Brine for conserving cucumber

The invention relates to a brine for conserving cucumber in bulk making fermentation unnecessary. The brine according to the invention is an aqueous solution containing per liter of the solution: at least 0.15 kg sodium chloride, 0.01-0.05 kg. acetic or lactic acid or a non-toxic salt thereof, at least 1 g each of sodium benzoate, calcium chloride, and potassium sorbate and at least 50 mg each of ascorbic acid and citric acid. The taste and crispiness of a product processed from cucumbers stored in this brine for an extended period are equal to that of fresh packed cucumbers.

The present invention relates to cucumber conservation and especially a 
brine for conserving cucumber in bulk. 
Cucumbers may be pickled and canned directly after harvest as so called 
"fresh packs" resulting in pickled cucumbers having a good taste and 
crispy consistency. The processing of cucumbers to produce fresh packs is 
also very uncomplicated including essentially only putting sorted and 
picked cucumbers into cans or jars, adding the pickling solution, closing 
the cans or jars, and finally heat treating the closed cans or jars to 
pasteurize their content. The drawback of this procedurre is that it 
requires a very big processing capacity during the relatively short 
harvest period. 
In order to overcome this drawback and enable processing huge quantities of 
cucumbers during an extented period with less personnel and processing 
equipment part of the harvest is conventionally fermented and stored in 
bulk in large silos. From these silos cucumbers are withdrawn at a desired 
rate for processing in a conventional manner. 
Without discussing in detail different known fermentation procedures one 
may in general contend that the pickled cucumbers processed from such 
fermented bulk products are not of the same high quality as those of fresh 
packed cucumbers. The controlling of the fermentation process to obtain an 
even quality is also difficult and the yield, taste and consistency of the 
pickled cucumbers are not so good as for fresh packs. 
The object of the present invention is thus to provide a brine for 
conserving cucumbers in bulk without the necessity of fermenting the 
cucumbers. The present invention replaces the previous known fermentation 
processes used for conserving cucumber in bulk before processing to 
pickled cucumbers in consumer packages. The present invention enables 
obtaining pickled cucumbeers of substantially the same high quality as by 
fresh packing but with the same personnel and capital investments as with 
the known fermentation processes used for storing the cucumbers in bulk 
awaiting processing for canning. 
According to the present invention cucumbers are conserved in bulk by 
submerging the same in a brine containing in solution at least about 0.15 
kg NaCl, 0.01-0.05 kg acetic or lactic acid or a non-toxic salt thereof, 
at least 1 g Na-benzoate, at least 1 g K-sorbate, at least 1 g CaCl.sub.2, 
at least 50 mg ascorbic acid, and at least 50 mg citric acid per liter of 
said brine solution. When only the lower limit is given, it should be 
understood that the upper limit is set by the solubility of respective 
ingredient in the brine solution.

EXAMPLE 
Assorted cucumbers of various size were washed and picked shortly after 
harvest. The cucumbers were then stored in silos for about 2 months 
immersed in about the same volume of an aqueous brine solution 
representing a preferred embodiment of the invention and containing per 
liter of said aqueous solution: 0.3 kg NaCl, 0.024 kg acetic acid, 3.5 g 
Na-benzoate, 3.5 g CaCl.sub.2, 2.5 g K-sorbate, 400 mg ascorbic acid and 
400 mg citric acid. 
After this period the brine was withdrawn and the stored cucumbers were 
leached with water to reduce the level of the salt concentration brine 
therein below 2% by weight. Then the leached cucumbers were put into cans 
or jars together with a spiced pickling solution containing conventional 
pickling ingredients such as sweeteners, vinegar, salt and spices. Finally 
the cans or jars are hermetically closed and heated to pasteurize their 
contents. 
It was observed that bigger cucumbers could be used than in the above 
fermentation processes and that the cucumbers so conserved and processed 
were crispy and of the same high quality as those obtained by fresh 
packing cucumbers although the cucumbers had been stored for an extended 
period in bulk before processing.