# A couple questions about canning pickled beets



## Honduras Trish (Nov 30, 2007)

My mom, and dh's mom both served pickled beets the same way - take beets and the juice/water from cooking them, and add vinegar to taste. That's all. No sugar of spices. They'd use those beets (with that liquid) to make pickled eggs and beets.

I'd like to can some beets, but all I find are recipes which add sugar and spices. I'm not sure of the safety issues related to changing canning recipes, so I'd love any advice on that. I don't want to can with sugar and spices, and risk having none of us like them, since that's not what we're used to.

Also, I'd like to end up with quart jars about 3/4 full of beets and then filled the rest of the way with the juice/vinegar solution, so that I have lots of liquid when I use the beets, since we almost always add hard boiled eggs to the beets before serving. Is there a problem with filling the jars only part way with beets like that, if the rest of the jar has the liquid?

Thanks!


----------



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Adding the spices is just for flavor - it's not necessary for the safety of the product.

Adding sugar is to offset the tartness of the vinegar. Very much a pucker product without it. Having said all that, it's important to have the right vinegar/water ratio. It's not important to fill the jars with the beets.

Here is the way I would do it. This is derived from the recipe in the Ball canning guide and makes 3 quarts. You can cut this recipe in half if you only want to make a small amount. Just keep the ratio of vinegar and water the same.

Mix 3 1/2 cups vinegar and 1 1/2 cups water (you can use the beet cooking water) in a pot and heat to boiling. Put as many cooked beets in the jar as you want. Fill with the vinegar/water mixture, seal and process 30 minutes in a water bath canner. (Adjust the time if you are in a high altitude area.)


----------



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Leave 1/4" headspace.


----------



## Honduras Trish (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks so much Sally - I'm off to grab my jars!


----------



## SueInMichigan (Sep 27, 2007)

I've made them spiced and un-spiced (prefer the former for just straight eating, the latter for adding to salads). Have a couple jars of eggs in the fridge, steeping in beet brine, should give them a taste one of these days.


----------

