In order to include pickled and salted vegetables in the winter menu, you need to devote a total of a day or several days (depending on the volume!) to canning and pickling in the autumn-summer season. In fact, you need to spend a little time, because the recipes that we will try to prepare today are very simple, but they will delight you with amazing taste. If you like to add pickled cucumbers to dishes and use them as a simple appetizer as a side dish (cold-cooked), then you will probably be interested in the following methods of preparing them.

Canning cucumbers for the winter

Delicious pickles on your table

Every housewife probably has her own signature recipe, which she uses year after year to preserve cucumbers. It is incorrect to call any one cooking method correct and ideal, because different seasonings, dosages are used and, in the end, the technological process is different.

Cucumbers can be salted whole, or cut into strips or slices. They attract with their exquisite, piquant taste and crunch, retain their color and are an excellent addition to salads, side dishes and even hot dishes such as solyanka. A barrel for pickling in an apartment is not always appropriate, and if there are no other utility rooms, then there is simply nowhere to place it. Therefore, we will use ordinary glass jars, but prepare according to this recipe so that the cucumbers taste like real ones from a barrel.

Recipe for barrel pickles (cold method)

We will need 2 kilograms of cucumbers, several umbrellas of dill, 23 pieces of leaves from blackcurrant or cherry bushes (can be halved). Don't forget to prepare a couple of cloves of garlic and peeled horseradish root. This method uses vodka, don't let that surprise you. In this case, it is a preservative, and we use it very little.

Well-washed cucumbers should first be doused with boiling water, then placed in a large container and filled with cold water. After two hours, transfer them to jars, not forgetting to put herbs and spices between each layer. Fill with cold water, adding two tablespoons of vodka to the jars (table spoons, of course!). There is no need to seal it, just cover it with plastic lids and put it in the refrigerator. This snack can be stored for as long as needed, but according to the housewives, it is difficult to hide such a tasty treat from your family for a long time.

Cold-processed young pickles (almost in barrels)

Try to choose small, uniform-sized vegetables for this cooking method. They should be seedless and have thin, delicate skin. Overripe cucumbers will not work.

For the recipe we take:

1.5 kilograms of fruit per one three-liter jar;
- 2-3 sprigs of dill umbrellas;
- 2-3 leaves of black currant;
- 2-3 oak leaves;
- 2 cherry tree leaves;
- 3-4 cm of horseradish root;
- 1 pod of hot hot pepper;
- garlic cloves;
- 40 grams of salt for every liter of water.

We process vegetables before salting. To do this, we wash them under running cold water, and then put them in a container with ice water for 20-30 minutes. This technique keeps the cucumbers crisp and firm after pickling.

While we are preparing the herbs and greens: scald all the leaves with boiling water, do not chop the garlic, leave it in large slices. Three-liter jars can be pre-sterilized in a microwave oven or in another way convenient for you. Place dill, leaves, horseradish and garlic at the bottom of each bottle. By the way, adding oak leaves is one of the secrets of many housewives. They know that this will allow the cucumbers to remain crispy yet tender. But don’t get carried away with oak leaves; too much of them will cause the peel to become excessively hard.

The next step is to place the cucumbers as close to each other as possible. The final touch is hot pepper, but many people prefer not to add it. It makes the appetizer very spicy. You need to pour the prepared brine over the vegetables: prepare it by adding 40 grams of table salt for each liter of cold water. Stir the mixture well so that no undissolved salt remains. Immediately fill all jars to the very top; cucumbers can absorb a lot of marinade. Cover the containers with gauze bandages and leave them in the room on the table for 3-4 days.

Gradually, you will be able to observe how the contents in the jars become cloudy, and sometimes a layer of mold even forms. This shouldn’t scare you; it means everything was prepared correctly! If you prepare such cucumbers in large quantities, then several jars can be rolled up for long-term storage. To do this, drain the marinade from them and remove any mold that has formed. Bring to a boil, pour into bottles and roll up very quickly.

Put what remains unclogged in the refrigerator; such cucumbers can last a month or more. They can be served with porridge, potatoes, meat, added to snacks and salads. This dish can easily be called a traditional appetizer for any winter feast.

