Turbid water in cucumbers. What to do if the pickled cucumbers are cloudy and the lids are swollen

Preserving vegetables for the winter is a common gardening practice. This is especially true for pickling cucumbers, where, in addition to the product itself, brine is valued, which effectively quenches thirst, and is also in demand among home confectioners.

Salt water and cucumbers turn white, causing some prepared jars to swell and become unusable. Efforts and work will not be in vain if you regularly monitor that the jars where the cucumbers will be preserved do not swell.

The main causes of cloudy brine

Turbidity of salt water is preceded by several biochemical processes:

violation of the sealing of the jar, accompanied by the ingress of oxygen and the appearance of oxide on the iron lids and (or) the formation of harmful microorganisms;
the technology of processing raw materials and containers (washing and steaming) is not sufficiently sustained, as a result of which dirt gets into the cans;
mass salting was carried out using iodized salt, instead of table salt prescribed for this purpose;
for salting, an unsuitable variety was used, for example, dessert or large salad;
lactic fermentation of the brine indicates a lack of acetic or citric acid according to the recipe.

It's important to know: storage of blanks at temperatures above 5 0 heat will inevitably lead to swelling of the lid of the jar, and at a higher temperature they simply take off, like champagne corks. The norm for storing canned salted vegetables, cucumbers in particular, can be considered a cellar room or a chamber in a refrigeration unit with zero temperature.

Turbidity of cucumbers does not mean their unsuitability at all.

If, nevertheless, the cucumbers become cloudy and the lid is torn off the jars, then first examine their contents. In general, only soft and very white cucumbers are unsuitable for food, capable of causing food poisoning.

The rest have a chance to save, and do it in several ways:

1. Whole cucumbers with a white coating can be re-rolled, the main thing is that they retain their elastic shape.
2. If the cucumbers barely fermented and began to turn white, they are taken out and the old brine is poured out, and then, after boiling the jar with steam, a new brine is poured.

Banks are opened, more or less hard cucumbers are scrolled in a meat grinder, thereby obtaining a mini blank for jars of smaller capacity. Such preservation is used for the current preparation of pickles.

Your seams will be the better, the more carefully you approach the choice of source materials. This refers to the cucumbers themselves, the main properties of which should be hardness, small size, the desired variety and oblong shape.

Grandma's recipe has long been known, where a 70% solution of vinegar essence or mustard is used. Since jars of 3 liters are mainly used for salting, the proportion of vinegar will be 1 teaspoon. In the case of mustard seasoning, a large tablespoon is enough.

However, in the best way, many harvesters choose more natural natural preservatives. We are talking about tomatoes. In the company of cucumbers, it is customary to see them together as a snack on the table, so why not do it in advance. But the most effective method of preservation is dressing with horseradish or hot peppers.

The biggest hassle is still the rework. If the cucumbers are sour, you can not do without vinegar. However, injections into the jar should be done after filling it with brine. In this case, you will definitely avoid a second explosion.

It's important to know: when re-preserving, it is necessary to reduce the proportions of vinegar, salt and sugar. Otherwise, cucumbers that have absorbed the initial dose of ingredients will be oversaturated. By the way, do not forget to put a couple of tomatoes - these friends will reliably protect the jar from an explosion.

A few easy-to-follow tips in this article will help bring your workpieces back to life.

From this video you will learn why cans of cucumbers explode:

From this video you will learn what to do if a jar of cucumbers has become cloudy:

Cloudiness of the brine in pickles is common. The appearance of turbidity in jars with pickled vegetables indicates a violation of technology. Such cucumbers quickly lose their crispy properties and deteriorate. It is not safe to eat them. Why does the brine in cucumbers become cloudy?

A little about marinating

Marinating is a way to preserve food. Mainly vegetables, fruits and mushrooms. Food is preserved due to the action of acid in conditions of high salt concentration. Many microorganisms in an acidic environment are not able to develop. Often, sugar and sunflower oil are also used to prepare the marinade.

Air does not enter a sealed jar. That is, putrefactive bacteria cannot penetrate from the outside. And the vital activity of the dishes and ingredients on the surface is suppressed by heat treatment and an acidic environment.

