Canning 101: Pickled Beets

I've been watching the beets growing, slowly by my book, in the garden and have been waiting and waiting for them to be big enough to do something with. We've had a few beets here and there already, but there haven't been enough ready at the same time to do anything with. Until today.

I picked an overflowing dishpan full of dark red beets today....finally! My family enjoys them best simply canned and then cooked with a little bit of butter. While that's all well and good, I love pickled beets. I think Kevin will eat them, but the boys merely sniff at them. They like traditional dill pickles and will usually pass on any other kind.

So I drug out my trusty Ball Blue Canning Book and found a recipe for pickled beets. While I've canned beets before, I've never had enough extra beets to make any pickles until this year. Before I started, though, I called Mom. Mom is the queen of pickled beets. She makes them. I eat them. I never needed to make any for myself, so I figured it was about time I did. I am sure glad I called her and quizzed about the recipe before I did anything, though. Hers is not the same as what is in the Ball book. I'm sure their recipe is fine and dandy, but if I was going to go through the work, I wanted them to taste like Mom's. Come to find out, she's been using my Grandma Wilson's pickled beet recipe all these years! Double treat for me today!!

Here's my Mom's (and Grandma's) pickled beet recipe:

Pickled Beets

This recipe uses approximately 3 quarts fresh beets (about 24 small). Make sure you scrub the heck out of the beets (you'll see why later in the recipe). You must leave at least 2 inches of the tops on plus leave the root on. This will help to keep the color in the beet and not so much in your water.

Place beets in a large stockpot and cover with water. Cook until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork (mine took about half an hour). Drain beets and reserve the cooking water as you'll use a little of this in the brine.

Trim the tops and roots and peel the beets.

In another large stockpot, combine 2 cups of the beet cooking liquid, 2 cups white vinegar, 2 cups sugar, and 2 cinnamon sticks (optional). Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the beets to this brine mixture. You can leave the beets whole if they're small, but I usually cut them into quarters or bite-sized pieces. When everything is nice and hot, pack beets and brine into hot pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Remove any air bubbles. Adjust caps.

Process pints in boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

Yield:  Approximately 5-6 pints depending on the size and quantity of beets