Why cucumbers are bitter: how to get rid of the taste before canning
Fresh cucumbers straight from the garden are what we eagerly await for the harvest to ripen.
However, the wait can be greatly spoiled if the fruits are bitter, especially if you are going to preserve them for the winter.
Culinary expert of HERE NEWS, chef and fourth-class baker Yulia Arkhipova will share with you a couple of life hacks on how to get rid of bitterness.
How to remove bitterness from cucumbers
Let's start with the fact that the bitter taste of cucumbers is given by a substance called cucurbitacin. Its excess is what makes us wince when biting into a piece of fruit.
Cucumbers that have been improperly watered, poorly fed, harvested at the wrong time, or allowed to grow in direct sunlight have a bitter taste.
However, it is possible to get rid of excess cucurbitacin. To do this, before rolling up the vegetables in jars, it is necessary to soak them in cold water.
Take a container that will fit all the fruits, or fill a bath, and then place the cucumbers in there for at least 12 hours.
If you don’t have that much in stock, the soaking time can be reduced to 6 hours, but then you need to add salt to the water at a rate of 2 tablespoons for every 10 liters of liquid.
