Ken's Pickled Beets

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 6 lbs beets
• 2 medium onions, sliced thin
• 2 1/2 cups cider vinegar or 2 1/2 cups wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups beet juice (reserved from cooking)
• 1 cup sugar (brown sugar can be used)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• clove
• peppercorn
• garlic clove
• fresh dill weed

Recipe

• 1 scrub beets, trim root and stems leaving about 1/2 inch. in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the beets until fork tender (about 25 - 45 minutes depending on the size of the beets). drain and reserve 2 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. when beets are cool enough to handle slip off the skins, snip off any root or stems, then slice the beets in about 1/4 inch slices and set aside.
• 2 in a large pot stir together sugar, vinegar, reserved beet juice, salt, dry mustard, bay leaves and dried chili flakes. heat to boiling sirring often until sugar is dissolved.
• 3 in the bottom of each (9 to 10) sterilized pint sized canning jars place 1 clove, 4 or 5 peppercorns, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and a small head of fresh dill weed (or a pinch of dried dill).
• 4 pack beets and raw onion slices alternately into jars to within 3/4 inch of the top. pour in boiling pickling liquid into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. seal with lids and process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.