Making pickles

[zbbcat]

I have zillions of cucumbers and want to make pickles. I have been reading receipes on line and none of the receipes say anything about processing the pickles in a water bath. Is this necessary or is putting the pickles in hot, sterilized jars enough?? Thanks

[CM]

Current recommendations for canning pickles is to process them for 10-15 minutes in a boiling water bath. You don't need to process pickles that will be stored in the refrigerator.

For the past 150 years, pickles were never processed, so if you have a recipe that has been handed down it won't include processing time. It's easy to pop the jars in a water bath for an extra level of safety, but keep in mind that the pickles will not be as crisp after processing, so they might not be just like the ones your mother/grandmother made.