Difference Between Slicing and English Cucumber

Y’all it’s hot here in Texas!  How do you stay as cool as a cucumber?

As cool as a cucumber?  Where did the phrase come from?

As Cool As A Cucumber

It turns out that even in hot weather, cucumbers are cool.  Maybe not as cool as you in your new sun shades, but the insides of cucumbers are 10-20 degrees cooler than their outsides.

So perhaps this summer you need a bit more cool as a cucumber in your life!

In the same family as melons and squash, the cucumber is grown on a creeping vine. There is a long list of cucumber varieties that are grown around the world, including one called the snake cucumber from Armenia.  Not sure I want to mess with that one!

The two types typically seen in our grocery stores are the slicing cucumber and the English cucumber. what is an English cucumber? read on…

Main Difference Between Slicing and English Cucumbers

The slicing cucumber is shorter, fatter, with thicker skin, and has larger seeds.  De-seed this cucumber before eating as the seeds can taste bitter.

The English cucumber is typically a darker green, longer, more slender, with fewer seeds.  There’s no need to remove the seeds from this green beauty.

English cucumbers are typically wrapped in plastic to protect their thin skin from bumps and tears.  And it also helps to preserve the cucumber. An unwrapped cucumber will lose 3.5 % of its weight after 3 days.  With shrink wrap, the English cucumber will only lose 1.5% of its weight over a two-week timeframe.

Stay Cool With Cucumbers

Either way, you choose to roll, these tasty vegetables are nutrient-rich, green goodies that can be sliced as a snack, added as a complement to a variety of dishes, or star as the main attraction.

Are you up for growing your own?  With roots that dive to 36-48 inches deep and 6 to 8 foot long vines, your cucumber plant will need space and full sun.  Which we seem to have a lot of lately.

Make cucumbers a staple in your kitchen this summer, and stay cool!