Vegetables

Description

Cucumbers, pickled for the winter, like barrels– a simple and everyone’s favorite snack, an excellent addition to bland dishes on the table in the winter.

Pleasant to the touch, salty to the taste, crispy and smelling of the spicy smell of summer herbs and an oak barrel - it’s with these cucumbers, generously sprinkled with vegetable oil from fried sunflower seeds, and a lot of onions that it’s pleasant to eat boiled potatoes, peeled and boiled whole or boiled in uniform Cucumbers prepared in this way can be used in meat and vegetable salads and vinaigrettes, added to pickle sauce or to beef stew.

Such cucumbers, of course, can be bought by walking through the collective farm market, or you can prepare them yourself at home and enjoy them all winter, enjoying the tasty addition.

To prepare pickles for the winter as barrel pickles, you do not need a barrel. For this purpose, you can use various containers, the main thing is that they are convenient for you and covered with a lid. These can be three-liter jars, ceramic barrels, or plastic buckets that are suitable for storing food. The volume is important, because the larger it is, the larger the cucumbers, or the greater the number of them that can be pickled. We use 4 liter buckets. A large amount of spices makes the cucumbers fragrant and crispy, and pickling using natural fermentation allows you to preserve all the beneficial properties of cucumbers.

Pickling cucumbers does not require any special skills; they do not require sterilization or wrapping. And another argument in favor of preparing pickles, as in a barrel, is that fruits of any size are suitable for pickling: from gherkins to the largest specimens, and, characteristically, they turn out tastier than small ones. Our simple recipe with step-by-step photos will help you quickly prepare delicious cucumbers in urban conditions for the winter that taste like barrel cucumbers.

Ingredients

Steps

    We select cucumbers that we will cold pickle. All cucumbers will be suitable, but cucumber varieties with thick skin are considered the most suitable.

    The size of the cucumbers is not important, but it is better if the cucumbers in one container are approximately the same size, which will allow them to be salted evenly. Although cucumbers will not be over-salted in any case, even during long-term storage.

    Let's prepare the dishes in which we will pickle the cucumbers. We wash jars, buckets, lids with soda and rinse in plenty of clean running water. It is important that the dishes are free of defects, because the cucumbers will ferment and some pressure will be created inside the jars, and the plastic container must be suitable for use with food.

    We select dishes for pickling cucumbers based on the size of the cucumbers that we will use. It is most convenient to take jars of such a size that the cucumbers feel comfortable in it, and when laying the gaps are minimal. Large gaps help soften the cucumbers, although packing them too tightly is also undesirable..

    It is more advisable to pickle cucumbers that do not fit in jars in a container that will allow the fruit to be placed in it as tightly as possible. We recommend plastic containers with a lid.

    Wash the cucumbers selected for pickling thoroughly in warm water, remove the stems and remaining flowers.. Then soak in plenty of cold water for two hours so that the cucumbers gain moisture and do not absorb much brine during the pickling process.

    We sort out the herbs and spices prepared for pickling, wash them thoroughly, dry them on cloth towels and prepare them for further processing.

    We disassemble the cherry branches with leaves. We separate the resulting products into different containers for the convenience of further storage. We simply tear off the leaves and chop the twigs with bark using garden shears.

    We do the same with oak branches as with cherry branches.

    Prepare the garlic: peel the garlic and cut the cloves into slices.

    We wash the hot pepper and cut it into convenient pieces along with the seeds.

    Soak the horseradish rhizome in warm water for 20 minutes, then thoroughly clean it of any remaining soil and cut it into thin slices.

    When all the ingredients are ready, we begin the filling process. We will add sprigs of dill, cilantro, parsley, basil, horseradish leaf, black currant leaf, thyme and mint without chopping.

    At the bottom of the prepared dish we place half of the harvested herbs and chopped twigs, chopped horseradish and garlic, black peppercorns, and bay leaves.

    Place cucumbers on top and cover with the rest of the greens.

    Sprinkle coarse kitchen salt.

