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This summer, stay cool as a cucumber with this easy technique for salting and draining cucumbers. All you need is a healthy pinch of salt and a little time, and youโre well on your way to the crunchiest, tastiest salad ever.
When it comes to making the best cucumber salads, I find that unless you take the time to properly salt and drain the cukes, the end product is watery, limp, and less than tasty.
This easy extra step makes extra crunchy slices, takes almost no effort at all, but gives a big payout in the crunch department. You can also add sugar to your salt for extra sweetness (either way, just rinse and pat dry when youโre done).
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Cucumbers: This recipe works for any cucumbers (standard, hothouse, Persian). Peel and/or seed cucumbers (if you plan to) before slicing and salting. Cucumbers can be sliced, halved and sliced, or cut into chunks before salting, depending on what your recipe calls for.
- Salt: Some recipes call for a blend of salt and sugar, and that works well too. Just rinse the cucumbers before patting dry.
Step-by-step instructions
- Layer cucumber slices in the bottom of a colander, and sprinkle a generous pinch of salt over them. Place another layer of cucumbers over the first layer, and salt again. Continue layers until all cucumbers are salted. Let cucumbers sit for one hour with the colander over a bowl to catch liquid, or set the colander in your kitchen sink.
- Rinse the cucumbers well with cold water. Spread out on a clean kitchen towel or layers of paper towels and pat dry.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: Your true yield will depend on the size and weight of whatever cucumbers you use. On average, 1 8-inch, 8-ounce cucumber will yield about 1 ยผ to 1 ยฝ cups of sliced or diced cucumbers.
- Storage: Store drained cucumbers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (ideally in paper towels to keep the process going).
- Texture: If youโre using a dairy or mayonnaise-based dressing (such as in Creamy Cucumber Salad), the extra water in the cucumbers could curdle. No one wants that. Even if youโre making a cucumber salad with a vinaigrette, salted cucumbers donโt water down the dressing, so every bite is flavorful.
Recipe FAQs
Adding salt to sliced cucumbers draws out the extra moisture in the vegetable, through a process called osmosis. Over time, the salt absorbs the water from the cucumber. What youโre left with is a slightly drier cucumber with a more concentrated flavor (that wonโt make your salad watery).
Some people insist that 20 to 30 minutes is enough time to drain salted cucumbers, but I like the dryness that an hour gives. You canโt really overdo it. In the Midwest, some cooks make German-style cucumber salads by salting the cucumber slices, placing the layers between paper towels, and letting them drain for up to 2 days!
Yes, rinse the cucumber slices in cool water before spreading out on a clean kitchen towel, or layers of paper towels, to pat dry.
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How to Drain Cucumbers
Ingredientsย
- 1 cucumber sliced (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt (see note 2)
Instructionsย
- Layer cucumber slices in the bottom of a colander, and sprinkle a generous pinch of salt over them.
- Place another layer of cucumbers over the first layer, and salt again. Continue layers until all cucumbers are salted.
- Let cucumbers sit for one hour with the colander over a bowl to catch liquid, or set the colander in your kitchen sink.
- Rinse the cucumbers well with cold water. Spread out on a clean kitchen towel or layers of paper towels and pat dry.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Cucumbers: This recipe works for any cucumbers (standard, hothouse, Persian). Peel and/or seed cucumbers (if you plan to) before slicing and salting. Cucumbers can be sliced, halved and sliced, or cut into chunks before salting, depending on what your recipe calls for.
- Salt: Some recipes call for a blend of salt and sugar, and that works well too. Just rinse the cucumbers before patting dry.
- Yield: Your true yield will depend on the size and weight of whatever cucumbers you use. On average, 1 8-inch, 8-ounce cucumber will yield about 1 ยผ to 1 ยฝ cups of sliced or diced cucumbers.
- Storage: Store drained cucumbers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (ideally in paper towels to keep the process going).
Cumber is pig food
Hi Ekl, Iโm not an expert on pigs. I hope this helps you drain cucumbers if pigs prefer them prepared. โ Meggan
Where is the video?
Hi Frank, itโs the first part of the video that is between the recipe and the notes. Hereโs a link, just scroll past the recipe directions! Take care! โ Meggan
https://cash-surge.live/how-to-drain-cucumbers/#wprm-recipe-container-64631%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Meggan โ
Some of the cucumber sweat tutorials have you rinse the salt off, some just have you pat them dry. What is your preference?
Thank you!
Lindsay
Hi Lindsay! I use a paper towel to pat them dry. Take care! โ Meggan
Thanks for the info. Iโm 72 now alone and trying to cook, ha. My sour cream cukes with onion , s + p, were good when first done , next day a soggy mess , threw em out. Iโll try the drain routine for 1 hour and let you know what happens . Thanks Geoff
Hi Geoff, I hope they turn out well! Please do stop back and let me know how they turned out! Take care โ Meggan
When you use the salt to draw out the water out of the cucumbers then quickly rinse the salt off, is the sodium increased in the finished cucumbers?
Hi Donna, itโs possible some amount of salt would be left behind on the cucumbers after rinsing. I donโt know exactly how much would be left behind as it probably would change based on how long you allow them to sit with the salt and how watery the cucumber is. Sorry about that! -Meggan
seems like it works ok
Maybe I missed it put why are we capturing the liquid? Is it used in other recipes?
Hi David, sorry for the confusion. We only capture the liquid to prevent it from getting all over the counter, or something like that. You donโt need it, you can set your strainer over a sink and just leave it there. I have never saved the liquid from this and put it to use. Thanks! -Meggan