Pickled Beets. . . recipies anyone?

[Michelle_Nelson]

Anyone have any good Recipies for Pickled Beets?

Anyone use the Pickled Beet recipie out of the "Ball Blue Book of Preserving"?  How was it?  Did you go by the recipie and directions?

This is my first time doing pickled beets.  I planted a bunch in my garden and they are getting to the point I need to do something with them.  I don;t want them to go to waste. . . .

Thanks Guys.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Ohh BTW I am going to do this tomarrow. . .     I know, I know. . . thanks for the short notice.

[JKEEN33]

I believe that is the recipe my mom uses. She adds sliced onions to the batch. They are great!

[lokidog]

My grandma used to do them but I have not been able to find a recipe as good as hers.

Here is a recipe from "The Ameerican Woman's Cookbook" (1940)

Spiced Vinegar:

1 qt. vinegar                                    1 T. white mustard seed
1 pint sugar (2 cups)                        1 t. cloves
1 T. cinnamon                                  1 t. salt
1 t. allspice

The spices may be used either whole or ground, as one prefers a clear or dark pickle.  If they are ground, they should be placed in a muslin bag and removed from the solution before the pickles are canned.  If the pickle is one that is to be heated in the vinegar, the vinegar and spices are not previously heated.  If the pickle is to be placed in the jars cold and the hot vinegar is to be poured over it, the solution is brought slowly to the boiling point and then poured over the pickle.

Beets:

Cook small beets until they are tender.  Plunge them into cold water and slip off the skins.  Cover them with the spiced vinegar, and simmer for fifteen minutes.  Seal in clean, hot jars.

I haven't tried this but could be similar to what my grandma used.  I'll probably pickle some this year as well but will wait until they are bigger as I have sold all my small ones that I have been thinning.  I have four varieties this year.

[Mossy]

I follow the ball book pretty much to a T.  Some things I think you could cut back a little on the vinegar but I wouldn't stray very far off.  Good luck, looking forward to results

[wapiti hunter2]

We pretty much do just the Ball cookbook and it turns out great.  One other thing we do a lot of is beet relish.  We look up recipes on the Internet, keep it simple and use it on sandwiches.  It's great.  Beets from the garden preserve great.  We are putting out third round of starts in the ground this weekend after I pull a few cabbages.

[Michelle_Nelson]

When you cook the beets you just cut the leaves off 1" above the beet (so it won't bleed), leave the root on, and then put them in a pot of water and boil until they are tender?  How long do you figgure it takes?

[pianoman9701]

"Spiced Vinegar:

1 qt. vinegar                                    1 T. white mustard seed
1 pint sugar (2 cups)                        1 t. cloves
1 T. cinnamon                                  1 t. salt
1 t. allspice"

Next, throw away the beets and stick a couple dozen eggs in it!

[BOWHUNTER45]

O MY .. Make the hair stand up on my head  My parents made us eat that sheet when I was kid and I cant not stand to even smell the crap ... ALL BUT THANKS FOR SHARING 

[Buckmark]

O MY .. Make the hair stand up on my head  My parents made us eat that sheet when I was kid and I cant not stand to even smell the crap ... ALL BUT THANKS FOR SHARING 

For once i actually agree with you BH45, i was thinking the best way was to put the whole beet in the compost bin....

[BOWHUNTER45]

O MY .. Make the hair stand up on my head  My parents made us eat that sheet when I was kid and I cant not stand to even smell the crap ... ALL BUT THANKS FOR SHARING 

For once i actually agree with you BH45, i was thinking the best way was to put the whole beet in the compost bin....

thanks glad I said something right

[runamuk]

I love pickled beets we always sliced them just to make cooking to tender easier (I like beets sort of firm so even when cooking fresh beets sliced its still only about 20 minutes tops).....havent made any pickled ones since I was a kid ...that pickle brine sounds good though...and its amazing how often grandmas actually just used the ball recipe 

[Michelle_Nelson]

I've had never really eaten beets growing up.  Would even pick the pickled beets off my salad until a few years ago when my husband told me to try them.  Took me a few times but. . . . Not sure I'd just eat them out of the jar but I really do like a small amount on my salads.  That will be what these are mainly for.

[denali]

Good luck Michelle 

the only part of the beet that is edible is the tops, taste like spinach, the foul tasting orbs can then be roto-tilled in.      

[steen]

Here is mine if you want to try it:

1 Quart water
1 quart white vinegar
4 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp all spice

Place all ingredients in  pan, bring to boil, and simmer 10 min.  Pour in jars over sliced beets and seal.  If you don't know you need to cut your beet greens off but leave 1 inch on before boiling to slip the skins, but I'm assuming you know that.  They are a favorite in our house cold out of the jar.

[Michelle_Nelson]

Steen how long do you let your beets boil? 

[HoofsandWings]

When you cook the beets you just cut the leaves off 1" above the beet (so it won't bleed), leave the root on, and then put them in a pot of water and boil until they are tender?  How long do you figgure it takes?

This is the standard method in Russian cookbooks. Usually 40 minutes when starting with cold water.
The whole purpose of this method is to be able to remove the rind with your fingers under cold water.
In pickling the trick is to not make the recipe too strong, unless you are going to eat the beets in a short period of time.
In a strong solution, the beets that you eat last will possibly be too strong tasting.
I pickled some peaches and the ones I ate first were great, but the ones I tasted a couple of weeks later were way too strong.

[HoofsandWings]

If the beets are about an inch in diameter, 30 minutes

[Michelle_Nelson]

A 1" diameter beet is tiny.  Mine are between 2 and 2 1/2",  Than 3 - 4 1/2". . .

[lokidog]

Michelle, in the past, I have just boiled them until tender enough to stick a fork most of the way in.

For all you beet haters out there, try roasted beets, you will sing a different tune.  There are also other varieties that are more mild than the standard red beet, chiogga beets for instance and goldens are more mild as well.

Off the pickle topic but here is the recipe for roasted beets.  Peel beets if the skins have dried out with a potato peeler.  Dice into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes, place into plastic bag, drizzle olive or canola oil over them, sprinkle in garlic  powder, and onion powder, and some pepper if desired.  Mix well.  Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for one hour or to desired crispiness.  The sugars in the beets start to carmelize and the crunch is great.  Be careful not to burn them as blackened beets are nasty.  You can also throw in potatoes, onions, zucchini or crookneck squash.  Potatoes can go in the same time as the beets but the summer squashes should be added with about 20 minutes left so as not to overcook.

Cut up about twice as many as you think will be eaten as they shrink a lot during the cooking process.

[NRA4LIFE]

My recipe is almost identical to Steen's except I substitute a Tbsp of pickling spice for the cinnamon, cloves and allspice.  I also remove the cloves (yuk) from the pickling spice.