There may be several reasons why pickled cucumbers in a jar turn out soft and not crispy.
The strength of cucumbers is determined by several factors, ignoring which is an absolute mistake.
Freshness of cucumbers
First of all, you need to understand that the freshest cucumbers will retain their crispness even after pickling.
For placing in a jar, we select cucumbers of the same size. We reject overgrown specimens, as well as stale ones - they are not suitable and will quickly lose moisture.
Quality water
For pickled cucumbers, choose only high-quality water. The water should be soft, without chlorine impurities. Hard water is not suitable for pickled cucumbers.
Heat treatment
Properly prepared containers for laying cucumbers are no less important. The secret is that cucumbers will not crunch if the jars are sterilized longer than the prescribed time. For 3-liter jars, 20 minutes is enough, 2-liter jars - 15 minutes, liter jars are sterilized for no more than 10 minutes.
What to put in a jar of cucumbers
Horseradish, cherry, oak, and currant leaves will give the necessary strength to pickled and salted cucumbers.
Mustard seeds in the jar will not be superfluous. Tomatoes and plums are put in the jar to make cucumbers stronger.