When considering the pickling process, it already becomes clear why jars with cucumbers become cloudy. It means that the technology is broken somewhere. At what stages are errors possible?

Reasons for the formation of turbidity

Dregs in a jar of cucumbers are microorganisms. But how they managed to survive there, you need to figure it out. Why does the brine in pickled cucumbers get cloudy?

1) Not enough vinegar.

Vinegar is the organic acid that should restrain the process of vital activity of microorganisms. For the preparation of pickled cucumbers, vinegar is required. Thanks to him, turbidity in the bank should not appear.

If cloudiness is acceptable for pickles. Moreover, turbidity is always present in dishes with canned vegetables. That pickled product does not become cloudy.

A lack of vinegar, an incorrect ratio of the main proportions (salt plus sugar plus vinegar) or poor-quality vinegar leads to the appearance of turbidity.

2) Insufficient heating of cans.

Heat treatment contributes to the inhibition of putrefactive bacteria. Therefore, pickled cucumbers are poured with boiling marinade, pasteurized, boiling water is changed several times and a closed jar is wrapped in a warm blanket. The recipes use one of the methods. For example, double or triple filling with boiling water and wrapping. Or pouring boiling marinade, pasteurization and wrapping.

3) The jar is not sealed tightly enough.

Air from the outside should not enter the jar with pickled vegetables. Otherwise, bacteria will come along with it, which will start the clouding process.

Why does air enter a closed jar?

Firstly, there are chips and cracks on the neck. They do not allow the lid to cling tightly to the jar.

Secondly, the problem is in the seaming machine. Somewhere it "slips", somewhere it does not clamp to the end.

Thirdly, the problem is in the tin lids themselves. Broken party. Or using lids with worn rubber bands. There are also failures with screw caps.

4) Insufficiently processed food and utensils.

Banks should be well washed and sterilized. You can douse several times with boiling water.

The lids are dipped in boiling water for a couple of minutes.

Cucumbers are soaked in water for two to three hours, after which they are carefully rubbed. Do not rub with hands. Namely, tinder. Some housewives use brushes and then pour boiling water over the fruits.

Currant leaves, cherries, horseradish root, onions, garlic and other tasty and aromatic additives should be carefully washed out.

If a product is poorly prepared, dirt remains on it, the process of decay will begin in pickled cucumbers.

What to do with cloudy seams?

At the initial stage of the harvesting process, it is still possible to save. To do this, the jar is opened, the brine is poured out, all the ingredients are poured over with boiling water, the jar is washed again and poured with fresh marinade.

There is another way. The existing brine is poured into a saucepan, boiled and the cucumbers are poured again.

Some housewives simply put cucumbers in the refrigerator. The process of formation of turbidity stops.

In any case, it is impossible to allow further fermentation inside pickled cucumbers. Cucumbers sour, spoil. Their use is dangerous to health. You can get poisoned.

It often happens that the brine in pickled cucumbers becomes cloudy. Such a nuisance can occur even with an experienced hostess. There may be several reasons for the change in the transparency of the liquid in a jar of vegetables.

Many housewives throw away such blanks for the winter, leaving the product no chance for rehabilitation.

But in some cases, you can save cucumbers from the trash can by completely redoing the entire canning procedure.

Why does the brine of pickled and canned cucumbers become cloudy?

Pickle in jars with cucumbers usually becomes cloudy due to non-compliance with canning technology.

There are other reasons for the cloudiness of the liquid. In most cases, after the brine becomes cloudy, the lid is torn off the container.

Reasons why cucumbers in jars become cloudy:

Poor quality washed and steamed jars lead to spoilage of the brine.
incomplete sterilization of containers or lids.
Lids with a defect. Poor quality seaming key, which does not press the lid to the neck of the jar.
damaged container in the neck area: chips, cracks, recesses. Sometimes the thick bottom of the can causes improper heating of the container.
Usage inappropriate ingredients for making brine, such as iodized salt.
themselves cucumbers can cause spoilage of the brine. Spoiled vegetables or salad varieties will immediately release the components into the liquid, which will lead to sediment.
If cucumbers were stored incorrectly, then such a product will definitely not stand for a long time - the lid will be torn off. After canning, the jars need to be insulated, putting the bottom up.
If leave the already prepared preservation for a long time in a room with a high temperature, then the liquid inside the container will deteriorate.

