The Keys to Farmgal Pickled Beets is Roasting your beets (never boil them) and the brine..

Sweet Pickling Brine per 4 pints, double or triple or more at will..

• 2 cups of Pickling Vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tablespoons Pickling spices ( simmer in your brine for 5 in a spice bag, then remove)
• This will make enough bring to cover around 4 pounds of prepared beets

In a non-reactive pot, add the above together, bring to a boil, bring down to a simmer or turn off and allow the spices to age in the brine, if you let it sit and i have been known to do so for upwards of 20 minutes, bring it back up to a boil after the spice bag is removed so you are filling your hot jars with hot brine before going into your water bath canner.

Now almost all recipes are going to tell you to boil your beets, even worse recipes will tell you to peel and slice your beets and then boil them.. Please don’t do this! Choose fresh beets, remove the greens, leaving the top and tail intact, place them in a 375 oven in a large roaster pan with around 2 to 3 inches of water and cook them till fork tender, small to med approx. 45 minutes, large beets up to a hour or more, the fork should not break the beet up, but it should go in easily. if needed, add a touch more boiling water if there a few layers of bigger beets, do not allow the roaster to run out of water.

This allows the natural sweetness and depth of flavor in the beets to develop, once out of the oven, carefully remove them from the pan into a bowl of ice water or a freshly washed sink with cold water, the skins will slip off or you can take a small paring knife an peel/skin them, if you have chickens, ducks, pigs or even cows or horse, they will love the beet peelings

Then for me, i cut them in half, and then into as equal cubes or if you are using small round beets or if you are using slicer beets, which have been breed to grow perfectly to give you small/med round as you cut them for slicer pickled beets, the key is trying to get them as even as you can reasonable so that they will pickle evenly if you are wanting to use them quickly, its less a issue if you let them age properly before use. Best after two weeks or longer.

Follow all standard Water Bath processes, Hot jars to hot brine into hot water bath for the time needed for your personal sea level, for me at quart size, it is 30 minute’s once it comes to a boil, remove and place them and wait 24 hours before checking them for seal, remove the ring and wash the jars, label and place in a cool, dark place for storage. Ideally use within a year but will hold in properly conditions for 3 or more years.