepper, yellow and red.
Pickled cucumbers in their own juice with mustard
In this recipe, mustard has been added to the traditional ingredients, which has bactericidal properties and changes the taste of the product. The result should be pickled cucumbers in their own juice with a longer shelf life and a pleasant new taste.
Ingredients needed for cucumbers with mustard filling:
- cucumbers – 4 kg;
- salt – 3 tbsp. l.;
- dry mustard – 2 tbsp. l.;
- garlic, dill umbrellas, allspice, a small piece of horseradish root, bay leaf, currants - to taste.
Half of the cucumbers intended for marinade are grated using a coarse grater. Salt and dry mustard dissolve in cucumber juice. Spices, grated cucumbers, whole small cucumbers are added layer by layer into the fermentation container, and so on until the container is full. Oppression is placed on top.
The container with cucumbers is stored at room temperature until the lactic acid fermentation process is completed. Its duration depends on the temperature, and lasts 10-15 days. Subsequently, the container with pickling is moved to the cold.
The temperature for storing cucumbers in their own juice for the winter should not exceed 1-3 degrees. The finished product can be transferred to smaller jars and closed with regular plastic lids. In this case, the workpiece is stored in the refrigerator.
Cooking lightly salted cucumbers in their own juice
Lightly salted cucumbers are prepared quite quickly and simply. There are two very similar technology methods for pickling cucumbers in their own juice.
- In the first case, whole cucumbers are placed in a bag with salt added. After some time, the secreted juice becomes brine. This method can be called “lazy”; it does not require time to prepare. The salting process takes longer.
- In the second case, overgrown greens are crushed and combined with salt, obtaining brine for the bulk of the cucumbers. The salting process is faster and better quality.
Everyone chooses a suitable method for themselves, how to pickle cucumbers in their own juice. Let's take a closer look at the latter.
For a 3 liter jar you will need:
- cucumbers for pickling - 10-12 pieces;
- puree from overgrown fruits – 1.5 l;
- salt – 3 tbsp. l.;
- if desired, add dill, currant leaf, horseradish, chili pepper, garlic.
Wash the cucumbers thoroughly. Large ones - grind in a meat grinder or using a grater. Combine them with garlic and salt. Cut off the ends of small cucumbers for more uniform pickling. If pickles are prepared with horseradish, then its roots are placed at the bottom of the jar, and the leaves are placed on top of all the cucumbers.
Layer layers of spices, cucumber puree, and whole cucumbers. Fill the container completely with the remaining juice. After 5-8 hours, pickled cucumbers can be eaten.
Lightly salted cucumbers can be cooked even faster if the filling is preheated over low heat.In this case, you will be able to try pickled cucumbers after 4-5 hours.
In home preparations, recipes are used that allow the crop to be processed with minimal losses. Of course, traditional canning of cucumbers is more familiar and allows you to store the product for a very long time.
But cold-fermented winter preparations retain much more vitamins and microelements. Such products are much healthier. If they were prepared according to all the rules, they will be stored all winter. And the taste characteristics largely depend on how to cook, what spices to use, what recipes for cucumbers in their own juice for the winter were chosen.
