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Cucumber Dill Spears and Chips

Processing your pickles in a hot-water bath rather than a boiling-water bath will give you a firmer texture. It follows that if you want pickles with real snap, don't process them at all. These dill-pickle spears—or sandwich chips, depending on how you slice them—can be processed, if you want, for long-term shelf storage, but first try making a batch to keep in the refrigerator. They will be crisp, and the flavor of raw cucumber comes through. It's the freshest-tasting pickle in this book, and perhaps my favorite. The recipe can be scaled up.

[Note]

Instead of spears, you could slice your cucumbers into round coins, lengthwise "slabs," or bias-cut ovals. Make the slices 3/8 inch thick and soak them in the brine for 12 hours instead of 24.

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