How to prepare crispy pickles in jars for the winter in a simple and tasty way

Crispy cucumbers instantly disappear from the festive or everyday table. If you haven't been able to achieve a crispy effect before, now you'll become a real expert at it. You can pickle cucumbers in both liter and large-volume jars.

From our article you will learn which cucumbers are suitable for crispy pickling, what you need to add to make them crunch nicely, what such vegetables cannot be combined with, and much more.

How to properly pickle crispy cucumbers

To make the cucumbers crispy, you need choose the right fruits themselves, as well as add certain ingredients. First things first.

What determines whether they will be crispy?

A few basic rules for choosing fruits:

1. Choose pickling varieties of cucumbers. They are most susceptible to marinade; the risk of spoiling the product is extremely low.
2. The length of cucumbers should not exceed 13 cm.
3. Vegetables should be mid-season. Overgrown cucumbers will not turn out crispy due to the softness of the fruit.
4. The skin should be a rich green or dark but healthy color. Yellow, blackened cucumbers are not suitable for crispy pickling.
5. Too thick cucumbers are not the best option. If the whole harvest turns out like this, cut one and look at the size of the seeds. Unfortunately, fruits with too large seeds will not be crispy.
6. Soaking cucumbers is an important process. Don't ignore this procedure. Ideally, you can leave the greens in cold water for 7-8 hours, changing the water periodically.If this is not possible, give the process 3 hours. If you are not ready to soak the cucumbers for at least this minimum amount of time, don’t expect any crunch.

What ingredients add crunch?

Makes cucumbers crispy:

• oak leaves;
• horseradish leaves;
• horseradish root;
• mustard seeds combined with one of the above ingredients.

Oak leaves and horseradish leaves, as a rule, are located at the very top or bottom of the jar. It’s great if you place some of it under the vegetables, and some of it above. Grate the horseradish root or finely chop it. You can add it anywhere in the container.

In our article you find a recipe with vodka. Strong alcohol also adds crunch to cucumbers, and thanks to its antiseptic effect, it extends their shelf life.

The best recipes for pickled crispy cucumbers in jars for the winter

Below you will find 7 of the best recipes for preparing delicious pickled and crispy cucumbers. They are considered the best due to their simple ingredients and guaranteed results.

Cold cooking in a three-liter jar

Ingredients:

• 2.5 kg of cucumbers;
• horseradish root;
• 4 leaves of horseradish;
• 1 tsp. powder mustard;
• 5 cloves of garlic;
• 3 dill umbrellas;
• 2 oak leaves;
• black peppercorns to taste;
• 2 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1 liter of water.

Cooking method:

1. Soak the cucumbers for at least 5 hours. It's best if you leave them in a cool place overnight so that the water doesn't heat up too much.
2. Sterilize the jars and dip the plastic lids in boiling water.
3. Rinse the soaked cucumbers well.
4. Place horseradish and oak leaves on the bottom of the jars.
5. Grate the horseradish root on a fine grater and add to the greens.
6. Fill the jar with cucumbers.
7. Add mustard, peppercorns, garlic and dill umbrellas on top.
8. Dissolve the entire amount of salt in a deep dish with water.Leave for 3 hours.
9. Fill the jars with the resulting brine and close the lids.
10. Place in a dark place.
11. Check the brine level every three days. If it turns out that the cucumbers are not completely covered with it, you need to add boiled cold water.

Important! Do not use cherry, raspberry or currant leaves in this recipe. Since pickling is done in a cold way, these greens can provoke the development of bacteria and molding of the product.

Hot recipe for a liter jar

Ingredients:

• 0.5 kg of small cucumbers;
• horseradish leaf;
• oak leaf;
• currant leaf;
• peppercorns to taste;
• 1 tsp. salt;
• 3 tsp. Sahara;
• 4 tsp. vinegar (9%);
• 1 liter of water;
• 2 cloves of garlic.

Cooking method:

1. Soak the cucumbers for 2-3 hours. Afterwards, rinse them well under cold running water. Cut off the ends on both sides.
2. Sterilize the jars.
3. Wash the greens.
4. Chop the garlic. It's better to chop finely.
5. Place a leaf of currant, horseradish, oak, and some chopped garlic at the bottom of the jar.
6. Fill the jar with cucumbers. Try to keep it compact.
7. Place the remaining chopped garlic on top and start cooking the marinade.
8. Put the water on the fire and immediately add salt, sugar and pepper.
9. Stir well so that the bulk products dissolve and do not settle at the bottom of the container.
10. When the water boils, pour in the vinegar, stir and remove from the heat.
11. Fill the jars with the resulting marinade.
12. Cover with lids.
13. Sterilize for 10 minutes.
14. Roll up the jars. Store upside down and wrapped for the first 24 hours.

You can increase the amount of salt to 3 tsp., if you want the cucumbers to have a distinctly salty taste.

Winter preparations from other vegetable crops:

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Crispy cucumbers with mustard

Ingredients for a liter jar:

• 0.5 kg of cucumbers;
• 2 tsp. dry mustard;
• 0.5 tsp. mustard beans;
• oak leaf;
• horseradish root;
• black peppercorns;
• 2 currant leaves;
• 2 tsp. Sahara;
• 1.5 tsp. salt;
• 1 full tbsp. l. vinegar (9%);
• 1 liter of water.

How to pickle:

1. Soak the cucumbers for about 4 hours. If possible, replace the water after 2 hours.
2. Rinse the cucumbers and herbs well.
3. Place currant and oak leaves and peppercorns on the bottom of sterilized jars.
4. Finely chop the horseradish root. You can use a grater.
5. Add grated horseradish and dry mustard to the greens.
6. Fill the jar with cucumbers.
7. Sprinkle grain mustard on top.
8. Put the water on fire.
9. Fill the jars with boiling water. Leave for 7 minutes.
10. Drain the water back and put it to boil again.
11. While the water is boiling, add salt and sugar to the jars.
12. Pour vinegar into boiling water. Remove from heat immediately. There is no need to cook it.
13. Pour the resulting marinade over the vegetables.
14. Roll up the boiled lids and turn over immediately. This will ensure that the salt and sugar are evenly absorbed into the vegetables.

Advice. It is better not to add garlic to this recipe. Two types of mustard will give vegetables a piquant taste that garlic can overpower.

Spicy crispy cucumbers

Ingredients for 1 liter:

• 500 g cucumbers;
• 1 hot pepper;
• 0.5 tsp. ground black pepper;
• 0.5 tsp. ground red pepper;
• 1 bay leaf;
• 5 cloves of garlic;
• oak leaf;
• horseradish leaf;
• currant leaf;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 2 tbsp. l. vinegar (9%)
• 1 liter of water.

Cooking method:

1. Soak the cucumbers in ice water overnight.
2. Chop the garlic.
3. Finely chop the oak leaf.
4. Chop the hot pepper.
5. In a separate bowl, combine garlic, hot pepper, chopped oak leaf, ground red and black pepper. Mix the whole mixture well.
6. Sterilize the jars.
7. Place currant, bay and horseradish leaves on the bottom.
8. Fill the jar halfway with cucumbers.
9. Layer the resulting mixture of herbs, peppers and garlic.
10. Continue filling the jar with cucumbers.
11. Boil water and pour boiling water over the jars. Leave for 15 minutes.
12. Boil the same water again, but with the addition of salt and sugar.
13. Pour vinegar into boiling water and stir.
14. Pour the marinade into jars.
15. Cover with lids and sterilize for 10 minutes.
16. Roll up. Turn over and wrap.
17. After two days, put it in a place for long-term storage.

Advice. The cucumbers turn out to be very spicy. We do not recommend serving them with fried potatoes or combining them with dishes that contain mushrooms. This will cause a prolonged feeling of thirst. These cucumbers are ideal for dry meat or barbecue, as well as spaghetti.

Recipe with oak leaves

Ingredients:

• 500–700 g cucumbers;
• 5 oak leaves per liter jar;
• 3 currant leaves;
• peppercorns to taste;
• 50 ml vinegar (9%);
• 1 clove of garlic;
• 3 tsp. Sahara;
• 1 tsp. with a heap of salt;
• 1 liter of water.

Cooking method:

1. Soak the cucumbers in cold water for at least 5 hours.
2. Sterilize the jars and pour boiling water over the lids.
3. Place 3 oak leaves and all the currant leaves on the bottom.
4. Fill the jar with cucumbers.
5. Place 2 more oak leaves and a clove of garlic on the very top.
6. Add salt and sugar immediately.
7. Boil water with black peppercorns.
8. Gradually pour boiling water into the jars.
9. Cover with lids.
10. Sterilize for 10 minutes.
11. Roll up, turn over and wrap.
12. After a day you can put it away for storage.

