The American slicing cucumber is your standard supermarket cucumber in the United States. Compared to an English cucumber, its skin is darker and thicker and its seeds are larger and more plentiful. It’s usually a few inches shorter and may be closer to 2-1/2 inches in diameter. It’s a plumper, sturdier fruit.
An American cucumber tends to have smoother skin, while an English cuke’s skin may be more furrowed. However, you don’t need to peel or seed an English cucumber, whereas you’ll usually want to take these extra steps with an American cucumber to improve the flavor and texture of your dish. These differences help explain why it can be worthwhile to pay more for an English cucumber, especially if you’re highlighting the ingredient in cucumber recipes like tea sandwiches or a balsamic cucumber salad.
Some people also find American cucumbers hard to digest, hence the term “burpless” for English cucumbers.
Why Are English Cucumbers Wrapped in Plastic?
The quickest way to identify an English cucumber at the grocery store is by its shrink wrap. These thin-skinned fruits need the extra protection of plastic so they don’t get bruised or dried out in transit. Tender skin is one of the reasons English cucumbers are less bitter than other varieties. And the plastic is in lieu of the wax coating you’ll often find on American slicing cukes.
