My life is consumed with gardening this summer- the weather is so wonderful even though it is hot this week, the nights are nice and cool and my garden is doing quite well (so far) (I am fighting the Japanese Beetles and it's all out war)
Kay and I canned pickled beets Monday night and I wanted to share the process through photos and then the recipe with you.
I showed you photos of the beets when I picked them in the garden- HERE When we can fruits and vegetables, we set up the camp stove on the deck so we don't get the house or the garage any hotter in this horrible 100 degree heat.
the beets were put in the canning pot with water and set to boil/cook this cooks the beets and we put them in a sink full of ice water which allows us to peel them quickly by slipping the peelings off and then just cut each ent off. While the beets were cooking I put the pickling solution on the stove to boil and simmer. (sharing recipe at the end of the post)
Kay skinned the beets and I diced them into chunks and placed them in the jars ( I put the slice of lemon from the recipe in the bottom of the jar)
I ladeled the pickling syrup over the top of the beets in the jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. We put our lids in a pan of water and I set it to boil on high just to get them hot and set them on the jars and Kay put on the rings and tightened them down. we put them in the canner and took them outside to the camp stove to process.
Beets make quite a mess when you are prepping them in the kitchen!
I love using the camp stove to can because I can run 2 canners at once- FLAT TOP STOVES ARE NOT MEANT FOR CANNING! because the heat doesn't distribute evenly and you can crack the stovetop and it costs as much to replace the flat top as it does to replace an entire stove! The Sears Repairman told me that! So DON'T can on your flat top stoves!
When the timer went off I pulled the beets out with my jar handler and set them on my deck table to cool overnight
This is how they looked this morning- YES! They are a beautiful dark red. We will let them sit for a couple months to flavor and then enjoy pickled beets all winter!
Gwen's Pickled Beets
8 lbs beets
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
4 cups apple cider vinegar
2 whole cinnamon sticks ( I use the 1" and put about 8 in there)
6 whole allspice
8 whole cloves
1 lemon sliced thin
you can use thinly sliced onions in the jars too- but I dont because I want just the taste of the pickled beets
Cut tops off beets and wash. Cook until just tender about 20 minutes. Plunge into cold ice waster and slip off skins. (like you would peaches) Cut up the beets. Put lemon slice in the bottom of each pint jar add beets.
Put the spices in a cheesecloth bag. Combine sugar, vinegar, water in a pot on the stove add the bag of spices and cook to a boil. Turn down heat to simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove spice bag.
Fill the jars with the liquid solution to within 1/2 inch of the rim. Add your hot lids and rings and water bath for 30 minutes. (click on water bath to see a video). This recipe makes 4 pints so adjust it according to how many beets you have. Wait a couple months after canning to eat as that allows the flavors to really set in the beets- delish!
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