Cucumber is one of the oldest vegetables, it was known about 6000 years ago. It is indispensable on our table: we eat it raw, prepare salads from it, preserve and salt it. There are two ways to salting: hot and cold. We will talk about the cold way.
Features of product selection
To make cucumbers tasty, first of all you need to choose the right product:
- Vegetable must be fresh and whole (without damage and rot).
- It is better to take fruits that are even and equal in size - the view will be more beautiful, the cucumbers will be salted evenly, and it will be tighter to put them in the jar.
- The color of the vegetable must be green, not brown - it is overripe fruit.
- The peel should not be smooth, but with dark base pimples - white indicates that the fruits are greenhouse, and they will be soft in salting.
- Ideally, if the vegetables are only from the garden, but this is not a prerequisite.
Important! It is necessary to use only pickling varieties, such as "Spring", "Zozulya", "Vodogray".
What you need in the kitchen: appliances and utensils
Our grandmothers used barrels for billets for the future, oak barrels are especially good. But nowadays not every hostess has them, and you can even put her in your house, not in an apartment. Therefore, we use the banks. And, of course, we need nylon covers.
Required Ingredients
To make cucumbers tasty and fragrant, you need to add spices. Each hostess uses its own set. We will use the classic version. 
On the three-liter jar, we will need the following products:
- cucumbers;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 5-6 sheets of oak, currant and cherry;
- 4 sheets of horseradish;
- 4 dill umbrellas;
- 2 bay leaves;
- 6 black peppercorns;
- 3 tbsp. l salt.
Learn how to store garlic in winter, as well as make preparations for the winter from garlic and horseradish (with beets).
Step-by-step recipe
We will use the experience of our ancestors. We will divide the salting process into several stages:
- At the bottom of a clean, not sterilized jar we put all the spices (leave 2 sheets of horseradish). Cut the garlic in half.
- Fruits my whole and tightly laid in a jar. On the first row choose vegetables of the same size.
- Salt is dissolved in a glass of water and poured into a jar.
- Next, add the usual cold clean water.
- At the very top of the stack 2 remaining sheets of horseradish. This is necessary so that the mold does not form.
- Put the jar in a large plate, cover with the lid up. Gradually, the brine will ferment, and some of the liquid will flow into the plate. Leave for 3 days.
- After three days, add salt water to the jar and close the lid.
Important! The higher the temperature in the room, the faster the fermentation process will take place. Care must be taken that vegetables are not peroxide.
Video: recipe for cooking salted cucumbers cold
How to store the workpiece
Salted vegetables without sterilization must be stored in a cool place. It can be a basement or a fridge. When the temperature is above zero, the fermentation process will continue, and the banks will swell. Keep necessary at temperatures around zero.
Learn how fresh, salted and pickled cucumbers are good for health, as well as how to cook crispy salted cucumbers and freeze cucumbers for the winter.
Tips and Tricks
The fact that you need to use only pickling varieties, we have already said. But there are still some tricks that will serve as a guarantee of getting delicious cucumbers:
- Salt is better to take stone, and not fine or iodized.
- For greater elasticity and strength, it is advisable to soak the fruits for a couple of hours before salting.
- Salt the recipe. If you oversalt, then fermentation will be weak.
- Water should be clean, without bleach. Ideal - spring or well.
- Root or leaves of horseradish, put under the cover, will be a good remedy for mold.
- A pinch of mustard seeds will guarantee that the banks will not "explode." A spoonful of alcohol or vodka added to the pickle can also help.
- Oak bark will make the cucumbers crispy.
- To speed up the process of salting, the fruit can be pierced with a fork or cut tails.
The taste of salting depends on the composition of the spices:
- Dill essential oil will give a refreshing taste.
- Horseradish has an antimicrobial effect. It will not only prolong the shelf life, but will also make the fruit crisp.
- Garlic is indispensable for preparations due to its bactericidal action.
- Oak leaves and bark will add crispness.
- Cherry and currant leaves have an antiseptic effect.
Did you know? If cherry leaves are placed next to berries or fruits, their freshness will last longer.
What to bring cucumbers to the table
It is best to serve salted cucumbers cold. Any side dish will suit them: it can be potatoes, and porridge, and meat, and many more other dishes. With the participation of pickles prepare pickle, salad and, of course, the salad "Olivier". 
But with some products it is not combined - together with milk it can cause diarrhea.
In pickles there are a lot of fermented milk bacteria that normalize the intestinal microflora. The pulp due to the presence of fiber improves digestion.
Did you know? Pacific Islanders, in order to preserve cucumbers, wrapped them in banana leaves and buried them in the ground. Our ancestors came up with another way: they salted vegetables in a cold way.
We want to offer you interesting and original salad.
It will require:
- 400 g of liver;
- 5 potatoes;
- 3 onions;
- 3 pickled cucumbers;
- 200 g carrots in Korean;
- mayonnaise, ketchup, vegetable oil and some alcohol.
The preparation process is as follows: wash and boil the potatoes, cook the liver and spasserovat in vegetable oil. Put the salad in the form of a cone. Smear each layer with mayonnaise:
- 1 layer - potatoes, grated on a large grater;
- 2 layer - liver, finely chopped;
- 3 layer - chopped onion;
- 4 layer - carrots;
- 5 layer - grated cucumbers.
Read also about the benefits of carrots and carrot juice.
Layers, if desired, can be repeated. Top with mayonnaise, ketchup from the top down to the strip, put a metal stopper at the top, pour alcohol in it and set it on fire before serving. 
Enjoy your meal!
If you want to prepare cucumbers for the winter, then use our simple recipe. The advantage of salting is that it does not use vinegar, but natural fermentation processes take place - it is much more beneficial for the body.
