So you got a little carried away gardening this summer, and it just so happens you now have more beets than you can eat fresh or juice. What to do, what to do? Well, I think I found the perfect solution for my good problem. I am talking about canning pickled beets, for long term storage.

You can use both a water bath or a pressure canner. However, since beets are low acidic foods the pressure canner should be used unless of course, you are pickling them first. Also this recipe uses Apple Cider Vinegar instead of white vinegar and huge amounts of sugar.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

• fresh beets
• cinnamon sticks
• whole cloves
• apple cider vinegar
• water
• honey (optional)
• canning jars
• large pot
• knife
• paring knife
• metal tea strainer
• cheesecloth
• canning funnel
• kitchen cloth
• canning jar lifter

You gotta first prepare the beets for pickling by washing them, removing most of the stem and leaving the root in place. Then you boil them in the large pot from 30 to 60 minutes, you want them a little tender not soft.

The next step is hit or miss, after rinsing in cold water, most of the skins should just fall off. However some will be stubborn and for those the paring knife is your best friend. The root tail and the stem, can now be removed as you cut each of your beets into chunks.

Ok now for the pickle juice, as I like to call it. You will need the apple cider vinegar and water in the pot. Your herbs go into the tea strainer or cheesecloth and are dumped into the pot. Heat the mixture until it starts to boil, then let it boil for up to 5 minutes. I love honey, so I add it too but this is optional. Add the beets and stir, before removing your bundle of herbs.

It is canning time. Pack your beets into the jars which should be hot and sterilized as always. Fill to about an inch below the jar lid, then pour in the pickle juice to cover the beets. Screw on the lids and place in your water bath canner. Processing time should be about 30 minutes, before you lift the jars out and place them on a kitchen towel to cool and seal. Piiing! You’re done! 🙂

You can follow step by step instructions on the Praire Homestead blog, here…

How To Can Pickled Beets

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