What causes pickled cucumbers to become cloudy? Why canned cucumbers turn cloudy? Video: what to do if the cucumbers in the jar become cloudy after preservation

Well, the summer season is finally over, and the pleasant result of summer labors are the shelves in the basement or cellar, densely lined with jars of homemade preserves. Unfortunately, after some time, you suddenly notice that the brine in the pickled cucumbers in some containers has become cloudy. And even the lid of one jar was torn off due to fermentation. But so much work, time and effort was invested in the cooking process! What could be the reason? Surely in this article you will find answers to your questions.

The first reason why the brine in cucumbers becomes cloudy: insufficient sterility of the jars and lack of cleanliness of the products

First, it’s worth thinking about how correct the technology for pre-processing cans is. Many housewives limit themselves to only washing glass containers with hot water using baking soda. However, it would be safer to additionally sterilize empty cans. The simplest option is to place them on a special stand over boiling water in a saucepan. Five minutes of warming up will be enough. You can also sterilize jars in the oven or microwave. Also take care to thoroughly wash all the ingredients used, from cucumbers to spices (horseradish leaves, dill umbrellas, etc.).

Reason two: the brine in the jars became cloudy due to poor sterilization or sealing

Hot processing of preserves can take place in two ways. In the first option, jars filled with products are sterilized by placing them in boiling water for a while. If there is insufficient time, microbes may remain inside the containers, which will subsequently cause the brine to become cloudy. The second method, often used in practice, is to repeatedly pour boiling solution over the products in a jar. It is recommended to carry out hot processing three times, maintaining the required time interval between each stage. Therefore, insufficiently heated cucumbers usually become cloudy and ferment in jars. Also, the reason why the brine becomes cloudy may be due to poorly closed lids with a leaky seal. Perhaps the problem lies in a broken sealing machine or a damaged jar neck.

The third reason why the brine in cucumbers becomes cloudy: the wrong ingredients for the marinade were taken

Do you always follow the recipe exactly or do you take components for preservation “by eye”? It is especially important to maintain the correct proportions of vinegar or acid. After all, it is these ingredients that ensure the safety of products for a long time. Also consider the quality of the salt. Iodized water usually always gives a whitish precipitate.

The fourth reason why the brine in cucumbers becomes cloudy: the choice of vegetable variety

It turns out that this moment also means a lot. After all, some varieties of cucumbers are intended only for fresh use. And when canning, they become hollow inside, which causes the liquid in the jars to change color.

Reason five why the brine in cucumbers becomes cloudy: improper storage conditions

Winter preparations should not be left for more than two to three days at room temperature. The most favorable temperature conditions for storage rooms are from 2 to 7 degrees Celsius. Therefore, immediately after cooling, the jars are placed in the basement or cellar.

If all conditions are met, you will not have any unpleasant surprises after inspecting the supplies stored for the winter.

Probably every family has its own signature recipe for pickled or pickled cucumbers. And every housewife is sure that it is her recipe that makes them the most delicious and crunchy. But even the most experienced and skillful brine in a jar can lose transparency. What should I do if the cucumbers become cloudy? Should I throw them in the trash?

Is it possible to eat cucumbers from cloudy brine?

If all stages of the preparation have been completed correctly and the lids have not swelled and the brine has become cloudy, this only means that ripening has begun, during which lactic acid is formed. This often happens with salted vegetables rather than pickled ones, that is, with those for which vinegar is not added.

Lactic acid is a natural preservative, which is also very beneficial for the human body. It improves blood circulation, reduces blood pressure and controls blood fat levels. Thus, if sediment appears, but the lid is intact and there are no air bubbles in the liquid, the product can be eaten.

If the water becomes cloudy and the lid swells, such vegetables, unfortunately, cannot be saved. A swollen or already torn lid may be a sign of the presence of botulism bacteria. Of course, this cannot be determined without laboratory tests. But is it worth the risk if there is a chance of contracting such a dangerous disease?

What to do with a cloudy jar of cucumbers?

Even if the housewife knows that it is quite acceptable to eat the preparation, she may wonder what to do if the brine in the cucumbers becomes cloudy. Is it possible to somehow return them to their previous state or prevent unwanted processes? Experienced housewives advise moving the jars to a cool place so that all the dregs settle to the bottom. Such cucumbers, most likely, will no longer have a pleasant crunch, but they will not cause any harm to the body.

