Prevent sad, soggy cucumbers with these best ways to store cucumbers.
Like fresh tomatoes and corn, cucumbers are synonymous with summer in the South.
For this reason, it’s easy to buy them in bulk.
Credit: Photography: Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
So how long do cucumbers last in the fridge, and what’s the best way to store them?
Kelly Smith Trimbleis aneditor, writer, and gardenerliving in Knoxville, Tennessee.
What Are Cucumbers?
Cucumbers originated in India and have been cultivated as a food source for more than 3,000 years.
Cucumbers are mostly water96 percent, even beating out watermelon by a few percentage points.
How Long Do Cucumbers Last In The Fridge?
Once cut, store cucumbers in the fridge for one to two days for best flavor.
To do this, firstwash and dry the cucumbers.
This method follows the lead of thinner skinned English cucumbers, which areshrink-wrapped in plastic.
After wrapping cucumbers, Trimble likes to store them in a produce keeper placed in her refrigerator’scrisper drawer.
The produce keeper has a carbon filter and an elevated basket that allows for better airflow around produce.
you’re free to also store cucumbers in aresealable plastic bag.
Store in the fridge.
Then wash them, dry them completely, and follow the instructions above.
Sliced cucumbers will not last as long as whole, so use them as soon as you could.
Pickling varieties have smaller fruit and thicker skin.
Slicing cucumbers are what we commonly see in grocery stores: dark green, uniformly sized, and oblong.
Some have been bred to be burpless or seedless.
Kept wrapped, they should last nearly a week.
They are also thin-skinned but are quite narrow.
They are firmer with less water, so they tend to last longer than some other varieties.
These should also be wrapped individually before storing.
Can You Freeze Cucumbers?
Yes, but it’snot always recommended.
When buying, look for green cucumbers that are firm and free of soft spots, which indicate rot.
Wrinkled skin is a sign of water loss, and yellow spots signal that it’s overripe.
A fresh cucumber will be firm and odorless.
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