Here's Why Some Recipes Call For You To Deseed The Cucumber

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Cucumbers can make your recipes sing. They show up as toppings on salads, in a variety of tangy sauces, and even in some refreshing drinks. Some recipes call for cucumbers to have seeds, while others call for taking the seeds out. Rosie Kellett, author of "In For Dinner: 101 Delicious, Affordable Recipes to Share," spoke exclusively with Chowhound to discuss why some recipes ask you to deseed your cucumbers before adding them in.

According to Kellett, it all comes down to how much moisture you want in your recipe. "When I am grating cucumbers to make tzatziki, I always make sure to remove the seeds," Kellett says. "I find they add too much water to the mix and I like a thicker tzatziki." While it makes sense to keep the seeds out of your versatile tzatziki sauce, is there ever a reason you'd want to keep the seeds in? Again, Kellett has some guidance: "When marinating cucumbers, leave the seeds in so they can soak up more flavor," she says. Think of the seeds as sponges. They can hold water, sure, but they can also absorb plenty of aromatic ingredients too. 

Cucumbers come in many varieties and each type has a different moisture content, a various amount of seeds, and ranges in taste from sweet to bitter. These qualities will determine which kind of cucumber you'll want to select for your recipes. Getting to know the kinds of cucumbers available to you will enhance your ability to make this choice, as some varieties of cucumber may be interchangeable in recipes. Most of us are familiar with the moisture-laden American cucumber, which benefits from deseeding when you're using it in recipes where less moisture is needed. In addition, the long and thick English cucumber naturally comes without seeds, making it perfect for recipes requiring very little moisture.

There are other tricks besides deseeding that take the moisture out of cucumbers, including salting and rinsing. This technique works through the process of osmosis, as salt draws out the water. Either deseeding or salting and rinsing your cucumber will help you to make delightfully crunchy cucumber salads. Whether your recipe calls for more or less moisture, you can fine tune your preparation methods and cucumber selection to achieve the ideal results.