I don’t understand why, absent a gun to the head, anyone would choose to eat beets, so I’m no help in judging how these taste. Captain OCD grew beets for the first time this year and wanted old-school pickled beets with no fancy herbs or spices. He said these were exactly what he wanted.
* If you don’t know much about canning, you’ll find more specific (and official, so you don’t poison your family) canning directions here.
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Pickled Beets
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 10 pounds fresh beets peeled; quartered, if large
- 4 cups white sugar
- 2 tablespoons pickling salt
- 2 quarts white vinegar
- 4 cups beet water the water left after you boil the beets
- whole cloves a few for each jar
Instructions
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Boil beets in more than 4 cups of water until almost tender (or however crunchy you want them).
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Drain beets and reserve 4 cups of the by-now red water.
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Slice or chop the beets into whatever size or shape you want.
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Place the beets into sterilized jars.
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Add a few cloves to each jar.
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Combine the sugar, beet water, vinegar, and pickling salt in a large pan. Bring to a boil and boil for a few minutes.
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Fill the jars with the sugar/beet water/vinegar mixture, to within 1/2" of the top.
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Screw on sterilized lids.
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Process jars in a hot water bath for 30 minutes.*
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OR, if you don't want to can the beets, put the beets in a container, cover with pickling liquid, and keep in the refrigerator.