The result of the appearance of a cloudy sediment can be a test of a new canning technology, the use of non-standard ingredients.

It is better to use proven recipes, carefully control each stage of work.

Note! It is necessary to use a canned product carefully, even if such a moment is indicated as the norm according to the recipe.

Before using such products or discarding them, you should carefully inspect the container and take into account all the nuances.

Only then apply radical solutions. Each situation is individual and requires an appropriate solution.

Is it possible to eat cucumbers from cloudy brine?

After seaming, the jars in which the brine becomes cloudy explode only occasionally. Often during the fermentation process, the sediment settles and the brine becomes lighter.

A natural fermentation takes place in the jar. This reaction is not dangerous for humans, you can eat the product.

If the lids are swollen when the brine becomes cloudy, then the tightness of the jar is most likely already broken.

The question arises: is it possible to eat cucumbers in this situation? If the tightness is broken, the product is exposed to foreign organisms, the waste products of which are dangerous to human life.

When can you eat canned cucumbers from cloudy brine:

Use vegetables from a can if the liquid was cloudy at first, and then became transparent again. It is advisable to use the product for the preparation of pickle, hodgepodge.
If the lid is swollen, then you can’t use cucumbers from such a container for food. If the cover is not torn off, then it can pass air imperceptibly.
At opening the jar, the contents smell unpleasant - you definitely can’t eat cucumbers.
If turbidity of the liquid occurred due to the use of iodized salt, then the vegetables are quite suitable for consumption.

In conservation, where the processing technology is not observed, the botulism bacterium can develop.

This organism carries a danger to human life, so you should refrain from eating cucumbers, if there is such a possibility.

What to do with brine and how to save cucumbers?

What to do if the brine is cloudy? Is it possible to revive "bad" conservation and how to do it efficiently?

First, you should watch for defective conservation. Sometimes the mud goes away. In other cases, turbidity is the result of the appearance of lactic acid in jars.

Important! The represervation procedure can only be performed if the lid is not swollen. With a violation of tightness, spoilage of the product and marinade occurs.

Each situation regarding the change in the purity of the marinade has its own characteristics. You need to pay attention to all the little things, remember the salting process, highlighting errors.

Sometimes turbidity occurs due to the banal lack of vinegar in the marinade.

Situations when and how to act:

Prescription number	Features of turbidity of the brine	Instructions for resuscitation
1	Liquid color changes occurred 2-3 days after canning	Open the jar and pour the liquid into the pan. The brine from the jar should boil well. Pour boiling water over cucumbers without removing them from the container. Drain the hot water and pour boiling water over the vegetables again, leaving them in this state for five minutes. Drain the hot water from the cucumbers, filling them with a new marinade with the addition of an appropriate portion of vinegar
2	Turbidity does not settle for 1 week	In this case, it is better to redo the marinade. Open container with vegetables. Pour out the old marinade and prepare a new one as follows: rinse the cucumbers in boiling water. Pour boiling water over the vegetables and let it brew for about 5-10 minutes. Then the water is poured into a saucepan and boiled with the addition of vinegar. Pour cucumbers with a new marinade, after sterilizing the jars
3	Reduced transparency with leakage	Save the product in this case will not work. The fermentation process occurred due to the ingress of foreign bacteria into the container. You can correct the situation with the marinade - salt the product, but the vegetable is no longer suitable for consumption

Useful video

Why is this happening

If the jar of cucumbers has changed color, this is a sure sign that the fermentation process is going on inside, and the lid will swell in the near future, and then it will break.

But in certain cases, the brine is clarified on its own, and a white precipitate falls to the bottom. However, such greens should no longer be eaten, as their taste will be greatly changed. It will be possible to use such cucumbers only for pickle.

If the pickled cucumbers in the jar began to become cloudy, then there is some very good reason for this, and this means: something was done wrong in the harvesting process:

Zelentsy was not properly washed, particles of dust and street dirt remained on their surface, which, having got into rolled up jars, began the development of active fermentation or decay processes.
The jars themselves or the seam lids have not been washed. Also, the causes of turbidity may be the use of detergents and insufficient rinsing.
Insufficient washing of spices and herbs.
Insufficient addition of vinegar.
If you put sea salt or iodine in canned cucumbers when they are harvested, this can also cause clouding of the liquid.
Poor sterilization of containers and seam lids, as well as processing of already packed cans, can lead to the fact that after a short time the cucumbers become cloudy.

