Salad cucumbers (snake cucumbers) can be easily preserved by boiling. The aromatic broth and spices give the cucumbers a great flavor. The he althy snack goes wonderfully with a cold dinner, but its sour taste means it can also be added directly to other salads.
How can you preserve cucumbers?
Cucumbers can be preserved by boiling. To do this, they are filled into sterilized jars with spices such as mustard seeds, peppercorns, dill and bay leaves and boiled at 85 degrees for 30 minutes. Then store in a cool, dark place.
The necessary utensils
Canning is very sustainable because in addition to a preserving pot, all you need is recyclable jars. Well suited are:
- Vessels with glass lids, rubber ring and metal clip
- Jars with twist-off lids
It is important that all containers and lids are sterilized in boiling water for ten minutes before filling. Alternatively, you can also do this in the oven:
- Preheat tube to 140 degrees.
- Place jars and lids on a baking tray.
- Put in the oven and leave for ten minutes.
Spicy pickled cucumbers
Due to the variety of spices, the boiled cucumbers taste very aromatic.
Ingredients
- 5 – 6 cucumbers
- 2 large vegetable onions
- 500 ml apple cider vinegar
- 500 ml water
- 100 g sugar
- 20 g s alt
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 5 bay leaves
- 5 juniper berries
- ½ tsp chili flakes
Preparation
- Wash the cucumber thoroughly, halve it, remove the seeds and cut it into slices about half a centimeter thick.
- Peel the onion and cut into fine rings.
- Put the cucumbers in the jars, placing the onion rings evenly between them.
- Put all other ingredients in a large pot, bring to the boil and let it simmer for a minute.
- Pour the stock over the cucumbers, making sure that a 2 centimeter wide edge remains at the top.
Cooking cucumbers
Boiling extends the shelf life of the cucumbers.
- Place the jars next to each other on the rack of the canner. They are not allowed to touch each other.
- Pour enough water so that half of the containers are submerged in the liquid. Cook at 85 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Remove with the glass lifter and allow to cool.
- Check whether a vacuum has formed in all glasses. To do this, carefully lift the jars by the lids. With twist-off jars you can recognize this by the lid being pulled inwards.
- Label, store in a cool and dark place.
Tip
Do not use overripe cucumbers for preserving. Despite the sterile process, it can happen that they start to ferment in the glass. This will make the entire contents inedible.
