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For many housewives, pickles become soft in a jar, but this situation is not normal. Prepared vegetables should be strong and crispy, while softness indicates that they have been spoiled.
Why canned cucumbers become soft
Some mistakes made when canning cucumbers can be corrected and saved. But if the cucumbers become soft after pickling, it will not be possible to restore their density and crunchiness.
So that the cucumbers in the jar do not have to be disposed of, it is necessary to carry out preservation correctly from the beginning. And to do this, you should know what mistakes lead to softening of pickles.
Violation of sterilization technology
Pickles in a jar can retain their quality for many months only if the jar is completely free of harmful microorganisms. That is why it is customary to carefully sterilize the jar before salting.
If sterilization was insufficient, the workpiece will quickly become limp.
Sometimes housewives do not approach the process of sterilizing containers carefully enough.Cucumbers become soft after pickling if:
- the jar is poorly washed, and dirt or detergent residue remains on its walls;
- sterilization was not carried out long enough and did not bring the desired effect;
- the jar was not completely processed, and sterilization did not affect its neck, where dirt and germs often accumulate;
- During the processing of containers, no attention was paid to the sealing lids.
It is necessary to sterilize the pickling container according to all the rules, following all the prescribed steps. You cannot reduce the sterilization time; it is better to exceed it slightly than to complete the treatment ahead of schedule. It is imperative to treat the lids along with the jar, since their cleanliness is also of great importance when preserving pickles.
Lack of tightness
Pickles may become soft due to the fact that the jar with the preparation was closed too loosely and it was not possible to achieve a complete seal. If air leaks into the jar through even a small hole, fermentation processes will begin in the brine and the vegetables will become soft.
The tightness of workpieces is most often broken due to the following points:
- poor-quality lids that do not fit tightly to the neck;
- defects on the neck of the jar, chips, chips and cracks;
- a faulty can sealer that cannot cope with its functions.
Also, the seal may be broken during storage if the can is carelessly dropped or hit. Sometimes the container remains intact at first glance, but the lid gets knocked off or microcracks form that allow air to pass through.
The tightness of the twist is one of the main conditions for high-quality pickling.
Preserved molds
Salted vegetables may turn out to be soft after seaming due to the formation of mold in the brine. It occurs for many reasons - on poorly washed cucumbers, due to low-quality salt, due to poor sterilization of containers.
At first, the mold looks like a viscous thin film on the surface of the brine. If the pickles still retain their density and have not yet become soft, you can try to save the brine. To do this you need:
- drain the liquid from the jar and wash off traces of mold from the pickles, and then scald them with boiling water;
- re-sterilize the jars and prepare a new brine by boiling it for a few minutes on the stove;
- put the vegetables back into a clean jar and pour in fresh salted brine, and then roll up the container tightly.
If the mold has not had time to seriously damage the pickles and make them soft, then after scalding and re-processing the vegetables will still be suitable for storage.
Errors when preparing brine
When pickling, cucumbers become soft due to the fact that the brine was not prepared correctly during the preservation process. Housewives often make several common mistakes:
- Lack of salt, cucumbers in this case quickly become soft. For 1 liter of water in a jar there should be at least 1 large spoon of salt.
- The disadvantage of vinegar is that when pickling vegetables, you need to add at least 70 ml of vinegar per 1 liter of water, otherwise the cucumbers will become soft within a few days.You should also not use citric acid instead of vinegar; it can be used in pickling, but does not replace acetic acid.
- Unsuitable salt - pickled and pickled cucumbers are made using ordinary table salt for universal use, and it is advisable to use coarsely ground salt. “Extra”, iodized or sea salt are not suitable, because of them the brine begins to ferment, and the cucumbers acquire a soft consistency.
- Poor water quality. If cucumbers are soft when pickled with cold water, then most likely it contains impurities that negatively affect the quality of the brine. For canning vegetables in a jar, it is recommended to take purified water or well or spring water with medium hardness.
