I wouldn't normally let a cuke grow that big. Heck, look at the second pic! It was bigger in diameter than the coffee cup next to it! And that's a dinner plate too - not a salad plate it's sitting on! But you know what? It was still excellent tasting when devloured sliced! No bitterness at all! Like i said in a different post, I'm no longer even gonna plant slicers! It's all picklers all the time for me from here on out!