Violation of tightness and poor-quality seaming. This occurs when using low-quality covers, when the sealing gum breaks during rolling and does not create an airtight connection. But banks can also be to blame if they have an uneven neck or chips in this area.
In some cases, a jar of pickled cucumbers becomes cloudy because greens that are not intended for harvesting, for example, a salad type, got into it.

Sometimes it also happens that after salting the liquid becomes cloudy for reasons beyond the control of the hostess, for example, if greens were bought from hand or in a store. This suggests that the fruits contain a large amount of chemicals.

Alien cucumbers must be soaked for several hours before harvesting, periodically changing the water, but even such a measure can destroy only a part of the harmful compounds.

What to do with a cloudy jar

It is important to understand that the very clouding of the liquid in the jars is already a bad sign, and most often such cucumbers have to be simply thrown away so as not to get sick with dangerous botulism. But sometimes they can still be saved, for example, if the color of the brine has changed literally a day or two after seaming. This is usually due to a small amount of vinegar or a strong natural fermentation process.

It is important to know how to remake such cucumbers. For this:

Banks need to be opened without waiting for them to explode on their own.
Drain the cloudy brine, rinse the cucumbers several times with warm water, then with boiling water, and then soak them in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. To be sure, you can repeat this procedure twice.
Next, pour boiling fresh marinade into jars and add the required amount of vinegar under the lid.
Check the quality of seaming, the integrity of the sealing gum.
Turn the jars over to cool, wrapping the workpieces with a warm blanket.

Pickled cucumbers sometimes show cloudy brine due to normal fermentation. You can put such a jar in the refrigerator or other cold place and just watch it. If within ten days the turbidity settles to the bottom, and the liquid becomes transparent, while the lid remains flat, without swelling, then everything is in order, and such cucumbers can be eaten, but it is better to use them for pickle or saltwort, because their taste will be changed.

If, after seaming, almost immediately, literally in the morning, the brine is very cloudy and the lids are swollen, then it is better to throw away such pickles. It is not worth redoing them, since this behavior of canned food indicates that various bacteria have got inside.

How to avoid such problems

Most often, young housewives are faced with clouding of canned cucumbers for three reasons:

Insufficient cleanliness of raw materials and containers.
Bad sterilization.
Recipe failure.

Just washing the lids and jars with detergent is not enough here. Our grandmothers cleaned canning containers with baking soda, then thoroughly rinsed and carried out long-term steam sterilization.

If you wash the jars with any dishwashing detergent with the addition of cleaning powders, then after that they must be rinsed very thoroughly and rinsed with boiling water so that no particles of this chemistry remain there.

It is important to thoroughly wash the greens themselves, using clean sponges or soft brushes for this, removing not only dirt, but also thorns from the surface. After washing the fruits, you need to cut off the tips on both sides and place them in water for at least 2-3 hours, and only after that you can lay them out in already prepared jars. The same applies to all additives, herbs, leaves and whole spices.

Filled jars also need to be sterilized, but it is not necessary to boil them in a pot of water. The most reliable and simple way is to repeatedly fill the workpieces with boiling water, leaving it in jars for about three minutes, and then draining it.

This procedure should be repeated three times, after which you can pour the brine and roll up, not forgetting to add vinegar. No additional sterilization is required in this case.

See you soon, dear readers! Do not forget to recommend the article to your friends and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.

Sincerely, Andrey

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This is how we are arranged, having grown a crop, we definitely preserve something else for the winter. It can be a shame when, after a while, we find a cloudy pickle in jars of cucumbers, swollen lids that are about to explode. And the question of why cucumbers become cloudy and jars with them explode, what is done wrong, for sure, arises with every housewife. Let's look into these questions today and find the right answers.

The main reason is the presence of microorganisms in the jar. How can they get into a jar of cucumbers? Very simple: with cucumbers, herbs, spices, and also through poorly washed jars.