This recipe contains a minimum of additional ingredients.. If this is your first time making such a preparation, we advise you to do without experimenting. Next winter season you will understand what exactly is missing in such pickling. If you have sweets, it is better to add a teaspoon of honey to the marinade rather than increase the amount of sugar. If there is not enough salt, reduce the dosage of sugar and leave the amount of salt unchanged.

Take note:

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Recipe with vinegar and vodka (hot)

Ingredients for 3 liters:

• 2 kg of cucumbers;
• 1 hot pepper;
• 50 g vodka;
• 3 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt;
• black peppercorns;
• 5 cherry leaves;
• horseradish root;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 1 onion;
• 50 ml vinegar.

Cooking method:

1. Soak the cucumbers for 3 to 8 hours.
2. Cut the onion into half rings.
3. Chop garlic, horseradish root, hot pepper and mix.
4. Sterilize the jars.
5. Place cherry leaves and the resulting vegetable mixture on the bottom.
6. Place cucumbers in a jar, interspersing them with onion half rings.
7. Boil the water.
8. Fill the jars with boiling water and leave for 15 minutes.
9. Pour the water back into the pan and repeat the procedure.
10. Boil the water a third time. Add salt and sugar, stir.
11. Bring to a boil again.
12. Pour vodka into the jars and add vinegar to the marinade.
13. Immediately remove from heat and pour marinade into jars.
14. Roll it up and turn it over. Wrap in a warm blanket for two days.

Recipe with vinegar and vodka (option two)

Ingredients:

• 2 kg of cucumbers;
• 3 cherry leaves;
• 2 currant leaves:
• oak leaf;
• horseradish leaf;
• Bay leaf:
• 1 sprig of dill;
• 1 sprig of parsley;
• 2 tbsp. l. salt;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 1 tbsp. l. vinegar (9%);
• 50 ml + 25 ml vodka.

Cooking method:

1. Soak the cucumbers for 4 hours.
2. Place oak, horseradish, currant and laurel leaves at the bottom of clean jars.
3. Chop the garlic.
4. Finely chop the parsley and dill and mix with the garlic.
5. Place cucumbers in a jar.
6. Place the resulting mixture of herbs and garlic on top.
7. Dissolve salt in cold water. Let it brew for 2 hours.
8. Fill the jars with the resulting brine, leaving some space for the vodka.
9. Pour in vodka.
10. Close the jars with nylon lids.
11. Store in a dark and cool place for 3 days.
12. After 3 days, drain the brine from the jars into a saucepan and boil.
13. Pour vinegar into the boiling marinade.
14. Add another 25 ml of vodka to the jars.
15. Pour in marinade and vinegar.
16. Roll up the boiled lids.
17. Turn it upside down for a day.

Note! After 3 days of cold salting, a film forms in the jar. This is a normal reaction. It can be carefully removed with a spoon, but during the boiling process it will still dissolve and will not affect the taste of the preparation in any way.

Tips and tricks

In conclusion, we recommend read general tips for preparing crispy vegetables in jars for the winter:

• use small-sized pickling varieties;
• be sure to soak the cucumbers for at least three hours;
• pimpled cucumbers turn out crispier than smooth vegetables;
• add oak leaves, horseradish or horseradish root for crunch;
• pickle crispy cucumbers without adding tomatoes; you can combine them with bell peppers or cabbage;
• mustard seeds alone will not give a crunchy effect; they can only enhance the crunch of properly salted cucumbers;
• do not put the jars in the cellar immediately, let them cool for at least 24 hours;
• The ideal natural cooling time is 40–50 hours.

Let's sum it up

Crispy pickles in jars for the winter are a favorite dish for many.It’s not at all difficult to prepare; there are no exotic ingredients in the recipe. The main thing is to choose the right cucumbers. Avoid those that are too long, thick or overripe. Be sure to add oak or horseradish leaves - without these ingredients the vegetables will not crunch. You can enhance the effect by adding horseradish root or mustard seeds. A piece of horseradish will give the cucumbers a tart taste and aroma.

We advise you not to change the recipe, otherwise it may lead to unpredictable results. It is permissible to vary the amounts of salt and sugar depending on your preferences.

Crunch for your health!