    Fill with clean, very cold water. Ideally, it should be from a well, or cleaned. The main thing is that it is not tap water, since the chemicals used in water purification adversely affect the pickling process and the taste of cucumbers. We try to pour the water slowly, and always so that it carries away the salt. Cover with a lid, but not tightly. We leave the cucumbers in a room at room temperature until the fermentation process begins.

    We place the filled containers on plates or trays, because the buckets will begin to leak during the fermentation of the cucumbers. This will happen within the first two days.

    After a day, foam will appear on the surface of the brine. This begins the process of natural fermentation. The cucumbers began to sour.

    Over the next two days, the water in the cucumbers will begin to become cloudy and a characteristic sour smell will appear.

    Close the lids on the buckets tightly. We take the cucumbers to the basement. They must remain there for about a month for the fermentation process to complete. The brine will lighten at the top of the bucket, and the cloudier brine will sink to the bottom. Completely salted cucumbers will acquire a brown color and the characteristic smell of barrel cucumbers. If you see all this with your own eyes, it means that the pickled cucumbers are ready as barrels.

    At this point all preparations are completed. Cucumbers pickled in this way for the winter are well preserved until the end of spring next year, while remaining crispy and aromatic.

    Bon appetit!

Pickled cucumbers are a classic of Slavic cuisine, its “calling card”. Previously, in villages, housewives considered it their duty to prepare pimply fruits for the winter. They were salted in barrels to last until the next harvest. Crispy, juicy, aromatic - the very memory of village pickles awakens the appetite. The old recipe for barrel cucumbers is easy to repeat, and if you don’t have a barrel, you can make pickles with a “barrel” flavor in a bucket or in jars.

Very easy to prepare

In ancient times, barrel cucumbers were considered a cure for all ailments. The product is really useful, especially for digestion. Well-fermented vegetables produce lactic acid, which enriches the intestinal microflora with beneficial bacteria. Unlike pickled cucumbers, cucumbers in a barrel are prepared without vinegar and filled with cold brine, which allows you to preserve most of the vitamins. Thanks to a special cooking technology, the taste of barrel cucumbers is strikingly different from pickled ones. The combination of light sourness and spiciness, the aroma of spices, and the dense crispy structure cannot be confused with preparations salted in another way.

Pickled cucumbers can whet your appetite. If during a feast you get carried away with crispy pickles, control the amount of food on your plate, otherwise you will eat much more than usual. If you have hypertension, atherosclerosis, or intestinal diseases, you should discard the product.

Using the same pickling recipe, you can get different results. For some housewives, barrel cucumbers crunch, retain a dense structure, and awaken the appetite. Other pickles are not exciting to taste. Why does this happen? It's all about secrets, without knowing which it is impossible to prepare delicious preparations.

  • Selection of cucumbers. For pickling, you need to take young, medium-sized cucumbers. Strong specimens with thick skin are suitable. Ideally, vegetables should only be from the garden: such pickles will turn out tastier. Varieties with black pimples are suitable for pickling. Before pickling, the cucumbers are sorted. The same size of fruits is a guarantee that they will be salted evenly.
  • Soak. Before pickling, vegetables should be soaked in cold water for three to six hours. This is necessary to ultimately produce crispy fruits. The colder the water, the stronger the crunch. Therefore, it is recommended to keep the soaking water in the refrigerator and add ice cubes to the container. If you use store-bought vegetables, then soaking is a necessary measure. After lying in water, vegetables will get rid of nitrates. As a bonus, the bitterness, if any, will disappear.
  • Spices. When preparing pickles, the rule is: the more spices, the tastier. “Playing” with natural seasonings allows you to get preparations with new flavor notes every time. You can use garlic, dill, celery, savory, tarragon - thanks to them, homemade preparations become fragrant. Don't forget about blackcurrant and cherry leaves. They are responsible for the crunch and preservation of the fruit. Another must-have seasoning is horseradish. Both leaves and root are added. Horseradish makes the brine clearer and protects cucumbers from mold.
  • Salt. You only need to take coarse rock salt. "Extra" is not suitable. You cannot use sea water or iodized water. Both provoke fermentation processes: cucumbers will quickly spoil.

