Fall is my favourite time of the year, especially because this is when the veggies are ready and are the tastiest. Beet are one of the hardiest root vegetables to grow and therefore, can be left safely in the ground until there is a significant frost or two. Last weekend, I pulled about 20 lbs so that I could make bottled beets. Bottled beets are great to eat right out of the jar, with your Sunday dinner or to be used in making my all-time favourite- beet salad.
If you don’t have beet growing yourself, they can be found for sale at farmers’ markets, local grocery stores and even on the side of the road. My uncle sells his beet from his driveway and charges $1/lb. Grocery stores sometimes sell them for a little less, farmers’ markets for a little more.
I used to make my bottled beets on the stove until I got an Instant Pot. Now, I can do it a little faster and easier, as there are a couple of steps to making them. First, you have to boil (or steam) the beet so that they are softish and the peel will come off easily. Then, you have to slice them about 1/4 inch thick. After that, you need to boil the beet juice with salt, vinegar and sugar while sterilizing jars. Once everything is ready, you fill the hot jars with beets, cover them with the liquid, screw the tops on and let them be. After that, you will have delicious bottled beets.
Newfoundland Pickled Beets
Ingredients
- 10 lb beet, washed, tops cut off to 1 inch
- 3 tsp salt
- 4.5 cups brown sugar
- 2.25 cups good quality white vinegar
- 2.25 cups beet juice (juice from the boiled beets)
Instructions
- Scrub beet and trim any stringy roots. Leave 1/2-1 inch of green on the beets. This prevents the juice for leaking out of the beets too much.
- Place 2 cups of water in bottom of Instant Pot, place trivet over water and put beet in pot. Secure lid and turn pot on high pressure for 20 minutes. Let sit for 10 more minutes after pot stops before releasing pressure. If you are boiling your beets on the stove, place beets in a large pot, cover with water and set the heat to high. Every 15-20 minutes, test the beets with a fork and top the water up. When the fork pierces the skin and the beets have softened, usually about 50-60 minutes in, remove from stove.
- While waiting for beet to cook and cool, set your bottles up on the stove. Fill a large pot 1/4 of the way with water and set your clean bottles upside down in it. Throw the lids and collars in with it. Let the bottles boil for 10 minutes or so, keeping them boiling until you are ready to bottle the beets.
- When beets cool, remove beet peel by twisting beet in hands. Peel will come off easily. Wearing rubber gloves will prevent your hands from turning red; however, the colour will wear off eventually if you don't have gloves. Set beet aside.
- Slice the beet into 1/4 inch slices and replace in bowl.
- Pour beet juice from Instant Pot into another bowl.
- Turning Instant Pot on the saute setting, replace 2.25 cups of beet juice into the pot and add 2,25 cups of white vinegar, the salt and the sugar. Let simmer.
- Once the liquid is simmering, add the sliced beet to the pot and stir for about 5 minutes or until beets heat up again.
- Once the bottles are sterilized and the beets are simmering for 10 minutes, you can begin the bottling process. Take one jar and using a slotted spoon, place enough beet into the jar to fill it up to 1 inch from the top. Then use the liquid and make sure that all beets are covered in the jar. Carefully place the lid on the jar and screw the collar on.
- Let beets sit on counter until a popping noise (sealing action) occurs. Even at that point, the bottles may be hot, so wait until the bottles cool before storing in a cupboard or pantry.