How to soak cucumbers so as not to spoil: the subtleties of preparing fruits for pickling for the winter

Whether the pickled cucumbers turn out tasty and crispy depends not only on the recipe. An important point is the preparation of the fruit. In most cases, it is necessary to soak cucumbers before pickling them for the winter. As a standard, the fruits are transferred to an enamel basin and kept in cold water for 2-3 hours. But in practice this time may not be enough. In addition, the procedure has its own rules.

How to soak cucumbers before pickling - 5 rules

Soaking cucumbers can have the opposite effect. Instead of becoming elastic and crispy, they can deteriorate - sour, become moldy, or ferment. In order for the procedure to be beneficial, you need to follow 5 rules:

1. Heavily dirty vegetables should be washed first. If you notice lumps of dirt, sticky blades of grass and dried flowers, you need to briefly immerse the cucumbers in water and wipe with a clean cloth. It is unacceptable for them to be soaked in muddy water with debris.
2. Soak undamaged, whole cucumbers. It is important to ensure that there is no damage to the skin, otherwise the fruit may quickly deteriorate. The butts should be cut off immediately before salting!
3. Use cold water. The colder the water, the better the effect. Fruits respond especially well to ice water. You can add ice every 3-4 hours. But from warm and especially hot water, vegetables, on the contrary, will wither.
4. Soak cucumbers in a cool room, away from direct sunlight. Heat and sunlight speed up the fermentation process.
5. After soaking, rinse the fruits with running water. Salting requires maximum sterility. When soaking, one way or another, bacteria multiply in the water.

I soak the cucumbers myself in the bathroom. I buy them early in the morning, around 7-8 o'clock. At this time, the vegetables are the freshest, not having had time to wither in the sun. At home, I immediately put the cucumbers in the bath, rinse them, and fill them with water. If the quantity is small, I use an enamel basin or pan. For some reason, plastic basins are not recommended for soaking. So my cucumbers can last until the evening, and sometimes until the next morning.

How many hours to soak cucumbers?

As I already said, usually cucumbers are soaked in cold water for a couple of hours. While they are soaking, the housewife prepares jars and spices for pickling, frees up space, etc. But there is one nuance here:

2-3 hours is the minimum soaking time for cucumbers. In this way, only fresh, elastic and small fruits are prepared for pickling. The rest need to be kept in water much longer.

Gorky

Cucumbers that are very bitter can be saved by soaking. The bitterness is neutralized almost completely. If the bitter taste remains, then salting removes it completely.

To remove bitterness, the fruits must be soaked for 10-12 hours.

I advise you not to skimp on water. The more liquid, the better the result. Some of my cucumbers even became slightly sweet without any hint of bitter taste.

Lost elasticity

It's no secret that cucumbers consist almost entirely of water (90% if I'm not mistaken). After being collected from the garden, they immediately begin to evaporate moisture and wither.During the first 2-3 hours, the wilting is not too noticeable, but by the evening the cucumber can become quite wrinkled, especially in extreme heat. At the same time, voids form inside and the fruit becomes soft.

To revive limp cucumbers, soak in cold water for 3-24 hours. The softer and larger they are, the longer the procedure should be.

It is best to navigate by the appearance of the fruit. You can cut one cucumber and evaluate its elasticity and crunch.

Bought at the market or in a store

If there is a suspicion that the cucumbers have been treated with chemicals, they are soaked for 8-10 hours before pickling. During this time, the fruits are well cleaned, all the nasty stuff is washed out of the skin. All that remains is to drain the bad water and rinse the cucumbers under the tap.

Large

For pickling, they try to select the best fruits - bright green, elastic, medium-sized. It is believed that cucumbers no longer than 13 cm in length are ideal for harvesting for the winter. Moreover, they should be the same size. But sometimes you have to stock up for the winter the so-called “unliquid stock” – large vegetables. I salt them cut into mugs. Before pickling, I thoroughly soak the fruits.

Large cucumbers are soaked in water for at least 12 hours, sometimes for a whole day.

The maximum soaking time is 24 hours. They resort to it if the fruits are not only large, but also slightly flaccid. To prevent the cucumbers from spoiling, it is better to change the water after 12 hours - drain the old one, rinse the fruits and soak them again.

Water quality matters!

It is recommended to soak vegetables in spring or well water, rather than chlorinated water from the tap. City residents can use bottled or filtered water. Unfortunately, I don’t have filters, and using store-bought water is too expensive.That's why I use the regular one. I didn't notice any side effects.

Important! The water should remain clear and clean while soaking cucumbers. If it becomes cloudy, white circles appear on the water, the fruits should be immediately removed and washed.

If everything is done correctly, cucumbers soaked in water are transformed - they become nourished and elastic. The voids inside disappear, which is why the brine does not soften the core, and the cucumbers, after pickling, crisp up like fresh ones. Soaking works wonders with cucumbers, I’ve learned from my own experience. But still this is not a panacea. You need to understand that overgrown, yellowed fruits, especially early ones with thin skin, cannot be revived by anything. Such cucumbers can only be used for salad, or better yet, fed to pets.