Recipe for baby cucumbers pickled with citric acid for the winter and the shelf life of the preparations

There's a common misconception that pickles are for adults. This is because they typically contain large amounts of spices, vinegar, and salt, which are harmful to a developing gastrointestinal tract. This is a misconception! If you make pickles according to the right recipe, they're safe for a child, too. Therefore, every mother should know the recipe for making baby pickles.

The specifics of pickling baby cucumbers for the winter

What's so harmful about regular pickles? Vinegar is often used to prepare this dish, and it's required in fairly large quantities. It's perhaps the only ingredient essential to making a pickle, and it's also extremely harmful to babies. Therefore, experienced housewives have developed a special recipe for children. cucumbers with the addition of citric acid instead of the usual vinegar.

List of ingredients

To prepare pickled cucumbers for children you will need:

• fresh cucumbers - 2-3 kilograms;
• fine salt - 2 tablespoons;
• granulated sugar - 5 tablespoons;
• citric acid - 1.5 teaspoons;
• dill - 1 medium-sized bunch;
• horseradish - 1 leaf;
• garlic - 2 medium-sized cloves;
• black allspice - 2-3 peas;
• bay leaf - 1 piece;
• fresh or dried currant leaves - 2 pieces.

In addition, of course, you'll need a container to store the pickled cucumbers—a glass jar. For 3 kilograms of cucumbers, you'll need one 3-liter jar or three liter jars.

Choosing cucumbers correctly

Pickled cucumbers for children should be crispy and tasty, so when buying them, keep a few basic rules in mind:

• Overgrown mushrooms are absolutely unsuitable for pickling. Firstly, they are quite difficult to transfer to a jar. Secondly, they will not have a dense and crunchy texture.
• Cucumbers shouldn't be overripe. Therefore, a yellow tint on the skin should be a warning sign to the buyer.
• Ideal cucumbers are those with visible pimples and black spines. They make a flavorful and crispy preserve.
• It's best to avoid buying vegetables that have been washed to remove any dirt. While they certainly look more appealing, they quickly become sour.

If you can't find fresh, firm cucumbers, you can buy wilted ones and revive them at home. To do this, soak the vegetables in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water every 2 hours. This will make the cucumbers firmer and crispier. It will also remove 15% of the nitrates.

Sterilization of containers

One of the most important steps in preparing preserves is sterilizing the jars.

This procedure is necessary to destroy bacteria from the inner walls of the container, which will increase the shelf life of the product.

There are two options for sterilization: steam or oven.

Steam treatment

Sterilizing jars over steam - This is perhaps the simplest method of sterilization, which does not require the use of additional equipment and can be carried out anywhere, even at home, in the country, or outdoors.

This requires:

• fill the pan halfway with water;
• put it on medium heat;
• Instead of a lid, you need to put special jar covers on the pots;
• Before the water starts to boil, you need to place the jars upside down on the pads. First, they will warm up, and then hot steam will begin to flow into them, which will destroy germs.

After sterilization, carefully remove the jar and place it on a waterproof towel. If necessary, add water to the pan and sterilize a new batch.

Important: The total sterilization time should be measured from the moment the water begins to boil.

Oven

The simplest and most convenient method is to sterilize containers in the oven. This procedure consists of several basic steps:

1. It is necessary to check the integrity of each can; there should be no cracks or defects on it;
2. In a cold oven, place the jars on the rack with the neck down; there is no need to preheat it;
3. Now you need to set the mode to 150 degrees, this is the temperature that is sufficient to completely warm up the jars;
4. After sterilization is complete, carefully remove the dishes from the oven; you can use a towel or glove for this.

The duration of sterilization when processing with steam or in the oven directly depends on the volume of the jar. For example, to sterilize 0.5-0.7 liter jars, only 10 minutes is enough, while when processing liter jars, the procedure should last 15 minutes, and then, accordingly, for each additional liter of volume, you need to add 5 minutes.

Processing of seaming lids

It's important to remove bacteria not only from the jars themselves but also from the lids. To do this, it's also recommended to place the lids on the steamer pads and steam sterilize them for 10-15 minutes.

Preparation

The process of making pickles is quite simple.

To do this, you need to follow a few basic steps:

1. you need to fill the jar with cucumbers up to the neck;
2. then you need to fill it with boiling water and let it steep for 10 minutes;
3. then you need to drain all the liquid and pour hot boiling water again in the same volume, but this time the infusion time should be 15 minutes;
4. While the cucumbers are steeping, you can make the marinade. To do this, dissolve sugar, salt, and citric acid in water and place the liquid over medium heat until it boils completely;
5. Now you need to lay out the products and spices in layers in the following order: dill, horseradish, garlic, black pepper, currant leaves and bay leaf;
6. The final step is to add cucumbers to the spices and pour the marinade over them.
7. The preparation is ready, now all that remains is to secure it tightly with the lid.

Storage of finished product

Store the product in a cool, dark place. The maximum shelf life is 8 months.