Content
Not every housewife has soaked apples at least once in her life. Today, this type of harvesting fruits or vegetables for the winter is not very popular. And completely in vain! Urination is a great alternative to the usual preservation. This process does not involve aggressive preservatives such as vinegar, for example, therefore pickled apples can be eaten by everyone: both adults and children, and those who follow a diet. The soaking brine is made up of two main ingredients: salt and sugar. The rest of the ingredients may vary depending on the recipe and the personal preferences of the hostess.
How to properly wet apples so that they lie all winter will be described in this article. Here you can also find some interesting and tried-and-true recipes with the addition of herbs and berries.
How to cook pickled apples
Pickled fruits are good because they retain almost all vitamins and a pleasant apple aroma - until the end of winter, you can eat fruits that will be as useful as fresh ones. The taste of soaked food is quite unusual: it is something between preservation and fresh vegetables and fruits.
Lactic acid acts as a preservative in urine, which is formed due to the salt and sugar that make up the brine. You need to store such blanks in a dark and cool place with a stable temperature - the basement is optimal for these purposes.
Apples need to be steeped correctly, as it has been done for a long time:
- You need to choose fruits of late or winter varieties... The apples should be firm and crunchy. If the fruits are too hard, it is recommended to stand them for about three weeks until they are fully ripe. Antonovka is optimal for urinating, you can also take the fruits of Titovka, Pepin or Anis.
- Apples must be sweet, sour fruits will not be stored for a long time - they will need to be eaten in 3-4 weeks. Whereas sugary varieties can be safely stored in brine until the beginning of the next season (May-June).
- First of all, one should check all apples for wormholes, dark spots and other damage - such fruits are not suitable for urination. One tainted apple can lead to fermentation of all the others, such a dish cannot be called tasty anymore.
- To urinate you need to choose containers made of wood or glass, it was in such tubs and bottles that fruits were soaked a hundred years ago. But more modern dishes made of enamelled steel or food grade plastic will do. 3
- In the first 4-5 days, the brine will be actively absorbed by the apples, so it must be constantly refilled. It is impossible for the upper fruits to be bare, this will spoil all the apples in the container.
- For soaking fruit need a press... To do this, a container with apples (a saucepan, a bucket or a basin) is covered with a flat lid or plate, the diameter of which should be less than the diameter of the dish. From above, the plate is pressed with a load: a kettlebell, a stone, a jar of water or something else.
- Optimal the temperature for wetting apples is 15-22 degrees... At lower rates, fermentation of the brine may stop, which will lead to peroxidation of the fruit. If it is too hot in the room, butyric acid begins to be released instead of lactic acid, which leads to the appearance of bitterness in the soaked apples.
- It is better to wash dishes for soaking with sodaand then rinse thoroughly with boiled water. This will reduce the chances of mold and mildew growth.
- The brine is prepared with the addition of a wide variety of ingredients, it can be flour, kvass, sugar, honey, basil, lemon balm, mint, mustard, lavender, cinnamon, thyme, apple, cherry, raspberry or black currant leaves.
Soaked apples with honey and mint recipe
A simple recipe that requires the most common ingredients: ripe apples, raspberry, cherry and currant leaves, mint or lemon balm. In this case, the brine is prepared in the following proportions:
- 10 liters of water;
- 300 g of honey;
- 150 g salt;
- 100 g malt.
A photo of apples prepared according to this recipe can be seen below.
In an enamel or glass container, spread a thin layer of currant leaves, put apples on top in two rows. Then the apples need to be covered with cherry and raspberry leaves, again put two rows of fruits. The topmost layer should be an assortment of leaves; for a particularly piquant taste, it is recommended to put a couple of sprigs of mint here.
Now the apples are covered with a lid and pressed with a load. The brine is prepared by dissolving all the ingredients in warm boiled water. When the liquid cools down, pour it over the apples so that they are completely covered. There is no need to remove the load before this!
Every day you need to check if the fruits are covered with brine. If not, you will have to add fluid. The exposed fruit will spoil quickly, so it's best to prepare a little more brine right away.
Place the container with fruit in a warm and dark place with a temperature of about 15-18 degrees. After a month, you can lower the workpiece into the basement, and after another couple of weeks, you can try whether the apples turned out tasty.
Recipe for soaked apples with the addition of cabbage
For this complex dish, you will need the following ingredients:
- white cabbage - 4 kg;
- medium-sized apples - 3 kg;
- 3 carrots;
- 3 tablespoons of salt;
- 2 tablespoons of sugar.
To prepare such a blank, you first need to wash and clean all the products. Carrots are grated on a coarse grater. Chop the cabbage (medium-sized) and mix with carrots, salt, sugar. Knead this mass with your hands so that the juice stands out.
Apples are laid out in a bowl, alternating layers with a carrot-cabbage mixture. All gaps between the fruits must be filled so that there are no voids. When all layers are stacked, apples are poured with cabbage juice. If this brine is not enough, an additional one is prepared: a spoonful of salt and a spoonful of sugar in a glass of warm water.
Fruits are covered with whole cabbage leaves on top, a plate and a load are placed. For 10-14 days, urination occurs at room temperature, then the workpiece is lowered into the cellar, and after a couple of weeks the apples are ready for consumption.
Soaked apples with hot mustard recipe
You can make the taste of apples even more piquant by adding mustard to the brine.
For cooking, you need apples and brine, which is prepared from:
- 10 liters of water;
- piles of salt;
- glasses of sugar;
- 3 tablespoons of mustard.
First of all, a brine is prepared for urinating. To do this, pour all the ingredients into water, mix and bring the mixture to a boil. The brine must cool before pouring.
In a washed container, straw or currant (cherry, raspberry) leaves are placed on the bottom. Lay apples on top and pour them with chilled brine.
They are put under oppression and kept warm for several days, after which they transfer the pickled fruits to the basement.
Pickled apples with rowan
For cooking you will need:
- hard apples - 20 kg;
- bunches of rowan or berries - 3 kg;
- 0.5 kg of honey (can be replaced with sugar, but only as a last resort);
- salt - 50 g;
- water - 10 liters.
Apples and mountain ash are thoroughly washed and laid out in a saucepan, evenly distributing fruits and berries. Dissolve sugar or honey, salt in boiled, slightly cooled water, stir the brine and let it cool completely to room temperature.
Pour the fruits with brine, spread a clean cloth or several layers of gauze on top, put a lid and oppression.
These simple recipes, and, most importantly, photos of mouth-watering blanks, will certainly become an incentive, and each housewife will try to diversify her family's winter diet with healthy and very tasty soaked fruits.