Read also:

Vegetables preserved in vinegar are much less likely to form milk fungus. But it may also happen that the pickled cucumbers become cloudy. What to do in this case? There are several options.

Roll out, cover with a nylon lid and leave for a couple of days in a cool place. This way you will get lightly salted cucumbers, ready to eat.
Open and re-roll. The water must be drained and boiled, vegetables and spices must be washed and placed in newly sterilized jars.

The most reliable way to save the product is to prepare a new marinade, increasing the amount of vinegar. In this case, the cucumbers should be washed and poured with boiling water 2-3 times. It is advisable to replace herbs and spices with fresh ones.

If cloudy fruits have already become sufficiently salted, but turn out to be soft, tasteless or too sour, this is not a reason to throw them away. You can significantly improve their taste if you pour tomato juice and leave for three days at room temperature. This method corrects even the most hopeless specimens; the cucumbers will become crispy and very tasty.

Why do blanks lose transparency?

Why did the cucumbers become cloudy and what to do to avoid similar situations in the future? There are many nuances and rules in the preservation process, the violation of which can lead to such unpleasant consequences as spoilage of the product. In most cases, this happens precisely because of technology violations. Here are the most common canning mistakes.

Vegetables, herbs, spices or jars were not washed well. Dirt and dust particles can contribute to the development of rotting in an already rolled product.
Presence of nitrates. Of course, ideally, for seaming you should take cucumbers grown by caring summer residents, but in the realities of a big city this is not always possible. When choosing vegetables, try to at least buy them at the height of the season, that is, at the end of June and July. Take fruits of medium size, dark green, dense, crispy.

Before you begin the pickling process, be sure to leave the cucumbers in cold water for several hours, or better yet, overnight. This simple process will not only remove nitrates, but also make the vegetables crispier.

Sea or iodized salt was used for preservation. It is certainly healthier than regular cooking, but it is absolutely not suitable for pickling. Firstly, sodium chloride in its pure form is an ideal preservative, and various additives worsen the preservative properties. Secondly, iodine can give vegetables an unpleasant taste and also disrupts the fermentation process, which can cause the lid to swell and become cloudy. In addition, vegetables pickled in iodine-enriched salt will not be crispy and may taste bitter.
The jars and lids were sterilized incorrectly or not at all. Nowadays, many preservation recipes advise not to subject the container to such treatment - supposedly it is enough to rinse it thoroughly and fill it with hot brine. However, this only makes sense if you are confident in the quality of the products and make the marinade with a lot of vinegar. To seam vegetables without adding it, sterilization is required.
The seal was broken. Sealing containers should be selected without chips or cracks, and the lids should be new. It should also be taken into account that a crack could have formed during sterilization or pasteurization. To avoid this, observe the temperature regime, that is, do not pour hot brine into cold dishes and do not place hot jars on cool surfaces.

How to prevent the appearance of “suspicious” sediment?

A large amount of spices and herbs can cause a cloudy sediment to appear in the seams.
Do not fill the jars too tightly. During conservation, the fermentation process will occur, and if there is not enough space for this, the water may become cloudy and even the lids will break off.
To keep the brine transparent, you can use one trick. After the fruits and spices are compacted into jars, they need to be poured with boiling water twice and only then with marinade. This process will take longer, but it significantly increases the chances that lactic acid will not begin to form.
Cucumbers rolled together with bell peppers do not become cloudy and have a spicy taste.
After twisting the jars, you need to turn them upside down and leave them in a warm place until they cool completely. Better yet, wrap them in an additional blanket. Firstly, the method will allow you to immediately notice the lack of tightness. And secondly, due to the fact that the jar will cool slowly, it will undergo additional heat treatment.

Good afternoon, dear readers! We were about to eat some potatoes, but in the cellar a not very pleasant picture emerged - the cucumbers in the jar had turned cloudy. What to do?

This phenomenon causes a lot of grief and frustration to any housewife who diligently grows fruits and stores them for future use. But you shouldn’t despair either, because the situation can still be corrected if you take some measures in time.

