Kitchen Garden Forum

As I'm picking cucumbers faster than we can eat them, does anybody have any good tips for storing them in good condition? I find that whether I keep them in the vegetable tray in the fridge, or stored in brown paper bags in the fridge they soon go either limp or slimey.

Hello Primrose
I have stored cucs in a damp teatowel in the fridge for a few days. This is just to keep them fresh for when I put them in the local veg. show - and chilled they stand better on display. Storing in a damp cloth does stop them going flabby. I've never tried keeping them for any length of time though.

John

Hi Primrose

I reckon that beyond a week there is no way to store them. Juice them and drink them and use the new ones in salads.

Alan

All that's been said already I agree with, perhaps it's worth adding that it may help shelf life to harvest at a cool time of day, and get them chilled asap. This is pretty much standard for any salad crop.

Do they keep longer if you grow a variety with a shrink wrap plastic skin?

Another tip I picked up from riverford organics is not to store cucumbers at the bottom of the fridge in the coldest part, but srore them on a higher shelf. In the bottom salad box because they are so full of water it can send them mushy.

Cucumber Pickle Recipe

Ingredients:
4 large cucumbers
3 medium onions
2 oz of salt

For the syrup:
1pt/570ml of white wine vinegar
1lb/454g of soft brown sugar
½ level tsp of ground turmeric
½ level tsp of ground cloves
1 tbsp of mustard seed.

Method:

1. Wash cucumber and slice very thinly
2. Peel the onions and slice very thinly.
3. In a large bowl, layer cucumbers and onions with a sprinkling of salt in between the layers. Weigh down with a plate.
Stand for three hours.
4. After three hours, pour away the liquid and rinse the cucumbers and onions under running water twice.
5. Put your jars in the oven to sterilised them.
6. Put vinegar, sugar and spices in a stainless steel or non stick saucepan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.
7. Add the cucumber and onions to the saucepan and bring to the boil.
8. Boil syrup and vegetables for a couple of minutes. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Reduce remaining syrup for 15-20 min.
9. After ten minutes or so, gently fill warm, sterilised jars with vegetables. Don’t press down.
10. When syrup has reduced, pour over vegetables in jars.
11. Cover immediately with plastic lined, sterilised metal lids.
12. When cold, label and store in a cool, dark place, away from damp.

I used to wrap them in cling-film which worked pretty well. Then I discovered those green poly bags which preserve vegetables and fruit. Somehow they do work extremely well! I get mine from the Kleeneezee agent at £5 for 20 bags..they are re-useable. Supermarkets sell those JML ones, though they are more expensive.
Cheers

yep, I use the green bags too, they do really work!

How about cucumber soup - hot or chilled.

1kg cucumbers
onion and garlic
chicken stock.

Fry onion and garlic in butter, add chopped cucumber, add stock.
Cook 20mins
Liquidise.

Works very well with courgettes - again, hot or chilled.
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Granny

Primrose its probably getting a bit late in the season now but my sister-in-law who was visiting last week said she had been told to only cut half the cucumber, leave the half on the plant the end will seal itself and the cucumber will carry on growing.

I don't know if it works because I don't grow cucumbers but it might be worth a try next year if you have a bumber crop. The only disadvantage I can see is you will get twice as many which does rather defeat the object.

Anyway thought I would pass it on.

Beryl.

Granny & Beryl - thanks for your hints. I haven't tried the cucumber soup yet, although we did make a green soup from cucumber, cougettes and peas which was "moderately" edible although a little thin. I've never heard of half a cut cucumber healing itself, but I imagine, unless the cucumber juice has some kind of antiseptic properties, it would be possible for mould to start forming, rather in the way that mould starts to form on split tomatoes if they're left long enough. I might try it next year though just one one fruit if I end up getting the kind of glut I've grown this year. It always seems to be feast or famine in this house and it's definitely been a "feast" year for just about everything.