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Instant lightly salted cucumbers are the most ideal option for those who want crunchy pickled cucumbers, but don’t want to waste time and effort on twisting. Having spent very little time preparing these cucumbers, you can eat them the very next day. We will tell you how to prepare such a snack below.
Important “subtleties”
Even the best recipe for quick pickles can be spoiled by such a small thing as water or the wrong utensils. In order to avoid such incidents, we will tell you how to prepare for pickling cucumbers.
Selection of cucumbers
Not every cucumber is suitable for quick cooking. You definitely shouldn’t even try to pickle large cucumbers in this way - they won’t be able to pickle in such a short time. In general, for pickling lightly salted cucumbers, you should choose fruits that have the following parameters:
- small sizes;
- good hardness;
- thin skin;
- small pimples.
It is worth choosing cucumbers with similar sizes, then they can be salted evenly.But the most important criterion for selecting fruits for preparing such a snack is their taste. Therefore, before pickling, several cucumbers should be tasted for bitterness in taste. Also, you should not choose yellow fruits.
It is he who, according to many gardeners, has the best characteristics for such quick pickling.
Salting water
To prepare such cucumbers, many people mistakenly use plain tap water. But the taste of the finished snack directly depends on the quality of the water.
The most ideal option for quick salting is spring water. But in urban conditions, even 10 liters of water required to prepare 5 kilograms of fruit is quite difficult to obtain. In such a situation, it can be replaced with either bottled water or well-filtered tap water.
The water should stand in such a container for several hours. Silver or copper will bring the taste of tap water a little closer to the taste of spring water.
Dishes
Before I tell you how to cook lightly salted cucumbers, you need to sort out the pickling utensils. Most often, a saucepan is used for this. A saucepan, unlike a glass jar, which can also be used, does not have a narrow neck. Therefore, it is very convenient to put cucumbers in and then remove them. And putting pressure on the pan is also much easier.
You should only take an enameled pan. If there are no such utensils in the house, then it is better to use a jar.Any ceramic container will also work.
Soak
Quick lightly salted cucumbers will never turn out strong and crispy if they are not soaked before pickling. This procedure is mandatory, even if the cucumbers are not purchased, but just picked from the garden.
Soaking time ranges from 2 to 4 hours, depending on the initial strength of the fruit.
Salt
This is the most important “subtlety”. For salting, use only coarse rock salt. You should not use iodized or sea salt, as it can significantly spoil the taste of the finished product.
Instant pickled cucumbers recipe in a saucepan
Before you make lightly salted cucumbers in a saucepan, you need to soak them in cold water for several hours. While the cucumbers are soaking, you can prepare the ingredients. For 2 kilograms of fruit you will need:
- 10 horseradish leaves;
- 10 dill umbrellas;
- half a teaspoon of black peppercorns;
- 10 peas of allspice;
- 5 bay leaves;
- 5 buds of cloves;
- half a spoon of mustard seeds;
- 4 tablespoons salt;
- 2 liters of water.
First, horseradish leaves and dill are placed in a clean enamel pan. The remaining ingredients, except water and salt, are thrown on top. They should be mixed in a separate container. When the salt dissolves in the water, the brine should be brought to a boil.
While the brine cools slightly, the soaked cucumbers should be placed on top of all the spices.
The slightly cooled brine is poured into the prepared pan with cucumbers and spices. Then a pressure is placed on the pan. A jar of water placed on an inverted plate can act as oppression. In this case, the diameter of the plate should be less than the diameter of the pan.
The pan should be at room temperature for the first 6 to 8 hours. Then it should be put in the refrigerator for a day.
Lightly salted cucumbers quick recipe
Before quickly pickling cucumbers, they are, as always, soaked for 1 to 3 hours, depending on how soon you need to get the finished product. This recipe will require slightly different ingredients. For 2 kilograms of fruit you need:
- 6 peas each of black and allspice;
- dill umbrellas;
- a teaspoon of sugar;
- 2 tablespoons of coarse salt;
- 1 – 2 lemons.
First, grind the sugar, salt and peppercorns. Then squeeze the juice out of the lemons and chop the dill. This method of pickling allows cucumbers to be pickled in literally 2 hours thanks to one secret. It consists in the fact that each of the fruits must be cut lengthwise several times. Such cuts will allow salt and spices to penetrate the cucumber pulp faster, which will greatly reduce the pickling time.
After this, each of them is rubbed with a mixture of salt and spices. Then they are placed in a container and sprinkled with lemon juice. After 1 - 2 hours, cucumbers prepared in this way are ready for consumption. But before serving them, they should be wiped of spices with a paper towel.
Instant cucumbers
The first two recipes were more suitable for the pan.This recipe allows you to make instant cucumbers in a 3-liter jar or saucepan. For this you will need:
- cucumbers - as much as will fit in the jar;
- dill;
- 5 cloves of garlic;
- 3 tablespoons salt;
- boiling water.
First, the cucumbers, as always, should be soaked. If a jar is used as a container, then you just need to wash it without sterilizing it. Garlic cut into pieces and part of the dill are placed first on the bottom of the selected container. Then the cucumbers and the rest of the dill are placed. Salt is the last thing to be added to the container being used. After this, you need to pour boiling water over the cucumbers and close with a lid or pressure.
It contains boiling water, so you should not do this with bare hands.
After the container has cooled, it can be placed in the refrigerator. You can eat ready-made cucumbers prepared according to this recipe the next day.
Lightly salted cucumbers in cold water
The recipe for instant cold water cucumbers is not much different from previous recipes. For a liter container you will need:
- cucumbers;
- a tablespoon of salt;
- half of black bread;
- several cloves of garlic;
- 5 peas of black and allspice;
- dill;
- water.
Cucumbers, pre-soaked in cold water, are placed in the container used. Salt and spices are poured on top. Then everything is filled with cold water. To do this, you should not use tap water; it is better to use filtered water. And at the end, black bread is placed in the container. It is this that will create the conditions for salting when using cold water.
The container must be closed with a lid and placed in a warm place, for example, near a battery.
With this pickling, the cucumbers will be ready the next day.
Quick dry pickled cucumbers
The convenience of this recipe lies in the fact that the cucumbers are pickled without brine. For this you will need:
- kilogram of cucumbers;
- a tablespoon of salt;
- a teaspoon of sugar;
- several cloves of garlic;
- dill.
Thoroughly washed and soaked cucumbers are placed in a durable plastic bag without any damage. The rest of the ingredients are also sent to them: salt, sugar, chopped herbs and garlic. After this, the bag must be tightly tied and shaken several times. This will allow the salt, sugar and spices to be evenly distributed throughout the bag.
Cucumbers with spices from the bag can either be placed in a saucepan and closed with a lid, or put directly in the bag in the refrigerator. They should stay there for at least 6 hours, but it is better to leave them overnight.
If you want lightly salted cucumbers so badly that it’s difficult to wait even 6 hours, you can add 9% table vinegar to the bag. For a kilogram of cucumbers, 1 tablespoon is enough. This little trick will allow cucumbers to pickle in just a few hours.
How to store lightly salted cucumbers
Regardless of the recipe you choose, you can only store the finished product in the refrigerator. It is important to take into account that the longer they sit in the refrigerator, the more salted they will become. In a week of such storage, they can easily become ordinary pickles.
But as a rule, this happens very rarely, because it is quite difficult to resist a crispy, lightly salted snack.