It is advisable to cut off the ends of purchased cucumbers before pickling. Believes that nitrates accumulate in the tail section. When harvesting from your garden, you can skip this step.

Salting “the old fashioned way”: recipe for barrel cucumbers

Pickling cucumbers in a barrel is not difficult, but you need to know certain subtleties. To ensure that the pickles do not disappoint with their taste, it is important to choose the right container. Oak barrels are optimal. This wood contains special preservative substances that prevent the formation of mold and microorganisms. You can also use linden barrels, but do not cook in aspen and pine barrels: it is believed that such wood can give cucumbers an off-flavor.

You can take any size tub. In the old days they used barrels that could hold up to 100 kg of cucumbers. Many housewives inherited barrels, so salting in such volumes is still carried out today. However, if possible, it is better to use small capacity containers (10-20 kg). Housewives noticed that the quality of salting with a minimum amount of salting is higher. To make cucumbers tasty, you need to know the rules for preparing the brine, the peculiarities of the filling, and in order to be stored for a long time, the nuances of preparing the barrel.

400 years ago, Moscow merchants annually organized a pickled cucumber festival in the capital. They solemnly rolled out barrels of pickles to the markets and treated everyone. And there were many of them. Long after the holiday, merchants argued about whose cucumbers turned out tastier this year.

Preparing the container

Preparing the tub is an important step. This determines whether the pickles will develop a foreign odor and how long they will be stored. When preparing, it is important to consider whether the container has been used before. It is important to remove tannins from the walls of new barrels. In the case of old tubs, the housewife may encounter the problem of odor from the products previously stored here. Both problems can be solved if you know the rules of “barrel” preparation.

  • Soak it. If the barrel has not been used before, it needs to be soaked for two to three weeks. The procedure will help remove substances that can spoil the quality and taste of pickles. It is important to change the water during the soaking process, otherwise a musty smell will appear. The fluid is changed every two days. The color of the water will indicate that soaking can be stopped: at first it will be colored by tannins, and when they are gone, the coloring will stop. Old barrels are soaked differently: dissolve 0.5 kg of bleach in a bucket of water, pour the solution into a tub, and leave for an hour. The smell of the tub will be unpleasant, but subsequent stages of preparation will get rid of this aroma.
  • Mine. The barrel must be thoroughly washed using soda. Particular attention should be paid to washing if the tub was previously salted. You can thoroughly clean the walls of the container using wire brushes.
  • Steam it. A clean barrel must be steamed. Juniper, mint, wormwood and meadow hay are placed at the bottom of the tub. Three to four buckets of boiling water are poured here. The barrel is closed and left until the water cools completely. Previously, in villages they also dipped cobblestones heated in the oven into boiling water so that the water would not cool down longer. Herbs under the influence of boiling water release esters, which have a disinfecting effect and remove all foreign odors. If the barrel was treated with lime, then the procedure with boiling water must be repeated several times. Steaming allows you to preserve pickles throughout the winter. Without this simple manipulation, cucumbers may turn sour.

Some housewives additionally disinfect the barrel with sulfur. A small piece of the substance is placed in a tin can and lit. The smoking sulfur is placed at the bottom of the barrel, and the tub is covered with a lid. After fumigation, the container is ventilated and washed.

Correct brine

Brine for barrel cucumbers is prepared from water and salt in a separate container. It is poured into barrels after filtering through cheesecloth. The cucumbers should be completely covered with liquid.

Properly prepared brine is the key to delicious barrel cucumbers. Every housewife knows about this. To make pickles delight your household, learn to correctly calculate the amount of salt for brine. The volume is always indicated in recipes, but housewives often overlook one important nuance: the amount of salt is calculated depending on the size of the fruit. The table will help you make the correct calculations.

Table - Amount of salt according to the size of cucumbers

Hard water is ideal for preparing brine - spring water from a well. It is slightly heated so that the salt dissolves better, but the finished brine is poured cold.

