Beet Pickles

Printed from: www.grandmotherskitchen.net

Ingredients

Makes: 6 Pints

5 lbs fresh beets (8 cups chopped) 2 cups water

Brine:

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups pickling vinegar

1 Tablespoon pickling spice

cheesecloth

kitchen twine

tongs

Directions

1. Sterilize the canning jars and lids. Learn: How to Sterilize Canning Jars

2. Wash the beets.

3. Place the whole beets into a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook until soft when speared with knife. Depending on the size of the beets it can take from 30-45 minutes for them to cook.

4. Pour the water out and dump the beets into the sink. Let them sit until cool enough to handle them.

5. Peel the skins off, they slide off very easily when cooked . Cut off both ends of the beets.

6. Slice or chop the beets to the desired shapes. You can do rounds or cubes.

7. Measure out 8 cups worth of cut beets.

8. Cut the cheesecloth into about an 8 inch square. Put the tablespoon of pickling spices at the center of the cheesecloth, pull up the sides and tie together at the top with your twine to form a spice ball.

9. You can also cut a tie strip from the cheesecloth if you do not have white butcher twine.

10. Dump the 8 cups of prepared chopped beets into a deep pot. Add the brine makings. If you have multiple batches of beets do the recipe one batch at a time.

11. Bring the beets and brine to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.

12. Have ready a ladle and scoop the prepared hot beets into the sterilized canning jars. Be sure the jars are not cold.

13. You can warm the jars up by putting hot water in the bottom of the sink and placing the empty jars upright in the water.

Tip: If you put a bowl under the canning jar that you are scooping the beets into, it will catch the drips that happen. Wipe the top of the jar with a paper towel to ensure there is no juice on the rim.

14. Put the seal and lid onto the jar and screw to tighten.

15. Leave to cool. You will hear a popping sound and the lid will indent when the jar has sealed.

16. If for some reason it does not seal, refrigerate that jar until using rather than storing in a cupboard.

ENJOY!

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