#580 - Red Beets

(by Aunt Mae [Herman] Cook)

fresh red beets (as many as you want to use)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 heaping cup white sugar
2 cups of the cooked beet water (explained below)
1 TBSP salt

Wash red beets, then twist the top and bottom roots off using your hands. Scrub each red beet with a vegetable brush so they are really clean. Place cleaned beets in a large cooking pot and cover completely with water. Turn stove heat on high--when it comes to a boil turn heat back to medium (if you use a lid, make sure it's tilted so juice doesn't cook out). After you turn heat back to medium, cook the beats for 1 hour--to test for doneness use a meat fork. They should be tender like a cooked potato when they're ready. Turn heat off, use tongs to take each beet out of the pot and transfer all of them into another large granite or stainless steel pot (NOT the juice--do not use a teflon pot). Let beets cool, then remove the top layer of skin from each beet (they come off very easily). Slice each beet into coin shaped pieces (or you can halve and quarter them). Return sliced beets to the pot you used to cool them. In a large bowl, add 2 cups of the red beet water that's still on the stove, white sugar, salt, and vinegar--stir. Pour this juice mixture over the red beets. You will remake this same juice mixture over and over until all of the beets are completely covered. Let the beets stand in the juice overnight with a lid. Let the extra beet water sit also in case you need to make more beet juice when canning. The next day put the pot containing the beets/juice on the stove and turn heat on medium until it gets very hot (but not boiling). Put center part of canning lids in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil, then turn heat for the lids down to low. Wash pint or quart sized canning jars, then place them in the oven and set oven to 200 degrees. When jars are hot and beets are hot, fill each jar (using tongs to hold the jars) with red beets and juice. Use a table knife and poke it all the way to the bottom of the jar when you think it's full with beets and juice--this will get rid of the air bubbles. Use a damp dishcloth to wipe the top edge of the jar--use a fork to pull out one canning lid and place it on top of the jar. Put the metal ring on top and make it as tight as you can. Sit the filled jars on a heatproof surface. Let them sit until they seal (you will hear them pop and the center of the lid will pop--takes about an hour until you start hearing the pops). Let them cool to room temperature. You can store the ones you're going to eat right away in the refrigerator. Store the rest in cupboards--they will last up to 2 years. If you get a jar that doesn't pop, use that one first because it won't keep.