Pickled Beets
4 C cider vinegar
2 C water
2 C sugar (white or raw granulated)
1 ½ tsp salt (canning salt with no iodine)
2 cinnamon sticks – broken into ~ ½” pieces
12 whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
Prepare pickling solution. Mix all ingredients and heat to almost boiling.
Cook beets with 1” of stem attached.
When skin is loose, rinse in cold water then slip off skin and stem.
Slice or ~½” cube or whatever. If beets are small, you can leave whole.
Place into clean canning jars – I often use a few small sized jars but mostly pints.
Pour vinegar solution into jar, filling to ½” from top of jar. Put in at least one clove and a small piece of cinnamon in each jar.
Place new canning lid on each jar and hold in place with a screw top that is just tight – don’t make too tight, the lid has to ‘breathe’ a bit.
Partially fill canner/water bath pot with warm water at the tap (it gets heavy). Place on stove top.
Put jars into pot.
Cover jars with water so that there is at least 1” of water
over lids. I preheat water in my electric teapot and then pour it into the pot.
Bring to full boil then set timer for 20 minutes.
Turn off heat and remove jars with canning jar tongs. (I usually wait ~15 minutes to let the lids settle a bit)
Try to hold jars straight as you lift the jars from the hot water so vinegar solution doesn’t leak out.
Place hot jars on a wood surface or heavy cloth. If hot jars are placed on tile or granite that temperature difference can cause the glass to break..
Allow to cool completely – usually overnight.
If any lid has not sealed, put that jar in the fridge and
use soon. With pickles it should be good
for quite a while – like a month.
Remove screw tops and wash jars in warm soapy water being careful to get all the vinegar solution away from the sealed lids to minimize any sort of bacterial or fungal growth.
Here are the latest recommendations. They are slightly different from what I do – usually more conservative.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/vegetable-pickles/pickled-beets/
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/general-information-pickling/general-information-on-pickling/
