The main reasons why jars of cucumbers explode, how to save the preserve or remake it, is it safe to eat?

Of all the canned vegetable crops, cucumbers are one of the most capricious. All you have to do is make a small mistake when preserving it, and the jar shoots. Sometimes cucumbers become cloudy and their taste deteriorates. There can be many reasons why some jars of cucumbers explode. Incorrect preparation of the main product or failure to comply with the proportions often leads to such an incident. Proper preparation of the container also plays an important role.

Causes of cucumbers becoming cloudy and jars exploding

Jars of cucumbers explode very often. Sometimes the whole batch of twists explodes, and sometimes one or two of them explode. Possible reasons:

1. Air entering when rolling up the lid.
2. Improper preparation of marinade.
3. Poor preparation of jars.
4. Incorrect preparation of vegetables.

All these points must be taken into account and the necessary requirements must be met. Otherwise, you may be left without cucumbers for the winter.

Air entry

If air gets into the jar during preservation, it becomes favorable for the growth of bacteria. To prevent this from happening, you need to pour the brine into the jar with cucumbers to the very top.

If preservation was carried out by sterilization, after the jar has been removed from the sterilizer, the lid cannot be removed. It needs to be screwed on right away. Therefore, jars with those lids that will be rolled up are sterilized.

If for any reason the lid needs to be replaced, it must be sterilized. To do this, put it in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then take it out and immediately change it to the one that was on the can. The lids are opened and replaced with others very quickly so that air does not get into the jar. And this needs to be done while the jar is still in the sterilizer or has just been removed.

If you do this later, there is a risk of air getting in and causing bacteria to grow.

Air can also get into the jar if the sealer does not seal the lids properly. In this case, the banks will definitely explode. We need to change the machine and reroll all the cans. But such a measure can lead to the fact that the jars will not explode, but the brine in the cucumbers will become cloudy.

To prevent this from happening, you need to change the lids, sterilize the preservation again and roll it up with a reliable machine.

Improper preparation of marinade

Marinade for cucumbers is prepared with vinegar. If you don’t put it in enough, or in the wrong way, preservation won’t work.

When pickling, you need to take into account that vinegar evaporates when boiling. Therefore, when preparing the marinade, it must be added at the very end so that it is minimally subjected to heat treatment. The best option is when vinegar is added directly to the jar.

It’s bad when the proportions are not respected and little vinegar is added. In this case, the marinade becomes poorly concentrated and does not perform its functions well.

The same goes for other components. Salt and sugar must be added according to the recipe. If there are not enough of them, the cucumbers will ferment and become cloudy.

Poor preparation of jars

To prepare salted or pickled cucumbers, you need to properly prepare the container for them. They are usually pickled in glass jars. They must be sterilized before use. There are several ways to do this:

1. Jars are well sterilized in the oven. Before sterilization, they are washed well with detergent, rinsed and turned over to drain the water. Then put the jars in the oven on a baking sheet and warm them well. If you need a few jars and they are placed in the oven at a time, they are left in the oven until used. If more cans are needed, they are removed and placed on a clean, ironed towel.
2. Sterilizing jars with hot steam is quite effective, but it takes time because you have to deal with each one separately. Select a dish on which you can place an inverted jar with its neck down. A teapot or enamel mug is best suited for this.If the container does not fit well, you can insert something into the kettle, for example, a spoon. Pour some water into the bottom and bring to a boil. Make sure that steam enters the jar and steams it well. If the jar is not installed correctly or is steamed for a short time, there will be no positive result.
3. You can boil the jars in water in a large bowl. But such sterilization is less effective, because it is impossible to achieve temperatures above 100 degrees.

If the jars are poorly sterilized or sit for a long time after sterilization, at best the quality of the canned food will deteriorate. But more often they explode and become unusable.

Improper preparation of cucumbers

To ensure that the pickled cucumbers turn out tasty and the jars do not explode, you should not make mistakes when preparing vegetables:

1. If you pick cucumbers in rainy weather, they quickly deteriorate and do not stand well. It is better to use such cucumbers for pickling or leave them to sit for a couple of days. But at the same time, make sure that they do not spoil.
2. To make the cucumbers crispy, you need to soak them in water for 3 hours. If this is not done, they become soft and this can lead to the development of bacteria.
3. Poorly washed cucumbers are a source of bacteriological contamination. Together with dirt, E. coli, botulism pathogens and other microorganisms can settle on them.
4. You cannot pickle cucumbers that show signs of rotting; they guarantee an explosion of preservation. It is better to peel them and use them for salads.

By fulfilling such requirements, it is possible to achieve canning without loss.

Insufficient sterilization time

In recipes, the sterilization time is given conditionally. It happens that it was sterilized, as written in the recipe, but the cucumbers still exploded.To properly sterilize, you need to consider the following factors:

1. Small cucumbers are sterilized less than large ones - just like jars.
2. At the beginning of sterilization, it is better to set the fire to low so that it has time to warm up evenly.
3. Ready cucumbers should change color.
4. It is better to put greens and garlic in a marinade rather than in a jar if canning is done by steaming.

Compliance with these rules will allow you to obtain high-quality canned cucumbers for the winter.

Why do they turn over and wrap the jars?

Rolled cans must be turned upside down so that the lids warm up well. Then the jars must be wrapped in a blanket. This is done so that the jars cool slowly. At this time, the sterilization process continues in them.

If everything was done correctly, the next day you will be able to observe a beautiful transparent preservation. If mistakes were made, the marinade will become cloudy and the jar will swell.

Is it possible to remake cloudy cucumbers?

If the cucumbers have become cloudy, but the jar has not yet swelled, they can still be remade. To do this, remove the lid, drain the marinade, and wash the cucumbers with clean water.

Be sure to taste them. If vinegar was used, the taste may change and then nothing can be done. But if the cucumbers taste good, they are crispy and do not sizzle, they can be closed again.

To re-cover cloudy cucumbers, you need to prepare a new marinade and pour it into a jar. In this case, the proportions should be slightly reduced, taking into account the fact that the cucumbers have already absorbed some of the ingredients.

Is it possible to eat cucumbers in cloudy brine?

If canned cucumbers have become cloudy, but the taste has not deteriorated, they can be eaten if they were recently closed.

If the seams are stored for a long time and begin to become cloudy, it is dangerous to consume them. Botulism bacteria develop in canned food, and there is no guarantee that they are not present this time. Doctors cannot always save you from this dangerous disease, so it’s not worth the risk.

How to save exploding cucumbers

If a jar of cucumbers explodes, it cannot be resuscitated. Even if you rinse everything well and change the marinade, the fermentation process has already begun, and all efforts will be in vain.

So what to do if nothing can be fixed, but it’s a pity to throw away cucumbers? There is only one way out, send them to wander further. Check if the vegetables have an unpleasant odor, cover them with a nylon lid and take them to the basement. But such products should not be consumed raw. It is better to prepare pickles or solyankas from them.

How to avoid exploding cucumber jars

For the cans to stand well, it is not enough to roll them up correctly. Proper storage of canned food also plays an important role.

Sealings should be stored in a cool, dark place. Cellars, basements and cold storage rooms are suitable for this. In hot weather, the risk of canned food explosions increases, so you need to monitor the room temperature.