my cukes taste HORRIBLE!!! - Page 2

My grandma taught my mom a trick that she taught me.  If you cut one end off and kinda swirl the cut ends together for a while, a white frothy stuff comes out.  That is the bitter stuff from the skin. I do it to store bought cucumbers too.  It does work, but I've noticed with the heat that mine are still a bit bitter.  Give it a try.  It can't hurt. Oh, it won't work if you cut both ends.  Just one.

You can do it under the faucet, but I don't. I just rinse once I'm done.  Put the cut peice back on the cucumber, flat sides together and rub them in a circular pattern kinda fast. Think, pedaling a bike with your hands. White foam will form around the edges of the cucumber.  That foam tastes really bad.....

My mom showed me how to do that too, and said that she learned it from her grandmother. I asked her what it was about and she said "removing the demons" Might be a gap in the french-canadian translation there, but that's the answer I give whenever I get asked what the hell I'm doing to my cucumbers.

I like that explanation!  I'll have to remember it.  I wonder if it worked for the OP.  I hope so.  Nothing more dissappointing than having to toss out something you worked so hard for.

I am growing cukes for the first time and this has been of great help... I never thought I needed to learn how to exsorcise a cuke... well, only bad ones right?

 

I can't wait to get mine to grow big enough... I'd like to pick them earlier to avoid this to happen... How earlier can I pick and how do I know I can pick? Right now mine are an inch long...

I tried growing cukes and got the same bitter yukiness. The next year I tried Lemon Cucumbers because I read that they are less prone to becoming bitter and they were great. No bitterness at all. They look a little weird because they're round and yellow but they taste great!
 

Cucumbers normally get bitter because they aren't getting enough water, or at least that's what my mom always tells me. I would say to make sure that they get a lot of water. Hope that helps :)

Cucumbers normally get bitter because they aren't getting enough water, or at least that's what my mom always tells me. I would say to make sure that they get a lot of water. Hope that helps :)