What makes cucumbers taste bitter

Finally, look for varieties that are well-suited to your area and that are labeled "non-bitter". Some reliable varieties are 'Marketmore 97', 'Diva', 'Eversweet' any variety with "sweet" in the name , 'Long Green Improved', and the heirloom 'Lemon'.

As with all plants, edible or otherwise, the real trick to healthy, productive cucumber plants is to research what growing conditions the plant prefers and do your best to provide them. Even a few days of stress can cause a ripple effect of damage. Ornamental plants will probably recover, but you only get one chance to get it right with cucumbers and other edible plants. That's why it is so important to put some thought into choosing both your growing site and your edible varieties.

If you find yourself with bitter cucumbers, don't automatically reach for the compost bucket. Peeling the fruit should improve the flavor. Cut off the first inch or two from the stem end and test the flavor. If it's still bitter, try a slice toward the center of the cucumber and see if it is sweeter.

You should be able to salvage more than enough for a salad. And as soon as you notice a bitter cucumber, take the precautions above to ensure the rest of your harvest doesn't suffer the same fate. Slicing off the stem end and peeling from the blossom end of a cucumber can curtail the bitter taste.

Sprinkle some salt on both the halves from where they were cut open and rub them against each other. You will see the white foamy substance appearing on both the halves. Repeat the procedure two-three times before washing it off with water. A post shared by Sharon Cramer sharon.

The fork furrow method is an easy method; all you need to do is cut the ends of the cucumber and peel off the skin. Before slicing it, take a fork and run its tines up and down lengthwise till the cucumber is covered with fork furrows. This is done to release the chemical compound in the cucumber.

After repeating it for two times, wash it once before consuming. These methods do not completely guarantee to make your cucumber bitterness-free; however, these age-old procedures have helped remove the bitterness somewhat. Do let us know if you have tried all these methods. Even if you add vinegar or salt, the bitterness will still be there. Worse is that the bitterness may spread to other pickles in the jar. Some folks stay the stem end, some say the flowering end.

As you know, cucumber can get a little sticky, like zucchini. The way we see it, milking one end will not draw the bitterness from the other end and all the skin. However we do believe that believing something may have a placebo effect.

In that case, you may end up believing and tasting no bitterness in cucumbers after milking them. Even if the cucumbers are objectively bitter. Post Comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Please check settings. We learned this from a USDA study years ago and is absolutely true.

Bitter tasting cucumbers can be caused by cool weather or drought. Bitter fruit can be salvaged by removing some of the flesh under the peel—especially at the stem end where bitter flavor concentrates. Also note the variety you planted this season, and try a different variety next season.

Yes, though I hate to do it, peeling off more than just the outer think skin green reduces the bitterness.

I was so sad to find out my first ever cucumber fruit is bitter. Thank you for this column. Regular cucumber varieties will become bitter when exposed to hot dry conditions.

Cucumber-melon varieties have always solved this problem for me. They also tend to grow faster as the summer wears on. Though there are other seed suppliers who may carry a few of these cucumber types, Cucumbershop. I hang a fleece in order to protect from the sun but the problem is more likely to be the high temperature 30c. Yes, very high temperatures can turn cucumbers bitter tasting.

Protecting plants from high temperatures and keeping the soil evenly moist and protecting it from the hot sun with mulch may help, but is not a sure solution. The first I harvested were delicious, but just in the past few days, they have become bitter. More compost and mulch, perhaps? Cucumber plants that are stressed turn out bitter fruit. A bitter cucumber will be a bitter pickle. The bitterness of a cucumber comes from an organic compound called cucurbitacin; this compound is usually concentrated in the leaves, stems, and skin of the cucumber.

To remove bitterness from a cucumber try this: 1 wash the skin thoroughly with clear water; 2 cut off a small slice at the stem end of the cucumber; 3 rub the flat side of the cut piece against the now exposed flesh of the cucumber white flesh against white flesh — soon you will see a white foam appear; keep rubbing until the foam disappears—a minute or two; 4 repeat at the other end of the fruit.

This rubbing is said to extract the bitter cucurbitacin from the fruit. The myth of rubbing the caps to remove bitterness is just that….