The method itself

Peculiarities. The old recipe for barrel cucumbers can be easily repeated even by inexperienced housewives. Following a proven recipe, you can make real rustic pickles, just like grandma’s. Before salting, it is recommended to rub the walls of the barrel with garlic: this protects against mold and foreign odors. There is a secret to laying: the cucumbers are laid vertically, their “spouts” should look down at the bottom of the tub - housewives claim that this way the pickles turn out tastier.

Need to:

  • medium cucumbers - 100 kg;
  • water - 10 l;
  • coarse salt - 700 g;
  • horseradish roots and leaves - 500 g each;
  • dill (umbrellas, dried stems) - 3 kg;
  • garlic - 300 g;
  • celery leaves - 1 kg;
  • currant and cherry leaves - 1 kg each;
  • hot pepper - 100 g.

How to do

  1. Soak the cucumbers in cold water.
  2. Prepare the herbs and leaves: wash, scald with boiling water, and leave to drain.
  3. Peel the washed horseradish roots and garlic. Chop coarsely.
  4. Cut the hot pepper in half.
  5. Place a third of the currant, cherry, horseradish, and celery leaves on the bottom of the barrel. Add garlic, dill and hot pepper halves (measure a third of each ingredient).
  6. Arrange half the cucumbers in tight rows. Repeat the seasoning layer.
  7. Continue adding vegetables to the top of the tub. Place spices on top.
  8. Dissolve salt in water at room temperature. Strain the brine through cheesecloth.
  9. Fill the barrel cucumbers with brine.
  10. Cover the barrel with a lid and apply pressure. Leave the tub to stand at room temperature for two days: this will start the fermentation process.
  11. Check your pickles. Skim off any foam that has formed. If there is too little brine, make more and add.
  12. Take the barrel to the basement or cellar. You can try pickles after two weeks if you like lightly salted cucumbers. To experience the real rustic taste, you need to wait two months.

The ideal temperature for storing barrel cucumbers is 0-3°C. Exceeding the temperature regime is fraught with wasted efforts: cucumbers become soft in the heat, and a putrid smell may appear.

Kvasim in a bucket

To prepare cucumbers straight from a barrel at home, it is not necessary to have a tub on your farm. Repeat the recipe for barrel cucumbers in a bucket for the winter: the taste of the vegetables is no different from the village ones. This method is often used by residents of city apartments: a bucket takes up less space than a barrel. Use containers made of food-grade plastic, enameled (without chips) of any capacity. After pickling, the cucumbers can be rolled into jars and stored in the pantry.

To ensure that cucumbers retain their bright color, they are scalded with boiling water before pickling. Immediately after this, the fruits are doused with cold water: this way the color will be brighter and the crunch will not be lost. Scalding also speeds up the onset of fermentation.

Proven method...

Peculiarities. It is important to thoroughly wash the bucket to get rid of foreign odors and microorganisms. You can try vegetables prepared according to this recipe within a week. But if you wait two, you will get crispy and spicy pickles that are difficult to distinguish from real barrel pickles.

Need to:

  • small cucumbers - a bucket;
  • water - according to the volume of the bucket;
  • rock salt - 60 g for each liter of water;
  • garlic - one head;
  • dill umbrellas - six pieces;
  • laurel - four leaves;
  • horseradish leaves - two pieces;
  • cherry and currant leaves - ten pieces each;
  • cloves - seven buds;
  • mustard seeds - a teaspoon;
  • black pepper - ten peas.

How to do

  1. Place half of the leaves and spices in the bottom of the bucket.
  2. Peel the garlic and cut each clove in half. Add half to the spices.
  3. Place clean cucumbers soaked in cold water tightly in a bucket.
  4. Top with remaining leaves and spices.
  5. Prepare a brine from water and salt. Pour over the cucumbers.
  6. Cover the vegetables with a plate. Place a press on top: a three-liter jar filled with water can perform its role.
  7. Place the bucket of cucumbers in a cool, dark place.

If you add oak leaves, the cucumbers will definitely turn out crispy and strong. And all thanks to the special substances (tannins) that are contained in the foliage of this tree. But it is important not to overdo it with this ingredient, otherwise the cucumbers will taste bitter.

...and continuation with the roll-up

Peculiarities. The previous recipe for cucumbers in a bucket has a continuation - preservation of fermented fruits. Only cucumbers in a barrel can last until the next harvest, and only on condition that the preparation is taken to the cellar or basement. Cucumbers fermented in a bucket are sealed in jars to enjoy their taste all winter. Sealing is done on the fourth to seventh day of ripening.

Need to:

  • pickled cucumbers;
  • banks.

How to do

  1. Remove the cucumbers prepared according to the previous recipe from the bucket. The garlic and herbs have already served their purpose: throw them away.
  2. Wash the cucumbers under running water.
  3. Strain the brine in which the starter was fermented. Drain it into a saucepan and boil. A lot of foam will form during the process - you need to remove it.
  4. Place pickled cucumbers in sterile jars. Fill each container with hot brine, cover with an iron lid, but do not screw it on. Leave the preparations for ten minutes.
  5. After waiting time, pour the brine into the pan. Boil again, and then repeat the filling again. Roll up.
  6. Store on shelves in your pantry.

If you do not plan to stock up for the winter, then you can pickle the cucumbers in a saucepan rather than in a bucket. The principle of salting is the same, just different in volume containers. Fermented cucumbers can be stored without refrigeration, directly in the pan, but the product must be protected from heat and sunlight. Although fragrant cucumbers sell out so quickly that you don’t have to worry about their safety.

We prepare in jars without any hassles

Housewives, nostalgically remembering the taste of village pickles, but not having a tub at hand to repeat the traditional recipe, figured out how to ferment cucumbers without unnecessary “troubles” - in a glass container. The resulting pickled cucumbers in jars are like barrels - crispy and aromatic. Pickles “in glass” are prepared with the same set of seasonings as the appetizer in a tub. Spices are responsible for the taste, dense structure, and aroma. After pickling, barrel cucumbers in jars can be preserved for the winter or you can close the container with a plastic lid to always have access to a tasty snack.

Sterilize the glass container, even if you do not plan to preserve the product in the future. The lids must also be clean: iron - sterilize, nylon - scald. This is the prevention of souring.

"Cold" classics

Peculiarities. Barrel cucumbers with cold brine in a jar are a classic. The pickles turn out exactly like country pickles. The cold method allows you to ferment the raw materials. If you pour in hot water, you will get pickled cucumbers. The ingredients in the recipe are indicated for one three-liter jar, but it is better to cook more - at feasts, cucumbers “scatter” with lightning speed.

Need to:

  • small cucumbers - 1.5 kg;
  • water - 2 l;
  • salt - 120 g;
  • dill (umbrellas with seeds) - a bunch;
  • currant and cherry leaves - four pieces each;
  • horseradish - one large leaf;
  • black peppercorns - ten peas;
  • garlic - to taste.

How to do

  1. Wash cucumbers, greens, leaves. Soak the vegetables in ice water.
  2. Place half of the leaves and spices in the bottom of the jar.
  3. Place the cucumbers in a container. The filling should be tight.
  4. Place the remaining herbs and garlic on top.
  5. Mix water and salt in a separate container. It is important that the salt dissolves well.
  6. Strain the brine through cheesecloth. Pour over the vegetables.
  7. Close the jar with a nylon lid.

To keep barrel cucumbers in jars all winter, roll them up. Wait for the cold-cooked cucumbers to ferment (two to three days), drain the brine, and boil it. Rinse the cucumbers with cold water directly in the jars, then fill them with hot brine and roll them up. It is better for the seams to cool upside down.

Spicy experiments

Peculiarities. The original recipe with vodka will appeal to those who love spicy flavors. Garlic and horseradish leaves are added by eye, but it is important to know one nuance: horseradish “eats” the garlic. If you want your cucumbers to be spicy, don’t skimp on the garlic or add a minimum of horseradish.

Need to:

  • small cucumbers - 2 kg;
  • table salt - 70 g;
  • clean water - 1.5 l;
  • dill - three umbrellas;
  • allspice - five peas;
  • garlic - to taste;
  • horseradish, oak, cherry leaves - by eye;
  • vodka - three tablespoons (per three-liter jar).