Only high-quality brine can keep fruits firm.
For salted vegetables in a jar, it is important to strictly follow the proportions and algorithms specified in the recipe. If you put too few of the main ingredients in the brine or exceed the recommended amount, the liquid will ferment and the cucumbers will become soft.
Improper placement of cucumbers
If the pickles turn out soft, then the ratio of fruits and brine may have been disturbed during the preservation process:
- If there are too few cucumbers and too much liquid, the vegetables may become overly saturated with brine and will be soft.
- If the pickles in the jar are packed too tightly, and there is not enough brine, and the jar itself is large, then the upper layers of the fruit will put a lot of pressure on the lower ones. As a result, the vegetables at the bottom of the jar will become soft.
Poor quality cucumbers
The quality of pickling directly depends on the quality of the cucumbers themselves. Soft pickled cucumbers spoil the preparation in the following cases:
- the salted fruits were already limp in the garden, but when pickled they only became completely sour;
- for preservation, poorly washed fruits were used, on which dirt and bacteria remained;
- cucumbers of the wrong salad variety were used for pickling in a jar; such vegetables quickly become soft, since only universal varieties or special cucumbers for pickling can be rolled up for the winter;
- For canning, we took cucumbers with old barrels, traces of mold, yellow spots and other damage.
Only completely healthy, strong fruits picked from the garden no later than a day before processing can be stored in a jar for the winter. Small-sized vegetables with hard pimples on the skin and dense pulp, for example, varieties Nezhinsky, Rodnichok and others, are suitable for pickling and pickling.
Salad cucumber varieties are not suitable for preservation - you need to use pickling cucumbers
Improper storage
If the pickles in the jar become soft after a certain time after canning, then the storage conditions may have been violated. The fruits become limp from too high a temperature, since lactic acid breaks down in the brine, which acts as the main preservative during pickling.
Pickles must be stored in cool conditions, at temperatures up to 3-5 °C. It is best to put the jar in the refrigerator or cellar at the dacha.
How to pickle cucumbers so they aren't soft
The classic recipe for pickling vegetables suggests using the cold canning method and a minimal set of ingredients:
- Before creating the product, jars and lids are sterilized by steam or in the oven.
- Cucumbers of a suitable pickling variety are soaked in cold water for several hours to remove air and possible harmful substances from them.
- Place 2 leaves of horseradish, cherries and black currants in a jar, as well as 2 chopped garlic cloves, a little dill and hot pepper.
- Cucumbers are added to the ingredients and compacted tightly into containers.
- Dissolve 3 large tablespoons of salt in a glass of clean water.
- The ingredients in the jar are filled halfway with cold water, and then the saline solution is added and a little more cold water is added to fill the jar completely.
Cover the workpiece with a tight lid and immediately place it in the refrigerator. If you follow the recipe exactly, the pickles will turn out crispy.
Before harvesting, the fruits need to be soaked in water for a long time.
Tips from experienced housewives
A few simple recommendations will help you avoid a situation in which cucumbers become soft after pickling:
- To prevent the liquid in the jar from fermenting and the vegetables from becoming soggy, you can add 1 large spoon of vodka or 5 mustard seeds to the brine.
- To prevent mold, you can put a small piece of horseradish root on top of the jar; in addition, it will give the cucumbers firmness and improve their taste.
- To prevent the appearance of mold and to maintain the hardness of cucumbers, an aspirin tablet or oak bark is also added to the pickling.
- If you cut off the tails of cucumbers before pickling, the brine will reach full readiness faster.
Experienced housewives recommend sending vegetables collected from your personal garden or purchased from farmers for canning in jars. Store-bought cucumbers often contain excess nitrates, and in random markets it is even difficult to guarantee that the vegetables purchased will be of high quality and safe.
Conclusion
Pickles become mushy in the jar due to several common canning mistakes. Since it is almost impossible to save soggy vegetables, it is better to initially follow the technology and not neglect the recommendations in recipes.
