Beets. Love them or don’t love them. They are one of my favourite things to eat. I especially like them pickled. I decided that this was the year I would try pickling some beets and have them handy for the upcoming winter.  I found this reciped on the Canadian Tire site. They have a section dedicated to canning.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

10 cups beets
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp pickling spice
1 cup water

Can preparation process

Place six clean 500 ml mason jars on the rack in a boiling water canner. Cover the jars with water and heat to a simmer. Heat sealing discs in hot, not boiling, water. Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.

Ingredients preparation process

Scrub beets, leaving root and 5 cm of stem intact to prevent bleeding. Place beets in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20 to 40 minutes until beets are tender. Next, tie pickling spice in a square of cheesecloth, creating a spice bag. Combine with vinegar, water and sugar in a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and boil gently for 15 minutes. Discard spice bag. Drain beets and rinse with cold water to cool. Slip off the skins removing taproot and stems.

Packing process

Pack beets into a hot jar, leaving 2 cm of headspace at the top. Add hot pickling liquid to cover beets to within 1 cm of top of jar. Using a spatula, remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if required, by adding more beets and hot brine. Wipe the jar rim clean to remove any food residue. Place lids and bands on jars and screw tight until resistance is met. Do not over tighten. Return the filled jar to the rack in canner and repeat for remaining jars.

Boiling process

Cover the jars with water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. Boil filled jars for 30 minutes.

Cooling process

Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them on a protected work surface. Cool undisturbed for 24 hours. Do not retighten screw bands.

Storage process

After cooling check jar seals by pressing the top of each seal. If they do not bounce back it means the seals have taken. Remove screw bands and wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.

New to Canning?

If you are a first-timer, there are a few tools that can make canning so much easier. You’ll find them all in the Bernardin Starter Kit. It includes a 21-quart canner, jar lifter, lid lifter, funnel, bubble remover, decorative jar 4-pack, pectin and recipe booklet. All you need to add are the ingredients! Click here to see the kit on the Canadian Tire website. This product is available for their Pay and Pick up service.

Do you like pickled beets? Do you have a favourite recipe? Let us know!  Stay tuned for my upcoming blog post on beets.