Content
- 1 Why Canned Cucumbers Explode
- 1.1 Incorrectly selected varieties of cucumbers for conservation
- 1.2 Poorly washed jars and vegetables
- 1.3 Poor water and salt quality
- 1.4 Violation of the cooking recipe
- 1.5 Expired vinegar or citric acid
- 1.6 Violation of canning technology
- 1.7 Sterilization of cans and lids
- 1.8 Overflowing banks
- 1.9 Defective lids and faulty rolling machine
- 1.10 Violation of storage rules
- 2 What to do with cucumbers if the cans have already exploded
- 3 How to pickle cucumbers correctly so they don't explode
- 4 Conclusion
Cucumbers in jars explode for many reasons - both incorrectly selected cucumbers and disturbed canning technology can lead to trouble. To pickle cucumbers correctly, you need to know why the banks explode, and not make elementary mistakes.
Why Canned Cucumbers Explode
After proper preservation, pickled or pickled cucumbers can be stored for a very long time - up to a couple of years. But it is not so rare that an unpleasant situation occurs - fresh canned food simply explodes, or rather, the lids on the cans swell and fly off the neck by themselves.
There are quite a few reasons why cucumber jars explode. However, the original source of the problem is always the same - fermentation processes take place in a jar of pickles, which should not normally be present. As a result, carbon dioxide is released in the brine, gradually accumulates, looks for a way out and, as a result, simply tears off the lid from the workpiece.
To prevent the explosion of canned cucumbers, it is necessary to consider in more detail all possible mistakes made during the pickling process.
Cans explode as fermentation begins
Incorrectly selected varieties of cucumbers for conservation
Cucumbers often explode due to the fact that the wrong varieties were originally selected for the preparation of canned food. Salting cucumbers for the winter so that they do not explode is possible only if the variety is suitable for canning. For example, the varieties Nezhinsky, Muromsky, Kustovoy and Voronezhsky, Aristocrat F1, Favorite, Avangard and others are suitable for harvesting. Pickled cucumbers are distinguished by their small size, sweetish taste, very dense pulp and the presence of hard thorns on the skin.
Canning is also allowed for universal varieties. But salad cucumbers are suitable only for fresh consumption, that is, in salads, and are not suitable for pickling in principle. In a jar, they soften, begin to deteriorate and ferment, and then explode.
Poorly washed jars and vegetables
When preserving cucumbers, it is very important to maintain complete sterility. Often, the fermentation processes in cans begin due to the presence of microorganisms, in the process of their vital activity they emit carbon dioxide, and the workpieces explode.
Bacteria in jars usually accumulate at the very bottom, where it is difficult to reach with a sponge when washing containers, or on a ribbed neck. Also, microorganisms can remain on the cucumbers themselves if they were not washed thoroughly before canning, but only quickly rinsed under the tap.
You need to sterilize the container very carefully before salting.
Poor water and salt quality
Sometimes cucumbers explode because of water and salt that are not suitable for pickling. Water for canning vegetables must be clean, distilled, or at least boiled. In no case should you use ordinary tap water - there are often harmful bacteria in the water supply that can spoil the pickles.
Salt the cucumbers so that the jars do not explode, you only need high-quality salt with special markings on the packaging, allowing you to use it for blanks. Iodized salt cannot be used, only ordinary food salt is suitable, which was stored in accordance with all the rules.
Violation of the cooking recipe
Cucumbers must be preserved in strict accordance with a proven recipe, otherwise they explode. The proportions of the ingredients when salting are of great importance. If you add a little more salt or vinegar, add too much sugar or citric acid, at best, the workpiece will acquire an unexpected taste. But more often cucumbers explode if the proportions are violated, and the whole procedure has to be done again.
Expired vinegar or citric acid
When preserving vegetables, citric acid and vinegar act as substances responsible for the preservation of beneficial compounds and taste, in other words, they are natural preservatives. And the quality of these ingredients must be unconditional, if citric acid or vinegar is expired, then the cans will inevitably explode.
Only small dense cucumbers with hard pimples should be salted.
Violation of canning technology
Canning cucumbers, in which the cans do not explode, is a complex technological process, where you should not be self-conscious. It is necessary to follow the proven recipe exactly, step by step - take the ingredients in the prescribed quantities, adhere to the correct processing time of the products. If you measure the ingredients "by eye" and measure the cooking time without hours, then almost inevitably a situation will arise in which the cucumbers explode.
When preserving, the cooking steps indicated in the recipe must not be skipped, even if their meaning is not entirely clear. For example, without fail, cucumbers are not only washed before salting, but also soaked. First of all, this allows you to qualitatively remove dirt and bacteria from them, as well as remove possible nitrates.
In addition, vegetables gain a sufficient amount of moisture - if a cucumber was plucked from the garden at least a few hours before pickling, it means that it had time to dry out slightly and is not suitable for immediate canning. When soaking, excess air comes out of the cucumber pulp, if it leaves the vegetables already in the brine, the workpieces often explode.
When canning, you must strictly follow the selected recipe.
Sterilization of cans and lids
It is almost inevitable that pickled cucumbers explode if the container is not sterilized properly or not. Sterilization of cans and lids is the most important stage of preparation, it allows you to eliminate all microorganisms on the surface of the container.
Sometimes housewives sterilize jars over steam too quickly, and as a result, microbes still remain inside the containers. A common situation is when lids for blanks, in principle, are not sterilized, but meanwhile they must be processed in boiling water in order to eliminate microbes.
Overflowing banks
Cucumbers explode if rolled too tightly into the jar. Usually housewives remember well the rule according to which the brine should completely cover the vegetables.
