<p>My daughter and I planted beets this year for the first time and she wants to pickle some of the crop. We have way too many beets and she wants us to pickle some of them. So I’ve read online recipes and they seem to fall into two camps: refrigerator recipes and canning recipes.</p>
<p>I’m lazy, I want to do the refrigerator ones. But I worry they won’t keep very long. I’d like them to last a few months at least. </p>
<p>Any advice, opinions, and recipes would be appreciated.</p>
<p>oh, my mom makes the BEST sweet pickled beets but it is kind of a big deal, with the boiling water and sealing jars… I have never even ATTEMPED to can anything…</p>
<p>sorry, MidwestMom, but unless we’re long lost separated sisters, it’s MY MOM who makes the best pickled beets. I’ve never had the referigerator kind…grew up on the canned ones.</p>
<p>Here’s her recipe…(which is from a cookbook circa 1946)</p>
<p>4 quarts small beets
3 cups vinegar
2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons allspice
3-inch stick whole cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt</p>
<p>Directions:</p>
<p>Cook the beets until just tender. Slip off skins. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, spices and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes. Add the beats and simmer 5 minutes longer.</p>
<p>Pack the beets into hot sterilized jars. Bring the syrup to a boil, then pour over beets. If not enough to cover, add hot vinegar. Seal immediately. Makes about 4 quarts.</p>
<p>(It’s that “seal immediately” part that was always the magical part to me, but I’m assuming the Bell jar lids and rings would have the directions.)</p>
<p>I love eating this stuff, but had my fill of pulling the beets, washing beets, washing jars, etc. during my childhood!!! </p>
<p>i love CC…where else can you get advioe on how your kid can get into elite schools, how to improve SAT scores, what kind of washer/dryer to buy, and how to pickle beets all in one spot!!!</p>
<p>More advice than you could ever want about canning:
[National</a> Center for Home Food Preservation | USDA Publications](<a href=“http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html]National”>http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html)</p>
<p>Your tax dollars at work ;-)</p>
<p>After reading about food safety and the complexity of hot canning… I think I’ll try the refrigerator pickles for a bit. Maybe I can find a used canner on craigslist. I bet there are people out there who try it once and then give up. (Who knows? That might be me!)</p>
<p>see if your area has a free cycle - during our renovations I gave away tons of stuff and materials - but asked for and received a breadmachine.</p>
<p>The sealing is kind of magical.</p>
<p>I used to can stuff - it’s really not that hard. I just used anything that didn’t seal properly first or reheated it and tried again with a new lid. I am wondering if you could freeze some of those beets - so that you used the canned recipe but would stick them in the freezer? Personally I loathe beets - the only ones I’ve enjoyed eating have been cut thin and fried like potato chips.</p>
<p>I always thought I hated beets. I had never tasted them. I tried them about a year ago and now I love beets. I don’t grow that many so I have not had to think about canning them.</p>
<p>This recipe you can freeze–though perhaps more of a candied beet than a pickled beet. </p>
<p>[Beet</a> Eingemacht - Grandparents.com](<a href=“Home - Hella+”>Home - Hella+)</p>
<p>Use a crab pot to process your pickles and acid fruits. A pressure canner pot is not necessary since boiling water temperature is all that is needed to process pickled beets. </p>
<p>USDA home canners guides was developed in the 30’s in the last big recession. Yes, our tax dollars at work, that keeps on benefiting Americans. </p>
<p>DMD77 find a local cherry grower who is done picking cherries. Cherries are exceptional this year. Hopefully the rain this past Sunday did not damage what remains of the cherry crop.</p>
<p>Geez dmd, that first line of instructions for the beets mentioned 21 pounds of beets! Now I love beets just as much as the next guy but come on now!!</p>