Why is this happening

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

But in certain cases, the brine clears up on its own, and a white precipitate falls to the bottom. However, you should no longer eat such greens, as their taste will be greatly changed. Such cucumbers can only be used for pickle.

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

The greens were not washed properly; particles of dust and street dirt remained on their surface, which, having got into the rolled up jars, began the development of active processes of fermentation or rotting.
The jars themselves or the sealing lids were not washed. Also, the causes of cloudiness may be the use of detergents and insufficient rinsing.
Insufficient rinsing of spices and herbs.
Not adding enough vinegar.
If you add sea salt or iodine to canned cucumbers when preparing them, this can also cause the liquid to become cloudy.
Poor sterilization of containers and sealing lids, as well as processing of already stacked jars, can lead to cucumbers becoming cloudy after a short time.

Violation of tightness and poor-quality seaming. This occurs when using low-quality lids, when, when rolling, the sealing rubber breaks and does not create an airtight connection. But the jars may 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 it contains greens that are not intended for preparation, for example, salad type.

Sometimes it happens that after salting the liquid becomes cloudy for reasons beyond the control of the owner, for example, if the greens were bought secondhand or in a store. This suggests that the fruit contains a large amount of chemicals.

Before harvesting, foreign cucumbers need to be soaked for several hours, periodically changing the water, but even this measure can destroy only part of the harmful compounds.

What to do with a cloudy jar

It is important to understand that the cloudiness 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 contract 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:

Cans 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 the jars and add the required amount of vinegar under the lid.
Check the quality of seaming and the integrity of the sealing gum.
Turn the jars over until they cool, wrapping them in a warm blanket.

Sometimes pickled cucumbers exhibit cloudiness in the 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 smooth, without swelling, then everything is in order, and such cucumbers can be eaten, but it is better to use them for pickle or hodgepodge, since their taste will be changed.

If, after seaming, almost immediately, literally in the morning, the brine becomes very cloudy and the lids swell, then it is better to throw away such pickled cucumbers. There is no point in remaking them, since this behavior of canned food indicates that various bacteria have got inside.

How to avoid such problems

Most often, young housewives encounter cloudiness in canned cucumbers for three reasons:

Insufficient cleanliness of raw materials and containers.
Poor sterilization.
Non-compliance with the recipe.

Simply washing the lids and jars with detergent is not enough. Our grandmothers cleaned the canning containers with baking soda, after which they thoroughly washed and carried out long-term steam sterilization.

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

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

Filled jars also need to be sterilized, but it is not necessary to boil them in a pan of water. The most reliable and simplest way is to repeatedly pour boiling water over the preparations, leaving it in the jars for about three minutes, and then draining it.

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

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Sincerely, Andrey

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

A little about marinating

Pickling is a way of preserving food. Mainly vegetables, fruits and mushrooms. Food is preserved due to the action of acid in conditions of high salt concentration. Many microorganisms are unable to develop in an acidic environment. Often, sugar and sunflower oil are also used to prepare the marinade.

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

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

Reasons for the formation of turbidity

The dregs in a jar of cucumbers are microorganisms. But how they managed to survive there needs to be figured out. Why does the brine in pickled cucumbers become cloudy?

1) Insufficient amount of vinegar.

Vinegar is an organic acid that should inhibit the vital activity of microorganisms. To prepare pickled cucumbers, vinegar is required. Thanks to him, dregs should not appear in the jar.

For pickled cucumbers, cloudiness is acceptable. Moreover, dregs are always present in dishes with canned vegetables. This means that the pickled product does not become cloudy.

The appearance of turbidity is caused by a lack of vinegar, an incorrect ratio of the basic proportions (salt plus sugar plus vinegar) or low-quality vinegar.

2) Insufficient heating of the cans.

Heat treatment helps to inhibit putrefactive bacteria. Therefore, pickled cucumbers are poured with boiling marinade, pasteurized, the boiling water is changed several times and the closed jar is wrapped in a warm blanket. The recipes use one of the methods. For example, pouring boiling water twice or three times and wrapping it up. Or pouring boiling marinade, pasteurization and wrapping.

3) The jar is not sealed tightly enough.

No outside air should enter the jar of 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 press tightly against the jar.