But at the same time, many forget that a couple of centimeters should remain between the surface of the brine and the lid, and the vegetables should be slightly below the liquid level. You cannot fill the jar with brine without residue, and you also cannot fill the container with too many cucumbers. If the recipe suggests pickling vegetables as a whole, then it is forbidden to additionally add cut cucumbers to the container in order to fill the free space with them.
Vegetables cannot be hammered into the jar too tightly.
Defective lids and faulty rolling machine
According to the rules of canning, jars of cucumbers are not enough just to close the lids. They need to be rolled up tightly so that the outside air does not enter the inside of the can at all. If this condition is met, then the workpiece can remain fresh and useful for months.
But with defective lids that do not fit tightly to the neck, the tightness is broken, and air still gets inside the container. Also, the workpiece can explode due to a poorly working rolling machine if it does not cope with its functions. Before harvesting cucumbers, you must carefully inspect the covers and, if necessary, repair or replace the seamer, otherwise unpleasant situations will arise.
Violation of storage rules
Even if all the rules of canning are followed, cucumber jars often explode. Incorrect storage of workpieces becomes the reason. When rolling cucumbers for the winter, it is important to let the vegetables cool naturally under a warm blanket according to all the rules and only then put them in a cool place for storage.
It is not recommended to keep jars of canned cucumbers in the light, put them in a too warm place or in a room with a variable temperature. Under these circumstances, cucumbers become cloudy, bulge, and explode much more often.
What to do with cucumbers if the cans have already exploded
Any housewife has heard about the danger of spoiled canned food. But at the same time, it is a pity to throw out the blanks, especially if the cucumbers explode in large quantities, and almost all the salting disappears.
If the cans exploded just a couple of days ago, vegetables can still be saved.
It is not always necessary to dispose of exploded vegetables, sometimes they can be saved. If the cucumbers explode, then it is possible to re-process them if no more than 3 days have passed since the day of preparation of canned food.
How to save cucumbers if jars exploded the next day
If freshly rolled canned food explodes, you can try to reanimate them. This requires:
- rinse vegetables under cold water under a tap, and then rinse in salt water, dissolving 30 g of salt in 1 liter of liquid;
- put the cucumbers in cold water for another 20 minutes;
- sterilize jars and lids thoroughly;
- strain the brine from herbs and spices, and then boil it twice for 15 minutes.
After that, the cucumbers are again placed in sterile jars, poured with hot brine and a little vinegar is added to the container - 1 small spoon per 3 liter jar. The container is sealed and set to cool.
How to pickle cucumbers correctly so they don't explode
If the cucumbers explode, it is not always possible to save them. It is much easier to pickle the cucumbers right away so that they do not explode - according to all the rules, avoiding swelling of the lids and clouding of the brine.In order for the blanks to turn out to be of high quality and not deteriorate, it is enough to adhere to simple recommendations.
You need to salt vegetables using universal edible salt - sea and iodized salt are not suitable
Rules for the selection and preparation of the main ingredients
Not all varieties of cucumbers are suitable for canning, but only universal varieties and those that are specially designed for pickling. There are quite a few specific varieties, but they all have common features, namely:
- small size;
- dense structure;
- sweetish taste without bitterness;
- the presence of hard small dark thorns on the peel.
Long smooth cucumbers without thorns or with white thorns are not suitable for canning, they can only be eaten fresh.
When choosing ingredients, attention should be paid not only to cucumbers, but also to other products. To preserve cucumbers so that they do not explode, you need to use fresh, not expired vinegar and universal table salt, stored in a clean container in a dry place. Before pickling, cucumbers must not only be washed, but also soaked in order to remove all impurities and allow excess air to escape from the pulp.
Cucumber pickling rules to prevent cans from exploding
The main rule that allows you to prepare canned cucumbers so that they do not explode is a clear implementation of the selected recipe. If you strictly adhere to a proven algorithm, cucumbers do not explode or cloudy in brine.
Since the quality of the workpiece largely depends on the quality of the liquid, it is best to buy filtered water for canning. When using home water, cucumbers explode from time to time, since even boiled liquid can contain unnecessary impurities.
If the cucumbers for pickling were grown in their own garden and were recently plucked from the garden, then they can be soaked for only an hour. Store vegetables are best soaked throughout the day. After long processing, they explode less often, since they release all the air, are saturated with moisture, and harmful substances leave the cucumber pulp.
Citric acid is useful in canning, but it cannot be substituted for vinegar.
Many recipes suggest salting the cucumbers to keep them from exploding, using citric acid, aspirin, or spices. When using such formulations, the workpieces explode less often, since the listed substances prevent fermentation processes.
Do I need to flip the cans after rolling
An obligatory stage of harvesting vegetables for the winter is turning the rolled up cans upside down. In this case, the lid heats up properly from contact with hot brine or marinade, and the risk of explosion of the container is reduced due to temperature differences or microorganisms remaining under the lid.
Why wrap jars of pickled cucumbers
After rolling, the cans are not only turned over, but also wrapped in a warm towel or blanket for several hours. This is done so that the jar can cool down slowly and evenly. In this case, the pickle with cucumbers will retain its transparency, and the lid on the jar will not swell.
Storage rules
It is necessary to store crispy cucumbers for the winter, which do not explode, at a cool temperature of 3 to 5 ° C in the refrigerator or cellar, if we are talking about a private house. Best of all, pickles and pickled vegetables retain their freshness if they are not exposed to temperature extremes and direct exposure to light. If stored properly, pickles can remain edible for up to 8 months, and vegetables pickled in vinegar for up to 2 years.
You need to store canned vegetables cool and without temperature changes.
Conclusion
Cucumbers in jars explode due to the ingress of microorganisms into the brine, poorly sterilized containers or low-quality ingredients. To prepare high-quality blanks and keep them for a long time, you need to strictly follow the main rules for preserving vegetables.
