Pickled cucumbers are one of the most popular preparations. This is an excellent stand-alone snack, as well as the basis for many other dishes. They are often used in the preparation of various salads. During the vegetable season, they are easy to prepare, and in winter, cucumbers from such a jar will delight you with a wonderful taste. There are many known ways to pickle this vegetable. One of the most popular recipes is Berlin-style cucumbers.
Features of the recipe for pickled cucumbers “Uncle Vanya” in Berlin for the winter
This recipe is of German origin. It is very popular because vegetables prepared in this way have a spicy and delicate taste.
Cucumbers according to this recipe are crispy and moderately spicy.
For this pickling you will need vegetables that are small and the same size. The marinade must include whole dry mustard grains.
Required Ingredients
To prepare Berlin-style cucumbers you will need the following ingredients:
- cucumbers – 3 kg;
- vinegar 9% - 60 ml;
- garlic – 6-8 cloves;
- hot pepper – 1 piece;
- allspice – 5 g;
- bay leaf – 6-7 pieces;
- mustard seeds - 2 teaspoons;
- salt – 2 tablespoons;
- sugar – 4 tablespoons.
When preparing the marinade, you should use regular table salt without any additives. Do not use iodized salt.
You can add cherry, grape or currant leaves to each jar. This will only make the taste of the finished cucumbers better.
From the specified amount of vegetables, on average, 7-8 0.5 liter jars or 4-5 liter jars come out.
How to choose and prepare vegetables
The taste of the finished product largely determines the quality of the cucumbers used. For pickling, you need to take only ground vegetables that are ripe for the season. Fruits of approximately the same size should be carefully selected. They should be elastic, without damage.
First, the cucumbers must be washed and left for 4-5 hours in clean cold water. During this procedure, the vegetables will absorb the missing moisture, and during the pickling process they will become elastic and crispy. Then they should be rinsed again with clean water.
Rules for preparing containers
It is very important to properly prepare the container in which the cucumbers will be placed.This will determine whether the snack can be preserved in proper form until winter.
Glass jars intended for closing should be pre-washed with baking soda and any detergent, then rinsed several times with running water. After this, the jars are sterilized in any convenient way:
- in the microwave;
- steamed;
- in the oven.
After such sterilization, the dishes are placed on the table with the neck up.
Pickling process
At the bottom of each jar you should put dill, several rings of hot capsicum, 3-4 peas of allspice, 1-2 bay leaves, 2-3 cloves of peeled garlic (large cloves can be cut into several pieces).
A mandatory ingredient must be dry mustard seeds.
Prepared cucumbers are placed tightly on top. Then pour boiling water into the jar, close it with a clean lid and let it sit like that for 20-30 minutes. After time, the water is removed and the vegetables are poured with hot prepared brine.
While the jars are standing, you can prepare the marinade. Salt and sugar in the specified amount are poured into boiling water. The liquid is gently stirred until these substances are completely dissolved. Boiling brine is poured into each jar, not reaching 1 cm from the edge.
At the very end, before closing the lids, you need to add vinegar to each jar (approximately 2 teaspoons for each liter jar).
After this, the jars are covered with boiled lids and rolled up. Then wrap it up and leave it until it cools completely.
If the cucumbers are stored in a cool place, then additional sterilization is not required.
When stored indoors, the workpiece can be additionally sterilized for better preservation.To do this, before rolling, jars of cucumbers and marinade are placed in a deep pan, on the bottom of which you need to put a small towel or any fabric.
Jars covered with boiled lids are filled with hot water up to the neck. Sterilize in this way:
- 0.5 l – 8-10 minutes;
- 1 liter – 15-20 minutes.
After this procedure, they take it out and roll it up.
Water for such cucumbers should be bottled or purified using a filter. It is better not to use tap water for canning.
How and for how long can you store it?
It is very important to observe the storage conditions for canned vegetables. Violation of them will lead to the product being hopelessly spoiled and causing harm to health when consumed.
Any homemade preparations, including Berlin-style pickled cucumbers, should be stored at a temperature from 0 to + 25 degrees in a dry place. In this case, air humidity should not be higher than 75%.
If these rules are followed, a jar of pickles can be stored for up to two years. After this time, it is not recommended to use the snack, even if no external changes are observed.
Once opened, these cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator for no longer than 3 days.
