I'm guessing that Ina's fridge is modern and has an evaporator. I’m sure there's drippage, but my fridge with evaporator makes a big difference.

Depends on the cucumbers. The regular basic ones will weep a lot. I find that sprinkling them well with the vinegar I'm going to dress them with will do the best job making them weep. The problem with salt is that it sucks up the liquid but then dissolves, leaving salty liquid to sink back in. Thin skinned cucumbers like Persian (small) and English (very long) don't weep much no matter what, but then will hours later in the salad. I just anticipate. English have the best flavor, in my opinion. I don't like the ones labelled ”Armenian”.

Epplant slices can be laid on an absorbant towel, then turned onto a fresh towel. I don't get a meaningful amount of drying with any of the traditional methods.

I'm wondering if a short time in a dehydrator or oven on a dehydrate or proof setting would work?

Use less salt. I always salt cucumbers for many recipes, but if you use too much, they're too salty. Just use less. Oh, and use kosher salt.

I tend to use far less salt than recipes call for, but when I salt something like cukes or eggplant, I use paper towels to blot things dry.

laceyvail, why Kosher salt?

I didn't think I used that much salt, but then I'm sensitive to salt and use vey little on a day to day basis. I don't care much for vinegar either and so use that sparingly too. I had to laugh at your comment, plllog, about the juice coming out later in the dish because that's exactly what happened with mine anyway. 😅

LOL! Yeah, that's normal. Kosher salt is coarse, so it takes longer than table salt to get waterlogged.

If you do a good job cleaning your cucumber, knife, cutting board, hands and tray, as well as making sure your towels are really clean as well, there should be no harm just laying out your slices flat on paper or tea towels, and leaving them in the warm kitchen for a few hours. They'll evaporate better that way, though turning them over onto dry towels will help. Just be mindful of cross contamination and potential bacterial growth since they're not going to be cooked. It's easier to be laissez-faire with the eggplant. But I just don't worry about it. I make the cucumber salad ahead, skin on with Persian or English cucumbers, knowing that in five hours they'll consider weeping, and make a thick, sparse dressing that can accomodate the behavior. Or make just enough, just in time, for one meal. :)

The bitterness in eggplant is one of those things you need the right genes to taste. If you don't have at least one allele you won't taste it. It's a specific compound that's bitter. It does cook out, but it has to be completely cooked through to do so.

Salting has no effect on the disgusting bitterness, IME. Bitterness from char is another story. That's the best! Salting is only necessary for a big, moist eggplant that's going to be fried, and there are ways of frying where you can employ the moisture to create the steam to puff it up, which is fantastic. But if you're breading, controlling the moisture can be desireable.

I do salt cukes lightly to drain in a colander, then dab with a paper towel. They’ll weep without salt, especially when I grate them for tzatziki. However, I find a little salt helps things along and ups the flavor.

plllog, I have been growing Shikou Eggplants for the last 14 years. I started because I read that they grow better in CA's Central Valley, but I've found that they are never bitter and are very creamy when cooked. I actually prefer them to Globe.

I wonder if you would taste any bitterness in these? They are usually called Chinese/Japanese Eggplant in the store. Shikou are about 8" long and about 2"+ in diameter. Ping Tang are long and skinny and are good too, but, I feel, are a waste of my time.

Yup. I like them. But same as globes, they have that compound and need to be cooked through to be edible to me. I've probably handled at least ten kinds of eggplant, all with the bitter thing. It gets on my hands, too. When someone in CF in a previous eggplant discussion suggested I might be a ”supertaster”, I got a kit with test papers for three different plant compounds that are noticed as something bad by a different gene for each one. I tested two alleles (from both parents) for all three, by degree of reaction. The scientists say that these genes are from regions where some of the plants in the same families are poisonous and speculate that the ability to sense the compounds (and have them be unpleasant) is a survival advantage in those regions. But if you don't have the genes, you can't taste them, and if you have one allele, the response is much weaker.

As to bitterness in an eggplant.........I only occasionally find any bitterness in the peel. Just once in a while it will be there. And I dont salt eggplant even it is to become breaded cutlets .

If I am undecided about the skin I will peel off part and leave part .The skin can sometimes be a bit tough, too.

I will put my breaded cutlets on an oiled baking pan and drizzle oil over them and put them in the oven. It makes beautiful cutlets!!! Since I am not using oil for frying, I use a good quality oil to drizzle.

The bitterness is not consistent even between eggplants from the same field at the farm. And, I dont encounter it very often in these fresh summer ones.

As for salted cucumbers, it doesnt take much salt to make them weep. When I have too many of them from the farm that arent going to get used quickly I will cut them up and put them in a jar with a bit of salt and sometimes a bit of vinegar and they keep much better than if I left them whole in the fridge drawer. And, as an added bonus, they are ready to serve.

I've never tried vinegar to weep cukes but will now. I've only used salt once I've spread on paper towels or in a colander although I don't use a lot. I'm not sensitive to salt and rather like it. DH does not and salts nothing. We'd be in trouble if we ever needed to begin a no salt diet. If he has cooked, I notice the difference immediately, keep salt on the table and add to my portion once plated.

a tiny sprinkle of salt will do it ... doesn't take much

Kate, what kind of recipe did you use the cucumbers in? Are they cooked or raw?

Those where over-sized, so I peeled and diced them. I eventually put them in some sour cream.

I've never cooked cucumbers, altho' I know you can.

You need to rinse off the salt before patting dry. Salt is a natural preservative and starts to do its job removing water right away by pulling out moisture in the cell walls on the cut sides. Usually an hour but some say 30 minutes is fine. Probably depends on thickness/size. Rinsing off the salt will not re-introduce any water unless you soak in water for some amount of time.

I've never tested cucumber, but at some point, maybe 8-10 hours, all water is removed and the salts reverse and start to penetrate for preservation if not rinsed off.

Same for cabbages for kimchi. Rinse before adding the rice flour slurry.

Googling 'salting cucumbers' i just picked the first one...salting cucumbers.

Not that anyone would salt cure vegetables but i salt cod fish. 4-6 hours for that nights meal. 12 hours for the freezer. Cod has alot of moisture in the fillet. Pulling out some water firms it up a bit. At some point, maybe 18-24 hours(?), the salty brine, having removed all the water, will start the curing process. No rinsing. Then out on wire frames to dry in the sun.

Sleevendog, thank you for the link. I did exactly whar she wrote and still had salty cucumbers. I made the same last night, but didn’t salt. They were fine as sliced and diced.

There was some discussion above that suggested using Kosher Salt. I’ll try that next time.

The salt works due to osmosis, the water crosses the cell membranes of the cucumber cells out to the area which has a higher salt concentration and lower water concentration. So if you rinse the cucumbers and then blot them dry, there's not enough time for that water to cross back over the membranes back into the cucumber. However, when you pickle them and they sit in the brine, then the water in the brine and the water in the cucumber cells will reach equilibrium eventually. That's why the salted ones are less likely to float. I'm not sure if any flavor molecules cross over from the brine into the cucumber cells, but they must, because the pickles are very flavorful. Same thing happens in a salad, it has to sit for a bit for the full effect. As for eggplants, I think the salting is a texture thing, and the same issue applies, if you rinse them and blot them, or just use less salt and blot them, they don't rehydrate, not enough time.