Newfoundland Pickled Beets
Sweet and tangy, these beets are sure to become a favourite! Bottled beets can be eaten as is, as a condiment with your cooked dinner or used to make beet salad, a staple of a Newfoundland cold plate.
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.