BEETROOT::best pickling method..please

[afrench108]

i have tried the last 3 years to get a jar of pickled beetroot like granny used to make, cooked beetroot in large pan till soft and placed in sterile jars and covered with hot malt vinegar but by xmas, last year it was too soft and bitter??? the year before i used a spiced vinegar by mistake and that gave everyone who dared touch it , a belly ache..i have just harvested the huge 10 bulbs i dared to grow and will have some cooked for tea but need to pickle some..any help would be greatly recieved..

[Gwyndy]

I always use Sarsons ready spiced Pickling Vinegar. Cook the beetroot until still slightly firm - not too soft. Put in to sterile jars and cover with vinegar. Job done! The vinegar is quite strong but matures nicely. I am just using last jar from 2007 and it's lovely.

[rustylady]

I think you're probably overcooking the beetroot. It just needs to be tender not mushy. I use Sarsons pickling vinegar - spices already in it.

[afrench108]

thanks, think i made the mistake of cooking a couple of bulbs to eat at the same time i cook pickling bulbs, so will do both pans tomorrow with soft and hard...

[Hilary B]

Why use HOT vinegar? I'm not a beetroot eater, but I've done a lot of pickled onions, cabbage and walnuts, and I NEVER use hot vinegar.
Heating the vinegar wil continue the previous cooking (which may be part of your previous problem), and it also dilutes the effect (that is why there is such a strong smell of vinegar when you heat it, the acid boils off much more easily than the water).

[afrench108]

i followed a search engines recipe from bbc food, i used it warm into warm sterile jars, the same method i used for chillies and onions, i have done only 2 jars today and have the other freshly cooked so its not wasted if they turn wrong again..onions and chillies were beautiful so i have hope for the beetroot this time!!!

[Duk21]

I have pickled beetroot and i just used half malt vinegar and half water into cold sterilized jars but add a heaped teaspoon of sugar before sealing the jars - dunno why just my Dad always did.

duk

[Matt.]

Why use HOT vinegar?

I thought it was to create the vaccum effect which seals the lids.

I used teh sarsons pickling vinegar last year and it worked well.

[Hilary B]

I thought it was to create the vaccum effect which seals the lids.

I used teh sarsons pickling vinegar last year and it worked well.

It's the acid in the vinegar which preserves things, not the sealing of the lid. Heating vinegar drives off some of the acid.

[Capsid]

Heating vinegar drives off some of the acid.

No, the acetic acid and vinegar boil away together as they form an azeotrope which can not be changed by simple boiling.

[jackie j]

I just cook my beetroot till softish, peel, bottle, pour on cold pickling vinegar I'm sure thats what my mum did and she was a cook.

[HeyWayne]

No, the acetic acid and vinegar boil away together as they form an azeotrope which can not be changed by simple boiling.

See, now all you've done is pickled my brain!

[Capsid]

See, now all you've done is pickled my brain!

I had to look it up

[Hilary B]

No, the acetic acid and vinegar boil away together as they form an azeotrope which can not be changed by simple boiling.

Acetic acid is the active principle in vinegar, it is more volatile than the other main ingredient, which is WATER. Acetic acid is what you get when alcohol gets oxidised. Malt Vinegar should (strictly speaking) be called alegar, vinegar is (properly speaking) made from wine.
Azeotropes CAN form but they form at a specific ratio (alcohol/water mixtures form an azeotrope at 96% alcohol, but at any other concentration the distillation process will tend to separate out the component which is 'too high'). I am very sure that the azeotrope of water with acetic acid has a much higher acid content than commercial vinegar (I would expect it to be in a similar range to the water/alcohol one), therefore if you boil the vinegar, the azeotrope boils away leaving a residue with a higher water content i.e., less acid. I will check the figures (sure they are out there somewhere) and get back on this one.

[Headfry]

I heat my sarsons malt vinegar, and some pickling spices and sugar to taste. let it cool.
then strain and add to cooked beetroot, pickled onions (not cooked) red cabbage etc.
for the onions I add some chili's
The sugar seems to take away that raw malt vinegar taste!