A simple recipe: how to pickle tomatoes in a barrel for the winter

Sometimes they sell these barrels, inside of which there is something like a plastic flask. This can be said to be a “cheat”, because the brine and tomatoes do not have contact with the wood, and are salted just like in a regular plastic bucket. Such barrels are good for beauty, nothing more.

For pickling tomatoes, it is better to choose small barrels with a volume of up to 50 liters. This ensures that the tomatoes at the bottom are not crushed under the weight of the rest of the fruit, and you can eat everything right to the bottom.

The barrel must first be washed. This applies to both used barrels and completely new ones. Some people advise heating a granite cobblestone on a gas stove, lowering it into a barrel, pouring boiling water into it and covering the barrel so that it steams. Not the best way.

1. Firstly, where to look for cobblestones?
2. Secondly, how can you put it in a barrel without getting burned?
3. And thirdly, will the barrel burn out from the hot stone?

Let's not use dubious methods, and just wash the barrel with baking soda and scald with boiling water. This will be more than enough.

The barrel is ready, now let's prepare the tomatoes. For pickling, you need to take only firm, not overripe tomatoes. You can add completely green ones, or slightly brown ones, but not soft ones.

The spices that you put in the jar will certainly give your tomatoes their own flavor, so choose the spices to suit your taste.

• Horseradish leaves and root;
• dill greens;
• tarragon sprig;
• currant, cherry, grape leaves...

If you add enough grape leaves, they can be used in the winter to make "Dolma».

You can make tomatoes spicier with red capsicum and garlic.

This is an approximate set of spices, and you can change it at your discretion. Divide the spices and herbs into three equal piles. Place one part at the bottom of the barrel.

Start placing tomatoes in the barrel, and sprinkle them evenly with spices and leaves from the second pile.

When you place the last tomato, place the remaining third of the leaves on top.

All that remains is to prepare the brine. For barrel tomatoes, water is not boiled, but raw water is used, preferably well water, or from a well. Dilute salt according to:

• 800 gr. salt for 1 bucket of water.

Salt takes a long time to dilute in cold water, and you can warm it up slightly.

Carefully pour the brine into the barrel until it completely covers the tomatoes. If there is not enough brine, make more, based on the same proportions.

Place a wooden circle over the tomatoes and you're done. The tomatoes will ferment without your participation for a month, with the exception of the first week, when you need to remove the white mold that appears on the wooden circle.

If your barrel is large enough, it is better to immediately install it in the cellar and lay the tomatoes on the spot. The fermentation process in a cool cellar will take a little longer, but on the other hand, you won’t have to move the barrel of tomatoes.

Watch the video on how to pickle real barrel tomatoes for the winter: