Hello gran2.

It's been years since I made this recipe, which is why it took me so long to find it. In fact, now that I have, I may can a batch next summer. Safety is certainly not an issue as the proportion of vinegar to orange juice is even higher than the proportion of vinegar to water in the standard recipe. But yes, there's no reason why you can't thicken the sauce and serve as Harvard beets, which is what I used to do.

I had wondered myself if they could be thickened with ClearJel so it would just be heat 'n serve. Wouldn't that be handy? If you get an answer on that, please post.

Carrots should be fine. I hadn't thought of it, but their pH is actually more acid than beets, so no problem there. I'd be interested in how that turns out.

If you have other questions, just let me know. I'll be gone most of the day today, but I'll check in again tomorrow.

Carol

From Elizabeth Andress in a response to questions I sent her via email:
Thickening
It is only safe to use scientifically tested procedures for home canning; processes should not be made up for recipes and foods created at home if they follow the published tested procedures.
No food should be thickened for canning if you do not have an appropriate published process and procedure.
These ingredients change the way heat is distributed throughout the jar during the canning process by slowing it down, and that causes under-processed foods.
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It is considered the same as thickening soups, not considered safe to do. The beets are different than fruits in that they are low acid vegetables, not high acid fruits. Add your thickener after opening the jars.

Thanks for the answer Linda Lou. That's helpful. I've noticed that Elizabeth Andress is very speedy in her responses. She must be a busy lady.

Carol

Made some lemon sauce using Clear Jel which was canned. After a year or so, it started to seperate, with the thicker part settling to the bottom. Even though Clear Jel is more stable than regular corn starch, in this application it didn't do as good as I expected. I looked into it further and found out that if the ietm your thickening is very acidic, it tends to break down the Clear Jel. Some months ago, I went to the American Starch company and looked at several formulations of modifie food starch. I was surprized at the fact that there are quite a few varieties. Some of made specifically for high acid foods, while others are made to hold up to freeze thaw cycles. In these cases, I had requested some of these specialty strach products and found that they do work better than the more general purpose Clear Jel. Only problem is, these specialty starches are hard to find in small quantities, so my free samples were all I could get. Looking further into thickeners, I found Freezer Flow, rice gluten, and a few other thickeners which are supposed to be suitable for home canning.

Today, I made turkey pies from the left over turkey. I used Freezer Flow as the thickener for the gravy/sauce. I also added some partially cooked diced potatoes, cut carrots, frozen peas, limas, string beans, and corn. Made the pies in throw away aluminium Au Gratin pans, and lined the pans with pie dough, as well as a top crust after each was filled.

okay now I'm hungry for turkey pies. Thanks loads. I'm making a note about the beets and pickled carrots for next summer. Disappointed that the harvard beets wouldn't work in the jar. Perhaps we can put a bug in the ear of Ball Corp so they'll develop something? Thanks, Carol.

This isn't related to beets, thick, thin or otherwise, but Ken's post brings up a question I have about the assembling of chicken/turkey pies.

I froze the insides of a pie in bowls - about 3 of them, and packed them for future pie use in the freezer. When I want to prepare them, how can I add the top and bottom crusts so it won't be gummy on the bottom, or cause the filling to be overly done.

Also as long as I don't have the directions on cooking - (threw it out with the frozen pie wrappers I bought), what temps do I use for oven cooking after assembly.

Just another 2 c's -

Bejay

Suggest you thaw out the pie filling mixture before pouring it in to a raw crust. I use my fingers and 'smear' some margerine on the inside bottom and sides of the pie shells prior to filling. Then I add the top crust and seal. Then bag and freeze. If your baking a raw pie crust with the thawed filling, it can be baked at about 400 degrees (about 40 minutes) until its light brown on the crust. To help the bottom crust to cook some, place the pie pans on a good cookie sheet or an aluminium pan, so it will conduct the heat better on the bottom Also, cut a small vent hole in the top crust before baking.

I have never seen a 9 pound chicken before, and plan to roast one this weekend. Once its done and I have left over meat, this too will be mixed with a gravy, frozen veggies, and frozen for later use. When these pies are baked right from the freezer, I usually bake them at about 425 for an hour. I use a small toaster oven, with a piece of aluminium foil covering the pie so the top curst doesn't burn first. The foil is removed the last few minutes of baking time.

That is good to know - thanks for it.

What I did was make the filling and froze it in bowl sizes - about 3 of them, then removed from the bowl to freeze (too busy to make crusts). That is why I was a bit puzzled as to how to add the crusts and baking temperatures at a later date - without overcooking the filling.

Your post makes it clear. Next time, however, I will use frozen peas - canned are too mushy. My son likes Marie Callender pies (sooo expensive) - so if they taste almost as good, it will be a success.

There is still one turkey left in the freezer - holding for X-mas, and that is where I can "sharpen" my leftover turkey pie skills.

A bit slow in the preserving department - although have a half gallon bottle of Paisano wine fermenting away. Hope the finished vinegar is as good as the last time.

I will wait until late spring to do white wine - for use with wine vinegar dilly beans - when and if I have some to preserve then.

As always, Ken, your prompt posts and advice is greatly appreciated.

Bejay

That 9 pound chicken will be roasted today. Injected it with a poultry flavored brine. I place a few cloves of garlic in the cavity as well as a few springs of my fresh rosemary (still looks fine with 10 degree temps the last few days). Once I get my fill of the chicken, I strip off all the meat left over, mix it with some home made, and canned chicken gravy, partially cooked sliced carrots, frozen peas, limas, string beans and even cut corn. This time, no potatoes. I use the throw away oval foil Au Grautin pans which are easy to fill with a rolled crust. Spear that margerine onto the inside bottom crust, add the filling mix, top crust, seal, and pack each into 8 inch wide Food Saver bags (cut from a roll). This size is a very hardy pie. Ever tried the Pepperidge Farm microwave pies? Quite expensive, but the way the crust is made it becomes flaky and and brown like it was baked in a regular oven.