Pickled Beets

Sometimes the only way to get people to eat beets is to pickle them!

10 lbs beets

3 cups vinegar

2 cups brown sugar

20 whole cloves

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Keep the stem and root ends of the beets intact, do not peel yet! Wash, then sort by size and place in salted water, enough to cover. Cook in boiling water until tender. Small beets 15-20 minutes, medium 20-30 and large could take up to an hour.

Once cooked drain and drop into cold water for 1 minute. Use your (gloved) hands to rub the peels off. Some areas may be a little stubborn and you'll have to use a knife but generally the peels will slip right off.

Now slice the beets and pack into sterilized jars.

Combine the vinegar, brown sugar, cloves, salt and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil then pour over the beets to cover.

Before sealing ensure that there are no air bubbles in the jars. If you see one just slide a skewer down inside the jar to remove it. Now you can place the lids on. 

There is no need to process these pickles just make sure the next day that all are sealed. The original recipe came from Five Roses - A Guide to Good Cooking first published in 1913 and my famiy has been making these pickled beets for generations.