Other causes of cloudy cucumber brine can be

use of iodized salt
use for salting salad varieties,
violation of the tightness of the container,
old lids,
lack of acetic or citric acid.

Why do cans of blanks explode?

Homemade items should be stored in a cool place. Conditions with a temperature not higher than + 5ºС in the cellar, underground, household refrigerator are considered ideal.

Closing jars can allow microbes to get in. Storage of canned food at temperatures above +5ºС leads to active reproduction of microorganisms. They begin to release their waste products - toxins and gas. Gas accumulates under the cover. Gradually, the amount of gas increases, the lid inflates, a so-called bombing is formed. At some point, the lid cannot withstand the pressure of the gas and explodes, flies off the can.

Why do cucumbers grow cloudy in jars?

So that the brine does not become cloudy in the jars and the lids do not explode on them, certain rules are followed during preservation.

Some hostesses sterilize jars in the oven, over steam in a kettle, in the oven, etc. Of course, this is not bad. However, it is not necessary to do this when canning cucumbers, since we put non-sterile vegetables and herbs in a jar. The main condition is that the banks themselves must be clean. To do this, it is enough to wash them with water and soda and rinse thoroughly.
The purity of cucumbers is achieved by washing in two waters. Before laying in a jar, vegetables should be thoroughly washed. In relation to cucumbers, the following can be said. Have you noticed a whitish coating on freshly picked cucumbers? The film becomes noticeable, it is worth lowering the cucumbers into the water. Beneficial bacteria live in this plaque, fighting pathogenic microflora, preventing the development of diseases on cucumbers. The film must be thoroughly washed off. Cucumbers immediately take on a green appearance, begin to creak. By removing the film, all bacteria are removed.
Greens should be no less clean. It is washed under running water. Then, cut into small pieces, boil in water for 2-3 minutes. The broth is diluted with boiled water and a brine is prepared. The greens themselves are transferred to the jar.
I don’t know if acetic acid or vinegar, which we always add to blanks, is sterile, but it also needs to be boiled. I always add it to the brine at the end and boil for 1-2 minutes.
After rolling the lid, the jars are turned over. This is necessary to check the tightness. Having twisted badly, microbes get inside the jar along with the air, starting to multiply there. Turning over the cans, the inside of the lid and the top of the can are disinfected.

And one more important tip.

Through poorly washed vegetables, causative agents of botulism can enter the preparations. The disease is dangerous because in a tightly closed jar it produces a toxin - botulinum, the strongest poison, often fatal. This toxin has no taste or smell. Its possible appearance can be prevented by washing the vegetables thoroughly and adding acetic or citric acid. Acids are harmful to bacteria.

What varieties are taken for canning?

For canning, it is necessary to take cucumbers in the stage of milky ripeness with a size of no more than 10-12 cm, preferably one size. Using fruits of different sizes, salt unevenly enters the pulp of cucumbers, so some of them are worse salted. Insufficiently salted cucumbers again serve as an excellent breeding ground for microorganisms.

Lettuce early-ripening varieties will not work. Their pulp is more tender, it will deteriorate faster in blanks. Having rolled salad cucumbers for the winter, after a while, opening the jars, you will find soft, tasteless vegetables. Choose for home-made preparations such varieties: Friendly family, Cheerful guys, Salting, Rodnichok. To be sure, when buying seeds, read for what purposes this variety is used.

What to do if the jar of cucumbers is cloudy?

Depending on how long the cloudy billet costs, proceed as follows.

If the preparation was made a few days ago, it is necessary to open the jar, drain the brine, rinse the cucumbers and re-preserve them according to the recipe. Moreover, the amount of salt and sugar must be reduced.
Having found a cloudy workpiece late in winter, look at the condition of your cucumbers. If they remain hard, crispy, use them for making vinaigrettes, salads, pickles. Soft - are not subject to further use, they are thrown away without regret!

Dear readers, I hope that the tips will come in handy and you will not encounter such an unpleasant situation in the future when the prepared cucumbers become cloudy or, even worse, explode.

Turbid water in cucumbers. What to do if the pickled cucumbers are cloudy and the lids are swollen

The main causes of cloudy brine

Turbidity of cucumbers does not mean their unsuitability at all.