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Many housewives are faced with the fact that pickles are empty inside, soft, not crispy enough. This happens for many reasons that you should be aware of in order to no longer make mistakes when preserving.
Why pickles get empty and soft on the inside
Most often, there are only two reasons why cucumbers become empty inside after salting: a poor-quality product and errors in preservation. However, there are other cases as well.
Improper storage
One of the reasons why cucumbers become soft and empty on the inside after pickling is improper storage of the crop before processing. Only fresh greens should be used for vitrification. With each passing day, they lose their nutritional value and nutritional qualities such as firmness.
You can store cucumbers before pickling for a maximum of a day after picking. In this case, the fruits are placed in a cool room, preferably in the refrigerator. However, you cannot put them in plastic bags.
If the fruits are stored for a long time and improperly, they will be empty inside.
Incorrect salting technology
Cooking pickles is not so easy, the whole process is divided into several stages. Violations in technology lead to bad taste, the fruit becomes empty inside and soft. In order for the salting to take place as needed, the cucumber jars are kept in suitable conditions.
Fermentation and lactic acid formation should begin as quickly as possible. For this, the prepared jars are kept at room temperature for about 1-2 days. In this case, the indicator in the room should not fall below +15 ... + 25 ° С. Otherwise, instead of lactic acid, when pickling cucumbers, harmful microbes are formed, which lead to poisoning.
Further, it is very important not to overexpose the workpieces and put them in the cold in time. The main fermentation should take place slowly under special conditions - at a temperature not higher than + 5 ° С. This is how the product is obtained for long-term storage, crispy and not empty on the inside. The salting process in the cellar takes about 1-2 months.
If the fermentation process of cucumbers is disrupted, and it ends quickly, gas is formed in the cans, which leads to the appearance of a void in the greens. Most often, thin-cored fruits become empty inside.
Improperly cooked marinade
The formation of a large amount of gas in cans is caused not only by a violation of the salting technology, but also by an improperly prepared marinade. When harvesting pickled cucumbers, you must strictly adhere to the recipe, otherwise the greens will become empty inside. The main reason is a lack of salt, which disrupts the fermentation process. Its optimal indicator in brine is 6-8%. If the marinade is not strong enough, then air and emptiness form inside the seed chamber.
In addition, the hardness of the salt must be taken into account when preparing the marinade. It is low for extra varieties, and the highest for a coarsely ground product. Iodized salt is not used for pickling cucumbers. It prevents the formation of lactic acid bacteria.
Also, the use of too soft water leads to the formation of voids. Hardness up to 45 ° is suitable for salting.
Low-quality cucumbers
It so happens that the storage conditions for zelents are met, the brine for pickling is properly prepared, but the cucumbers still turn out empty inside.This is due to a poor quality product.
For salting, you need to pick up the fruits, relying on the basic rules:
- use small or medium-sized greens with a small seed chamber;
- you need to harvest for salting early in the morning, and not in the heat, when it loses moisture;
- salt the culture of suitable varieties, and not for salad purposes.
If you take large or overripe cucumbers, they will inevitably become empty inside. These fruits have a large seed chamber that fills with air when salted. But even small greens can become empty if they are collected at noon. When there is no other option, they are soaked in water for 6-8 hours before cooking. So they are saturated with the necessary moisture.
So that the cucumbers are not empty after salting, they are tamped tightly into jars, small and strong specimens are chosen
Unsuitable variety
Another reason why cucumbers become empty when salted is an unsuitable variety for this. There are fruits for salad purposes. They have a thin and smooth skin, white bumps. They cannot be used for salting. It is preferable to choose fruits with dark tubercles. Experienced gardeners praise several hybrids of suitable quality:
- Marina Grove;
- The hit of the season;
- Petrel;
- Masha.
These fruits always remain firm and tasty, do not lose color when salted.
Growing errors
It often happens that the cucumbers become empty inside due to a violation of the cultivation technology. There are several reasons for this, and the most common of them is insufficient watering. If the ground is constantly dry, then green plants are actively losing moisture, because they are 80% water. From the moment the ovary is formed and until the harvest, the crop is demanding for watering. It should be regular and abundant. To prevent the formation of a soil crust, the soil in the beds is mulched.
Another cultivation mistake is soil that is unsuitable in composition. The soil should be fertile and loose. Humus, peat and mineral fertilizers are introduced into it. The sandy ground is no good. There is no need to expect a big harvest.
Pickled cucumbers become empty inside due to the fact that they lacked nitrogen during cultivation. It is difficult to overfeed the culture, its root system is superficial and will take as much as needed. However, in addition to organic matter, the bushes need mineral components: potassium, phosphorus, calcium. The lack of these substances leads to the formation of a void inside the fruit. So, at the beginning of the growing season, plants need nitrogen feeding, and already during the formation of the ovary and fruiting - in phosphorus-potassium. This is exactly the scheme that must be followed when growing cucumbers.
How to properly pickle cucumbers so that there are no voids inside
To get elastic and strong pickles, you need to follow the rules:
- Select small greens, sort them, soak in salted cold water for about 6 hours.
Soak cucumbers before pickling
- Use cans with a volume of up to 10 liters, otherwise it will be more difficult to get a high-quality product. Wash them with soda beforehand.
Sterilize jars before stacking cucumbers
- You need to lay the fruits for salting tightly, put spices and herbs on the bottom of the jar and on top.
Divide spices and herbs into equal parts, put in jars with cucumbers
Most often they take:
- dill umbrellas;
- garlic;
- peppercorns;
- horseradish, currant and cherry leaves;
- oak bark.
The pickling marinade is made hot or cold. In the first method, the jars are poured with boiling brine and left for seven days. After that, the fruits are washed, the liquid is boiled again and the container is poured. Sealed with nylon caps.
The cold method is slightly different. The brine is boiled, then allowed to cool and poured into a jar of cucumbers. After 4-5 days, add a portion of fresh brine to the top of the jar and lower it into the cellar.
Experienced culinary recommendations
Experienced housewives use some tricks to give fresh fruit before pickling. Even hollow greens will become elastic if soaked in salt water, then rinsed and immediately salted. Each fruit must be pierced with a fork before cooking, so the risk of voids formation will be less.
For successful fermentation, clean well water is used. The tap water is pre-defended, but not filtered. They take stone salt.
And finally, I would like to note that the most delicious and crunchy pickles are obtained in oak barrels, not cans. This type of wood does not absorb brine, vegetables remain dense and acquire a unique aroma.
Conclusion
Pickled cucumbers are empty inside, if they were not stored correctly or they are pickled with errors. You can avoid this by listening to the advice of experienced housewives. They also choose suitable varieties, adhere to the rules of agricultural technology and marinade preparation.
