Preserving: Our Canadian Food Tradition

Directions

1. 1
   Wash the beets and remove most of the tops, leaving about ½ inch of beet top remaining.In a large boiling pot of water, cook the beets until barely tender.Remove from the stove.Submerge the beets in a large bowl of ice water, I find this helps the skins come off with more ease.Cut off the tops and the roots completely, then remove the skin.Peel and slice beets into preferred size, I like larger chunks and not slices.Combine the vinegar, sugar, water, salt and pickling spice in a nonreactive pot and bring mixture to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes.Add the beets to the pickling liquid and return to a boil.Remove the spice bag.Carefully ladle te beets and pickling liquid into hot sterilized pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.Remove any air bubbles with a non-metal utensil.Add additional pickling liquid, if needed, to keep the proper headspace.Wipe the jar rims thoroughly with a clean damp cloth, failure to do this can result in the jars not sealing properly!Seal the jars and process for 35 minutes in a boiling water bath.For altitudes higher than 3000 ft (914 m), add 5 minutes to processing time.