Just beets in plain vinegar? For shame. :)

A common recipe calls for mixed pickling spices and they contain most all the things you list so you might want to try that.

We use sugar, whole cloves, a couple of whole black peppercorns, a bit of salt, whole cinnamon sticks, whole allspice plus some dried onions in ours, just use to taste. And you have the option of using either a spice bag or leaving them free in the brine. A bayleaf is also optional but remove it before canning.

Oh, and cider vinegar, not white.

Dave

NCHFP Pickled Beets

Spice House Pickled Beets

I have two different recipes I really like, one fairly standard with cloves, cinnamon, allspice and blade mace (all whole) and with a mixture of brown and white sugar.

The other is more "exotic" with cloves, cinnamon stick, fresh ginger, red wine and red wine vinegar, and sugar.

Both are slight variations of recipes in "Joy of Pickling." I also have tried and like Ellie Topp's in "Small-Batch Preserving."

Why don't you ask her for her recipe? Most people are flattered and enjoy sharing. There are a few grumps who won't, but fortunately they're in the minority, LOL.

Carol

Thanks to all for the responses and recipes. I have several to try now.

Carol, what is "blade mace"? I know what the spice mace is -- the aril that surrounds the nutmeg -- it's expensive, with a mild nutmeg flavor. Would I be correct in assuming "blade mace" would be a whole or partially whole dried mace aril, as opposed to the traditional ground mace powder generally found in the spice aisle?

PS -- Aunt Nellie is a brand name owned by a corporation, not a person. They probably wouldn't share their recipe.

Shows what I know. I've never seen Aunt Nellie's anything here. But if you see some on the store shelf, check the ingredient list. Maybe you'll get some helpful hints.

Yes, blade mace is another term for the "webbing" that surrounds the nutmeg. It's a slight difference in flavor, but I like it.

Carol

There is a recipe for picked beets in the Blue Ball & Kerr canning book, Also one in Betty Crockers Cookbook for making pickled beets from canned beets. It follows:
2 cans canned beets 16 oz. each sliced beets drained keep liquid. 2Cups sugar 1 Cup Vinegar ( I used applecider vinegar ) 2 sticks cinnamon ( I used 2 teaspoons of pickling spices or 1 teaspoon each of powdered cinnamon, cloves,& allspice) really make your portions to your taste. Add enough water to beet juice to measure 2 Cups. Heat liquid mixture, sugar, vinegar & spice mixture to boiling, pour over beets. Cover & refrigerate at least 12 Hrs. Hope this helps

I recently had a selection of "pickles" as an appetizer at a local high end restaurant. One of them was a Beet pickle. I love Beets in any form except pickled, but I tried them anyway. They were amazing. We tasted over and oever trying to decide what the elusive flavor was. Turns out these were house-pickled and the chef revealed the secret ingredient was vanilla. I will be tinkering with my own beets next season to see if I can recreate that taste.

Steve

Here is a previous thread with some additional recipes in it.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickled beets recipes

Thanks for this “thread”! I don’t cook but I “eat” and I love Aunt Nellie’s Pickled Beets. I got around to wondering why I liked this brand so well and “browsed” them.

According to Breaking News book by Alan Rusbridger (history of his editorship of The Guardian) you folks are the new journalistic authorities. Congratulations! Thanks for the info!

I tried pickling spice and didn't like the taste . I think the cloves over power the beats .

I tried balsomic vinegar , honey and salt . That was very good but not really a pickled beat . Blue chease or feta would be good with that .

I am thinking just vinegar and salt .

I use Grandma's old recipe and even won a blue ribbon at the County Fair with them a couple of years ago. However, my Mother still prefers Aunt Nellie's.

Grandma's recipe is very much like the one from the Ball Blue Book, the one with the sugar and spices. It doesn't have pickling spice, but does have whole cloves, cinnamon sticks and allspice.

Annie

My batch was a disapointment . I put one clove in each 8 oz jar. and it tasted too much like cloves. I also over cooked the beets and they ended up soft.

Ill try again next season . or may BUY raw beets at Kroger.

well, or just buy a jar of Nelly’s

So just wondering. Did any recreate the aunt nellies version successfully or just keep saying their own recipes

Do any of you people read labels? Apparantly not or just don't care about high fructose corn syrup. If you don't know how bad it is , look it up. Its been banned in other countries.

Well, Susan Warren, I don't see anyone here in this very old thread (started 12 years ago) using corn syrup.

Tell us about your own harvest and preservation of beets, pickled in particular.

love pickled beets but haven't put any up in years. Alas, no one else in my family likes the earthy taste ... perhaps I married wrong? [he says, after 43 years of 'it's a wonderful wife']

bragu, I think beets are one of those things that you like or you don't. I love beets but don't like pickles so much. Other family members like pickles and not beets, LOL. Some like both and every year I can pickled beets, either red or golden, depending on what's available when I have time to do them. I use Grandma's old recipe for some family members and the one with pickling spice for others. I did win a Grand Champion ribbon at the fair a couple of years before COVID with the pickled golden beets, but they are much milder than the red ones and the pickling process seems to take away most of the earthy flavor.

Annie