How to do

  1. Place spices in the bottom of a clean jar.
  2. Make a vertical stack of previously sorted and soaked cucumbers.
  3. Dissolve salt in water. Pour over the cucumbers.
  4. Cover the container with a plastic lid. Leave in a warm place to allow the fermentation process to begin.
  5. After three days, drain the brine and boil.
  6. Rinse the pickled vegetables under running water. Fold it back.
  7. Pour hot brine over the cucumbers. Add vodka. Roll up. The alcohol will prevent the can from “exploding.”

To prevent rolled up jars of pickled cucumbers from exploding, add a little mustard seeds to each jar - literally a pinch. An alternative is mustard powder. It is better not to pour it into the brine, but to put it in a gauze “bag” for a couple of minutes. This way the powder will not settle on the cucumbers.

Pickling cucumbers in a barrel, bucket or jar is a rather lengthy process. To take a sample, you have to wait weeks, or even months. If you can’t wait to savor the pickles, you can speed up the salting. Cucumbers will ferment faster if you cut off the “tails”. You can prick the fruits with a fork - fermentation will begin within a day, and the first sample can be taken after three days. Use barrel cucumbers as an independent snack, add them to Olivier and vinaigrette, prepare pickle and solyanka with them - there are a lot of options for using the product.

Step 1: Prepare ingredients.

Wash fresh, preferably just picked, cucumbers thoroughly and let them soak (we change the water periodically). The soaking process should take no more than six hours. We also wash the spices and scald them with boiling water. Peel the garlic and rinse it thoroughly. Cut the stems to size 10-15 centimeters. Clean the horseradish roots.

Step 2: Place cucumbers in the barrel.


We start laying by placing on the bottom some of the leaves of black currant and cherry, horseradish, parts of dill, several pods of hot red pepper (it is advisable to cut it into several parts). Barrel walls be sure to grease with garlic, this is to prevent mold from forming. We place the cucumbers tightly, the denser the better. This is necessary so that there is less space between the cucumbers and there is a denser concentration of lactic acid. During subsequent fermentation, this will help the pickles to be preserved better. I usually also put the seasonings in the middle of the barrel, since it’s not small. If you have a barrel with a double bottom, then you need to insert and pour brine through the tongue and groove hole. When pickling in an open barrel, cucumbers need to be covered with a thick cloth and a wooden circle placed on top. You can also put pressure so that the top cucumbers are also in the brine.

Step 3: Preparing the brine.


The brine must be prepared one day before pickling the cucumbers. Regular drinking water (water with high hardness is best suited here) is heated a little, salt is added, and stirred thoroughly. The amount of salt depends on the size of the cucumbers themselves; the larger the cucumbers, the more salt is needed. After filling the cucumbers with brine, they need to be kept at a temperature 18-20 degrees for several days. Then they should be transferred to a cooler place for long-term storage. At first there may be a violent reaction and the release of foam and liquid from the barrel, it’s okay, just add a little water. Be sure to skim off foam if it appears.

Step 4: Serve the barrel cucumbers.


Ready-made barrel cucumbers taste very juicy, crispy and aromatic. Bon appetit!

From my own experience, I know that cucumbers have a better taste when they are laid vertically, with their nose down towards the bottom of the barrel.

I advise you the best varieties for pickling: Muromsky, Dolzhik 105, Nerosimy, Nezhinsky 12. These are the old proven ones, perhaps today there are new varieties of cucumbers that are interesting for pickling.

For pickling, I advise you to take cucumbers from later harvests.

The most optimal size for pickling beautiful cucumbers is 8-15 cm long, that is, an unripe fruit with not very large seed chambers and underdeveloped seeds.


Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not specified


Not a single year goes by without me rolling up cucumbers for the winter. This is sometimes a troublesome task, but it's worth it. In winter, you get great pleasure from opening a jar of homemade pickles, with fried potatoes, or with a glass. In general, it’s worth it, so don’t be lazy, but keep an eye on the cucumber harvest on time so as not to oversleep. Cucumbers have their season. You need to catch the moment when ground cucumbers grow, because they are the ones suitable for pickling. Greenhouse cucumbers will not stand in your place and all the jars will turn sour. But the ground cucumber is great, suitable for any preparations and will last all winter under a lid without problems or hassle. Ground cucumber ripens well in the sun, always tasty and aromatic. These cucumbers make an excellent snack. For those who love pickles in jars like in barrels, I’ll tell you my simple and proven recipe with photos. The taste of pickled cucumbers is simply excellent, despite the fact that they come from simple jars. And they taste like they came out of a barrel, miracles, and that’s all. Let's start canning together! Sure. you'll like these too.



Necessary products for 1 liter of water:

- 500 grams of cucumbers,
- 1-2 cloves of garlic,
- 1 dill umbrella,
- 0.5 horseradish leaves,
- 1-2 pcs. bay leaf,
- 4-5 pcs. peppercorns,
- 10 grams of salt.

Recipe with photos step by step:





We wash cucumbers, herbs, peeled garlic. It is convenient to take a large bowl and rinse all the necessary products there. We change the water several times to be safe.




Place spices at the bottom of a sterilely washed jar: horseradish leaves, dill umbrellas, peppercorns and bay leaves. With these spices, cucumbers will become simply delicious and aromatic.




Place the washed cucumbers in the jar and fill the vessel tightly.




Pour salt into cold water and stir a little so that the salt begins to melt. This way we will prepare a saline solution for cucumbers.






Pour brine over the cucumbers in the jar, filling almost to the top. Cover lightly with a lid and leave in the room to sour.




After 1-2 days, the cucumbers will ferment, become sour, and foam may form in the neck. This is a sure sign of fermentation, which is what we wanted. Acidified cucumbers are almost like barrel cucumbers.




Drain the marinade and boil. Then immediately remove from heat.




Fill the cucumbers with hot brine and roll up the lids. Let it cool under the “fur coat” of the blanket and store it in a cool and dark place. See how to prepare



This article is also available in the following languages: Thai

  • Next

    THANK YOU so much for the very useful information in the article. Everything is presented very clearly. It feels like a lot of work has been done to analyze the operation of the eBay store

    • Thank you and other regular readers of my blog. Without you, I would not have been motivated enough to dedicate much time to maintaining this site. My brain is structured this way: I like to dig deep, systematize scattered data, try things that no one has done before or looked at from this angle. It’s a pity that our compatriots have no time for shopping on eBay because of the crisis in Russia. They buy from Aliexpress from China, since goods there are much cheaper (often at the expense of quality). But online auctions eBay, Amazon, ETSY will easily give the Chinese a head start in the range of branded items, vintage items, handmade items and various ethnic goods.

      • Next

        What is valuable in your articles is your personal attitude and analysis of the topic. Don't give up this blog, I come here often. There should be a lot of us like that. Email me I recently received an email with an offer to teach me how to trade on Amazon and eBay. And I remembered your detailed articles about these trades. area I re-read everything again and concluded that the courses are a scam. I haven't bought anything on eBay yet. I am not from Russia, but from Kazakhstan (Almaty). But we also don’t need any extra expenses yet. I wish you good luck and stay safe in Asia.

  • It’s also nice that eBay’s attempts to Russify the interface for users from Russia and the CIS countries have begun to bear fruit. After all, the overwhelming majority of citizens of the countries of the former USSR do not have strong knowledge of foreign languages. No more than 5% of the population speak English. There are more among young people. Therefore, at least the interface is in Russian - this is a big help for online shopping on this trading platform. eBay did not follow the path of its Chinese counterpart Aliexpress, where a machine (very clumsy and incomprehensible, sometimes causing laughter) translation of product descriptions is performed. I hope that at a more advanced stage of development of artificial intelligence, high-quality machine translation from any language to any in a matter of seconds will become a reality. So far we have this (the profile of one of the sellers on eBay with a Russian interface, but an English description):
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a52c9a89108b922159a4fad35de0ab0bee0c8804b9731f56d8a1dc659655d60.png