Secondly, the problem is in the seaming machine. Somewhere it “slips”, somewhere it doesn’t clamp completely.

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

4) Food and utensils are not properly processed.

Jars need to be washed and sterilized well. You can pour boiling water over it several times.

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

Cucumbers are soaked in water for two to three hours, after which they are thoroughly rubbed. Do not wipe 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.

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

What to do with cloudy sunsets?

At the initial stage of the harvesting process, it is still possible to save. To do this, open the jar, pour out the brine, pour boiling water over all the ingredients, wash the jar again and fill it with fresh marinade.

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

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

In any case, further fermentation inside the pickled cucumbers should not be allowed. Cucumbers turn sour and spoil. Their consumption is dangerous to health. You can get poisoned.

This kind of trouble has happened to every housewife at least once. It would seem that the preservation was carried out correctly, and the cucumbers lovingly placed in jars were sent for storage. But some time passed, and the brine in the jars became cloudy. The owner is upset, doesn’t know what to do with the cucumbers...

Why does the brine in jars of cucumbers become cloudy?

First of all, nothing just happens. This means something was done incorrectly.

The brine may become cloudy for several reasons:

The cucumbers were poorly washed. The smallest particles of dirt from the surface of the vegetables got inside the jar and caused the development of a putrefactive process.
The jars were poorly washed or detergents were used to wash them. Unnoticed soap remained inside the jar, so the brine became cloudy over time.
Not only the cucumbers were washed poorly, but also the herbs.
Iodized or sea salt was used. This salt contains components, some of which can cause cloudiness in the brine.
Jars and lids, both empty and filled with product, were not properly sterilized.
The seal of the container was broken, that is, the cans were poorly sealed. This could happen due to poor-quality lids or chips on the neck of the jar.
Sometimes the brine becomes cloudy for reasons beyond the owner’s control. For example, cucumbers were loaded with chemicals. And even soaking did not destroy some of the harmful substances that caused the brine to become cloudy.

What to do if the brine becomes cloudy

Cloudiness of the brine is already bad. Most often, such cucumbers have to be thrown away. Because it is low-quality products that become the culprit of such a dangerous disease as botulism. And if you still manage to avoid this disease, then indigestion may occur.

Situation one. In some cases, cucumbers with cloudy brine can be saved. For example, if the brine becomes cloudy literally after 2-3 days, then this may be due to the development of lactic acid fermentation. And this, as you know, is a necessary step when pickling cucumbers. Most often, the brine becomes cloudy if vinegar is not added to it.

Conclusion. If the lid of the jar is not swollen, then the jar with cloudy brine needs to be opened, the brine poured into a saucepan and boiled. Then rinse the cucumbers with boiling water directly in the jar, pour boiling water over them and wait five minutes. Pour out the water, pour boiling marinade over the cucumbers, add a portion of vinegar.

Instead of the old brine, you can make a new one, boil it, adding a portion of vinegar essence. Then close the jar with a sterile lid and seal it tightly. Cool upside down, wrapped in a warm blanket.

Situation two. As mentioned above, the brine in jars of cucumbers becomes cloudy due to lactic acid fermentation. Some housewives, knowing this peculiarity of it, put the jar in the refrigerator and watch the further development of events. Very often, after about 7–10 days, the turbidity settles to the bottom, and the brine becomes clear again.

Conclusion. If the lid remains flat and does not swell, then such cucumbers can be safely eaten. True, their taste will be different than in other jars.

If the brine has not been clarified, then this jar needs to be opened and the cucumbers used to prepare pickle soup or other dishes where the cucumbers are subjected to long-term heat treatment.

Situation three. If the brine in a jar of cucumbers becomes cloudy and the lid is swollen, then it is risky to eat such cucumbers. This means that microbes and bacteria have entered the jar, harmful not only to vegetables, but also to humans. Although... even in this case, some housewives open the jar and use cucumbers in pickle.

Note to the hostess

Some housewives, having read the advice, will decide that cucumbers with cloudy brine can be safely eaten. But each case is individual, so you need to think a hundred times before eating such a cucumber.

Still, it’s better not to risk your health, and if there is even the slightest suspicion that a jar of cucumbers is spoiled, you should, without hesitation, throw its contents in the trash! You can't buy health.