Canning Beets

[Jeepers]

I found some baby beets today and decided to pickle them. I got them washed and drained and the bottom root cut off. I turned the garbage disposal on to get rid of the cooked root part and unbeknownst to me my dish washing rag had fallen down in there. The grinding came to an abrupt halt. Broke it! Now I have a mess. I have to dig the garbage out now. I don't wanna. At least it is still draining...s-l-o-w-l-y.

 

I went ahead and made the pickling stuff so I don't waste the beets. Ever have a nagging feeling something is wrong? Other than the obvious. As the beets were canning I thought I'd look up that recipe again. It called for 2 TAB. of salt. I stuck my finger in the pot and it wasn't sweet like it usually is. I got the Ball book out and it's supposed to be 2 tsp. I wrote it down wrong. They won't taste good and I have high blood pressure so that much salt is not good for me. I just turned the canner off half way through canning.

 

10 quarter pints are sitting in the canner waiting for me. The garbage disposal is broken so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. Probably put them in a plastic bag and go to my son's dumpster tomorrow.

 

I really don't want to go back downstairs and deal with them.

[Dee]

Oh man, I hate that kind of mess. It just makes you wonder why you bother doesn't it!!! My advice, just get it taken care of so you can quit stewing about it and get it put behind you.

 

(((((Jeepers)))))

[Andrea]

Throw everything in the fridge, then deal with them tomorrow! Rinse them well, make a new pickling solution, and start over in the am when you're feeling rested.

(I thought I was the only one who made this little "goofs" - you're definitely not alone!)

[lovinit]

I know all about it!!!! By the time I add more ingredients to my homemade taco seasoning (to catch up to the "toooooooo muchhhhhhhhh SALT" in the first try) I think I'll have a lifetime/quart size amount.

Andrea had a great idea to rinse the beets and try again.

[farm~maid]

Throw everything in the fridge, then deal with them tomorrow! Rinse them well, make a new pickling solution, and start over in the am when you're feeling rested.

(I thought I was the only one who made this little "goofs" - you're definitely not alone!)

 

 

I like this idea. I would give it a try.

I've made my share of canning mistakes myself and I've been canning for a long time.

[Jeepers]

I was so frustrated with myself I just dumped them in a collender and let them drain overnight then dumped them in a bag and pitched them. It was a good idea to remake the pickling stuff and recan them. But I thought after cooking them, partial canning and then another full canning they might be too soft. They have to process for 30 minutes. So, I decided to cut my losses while I could and start over. What hurt the most was losing the jar lids.

 

Son came over today and took the evidence away. We got some more beets and I got some more lids. I didn't really need more lids but...

 

Tomorrow/today I'm going to make a fresh start. This time I'm going to can in 1/2 pint jars. I could only get 3 and a half baby beets cut in half in each quarter pint jar.

 

You can bet I'll be checking my recipe twice this time. Totally my own fault.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

I hope things go better this time!!

[Amishway Homesteaders]

Good advice- even after all the years of canning we always pull out the recipe (and the blue book) and read it over again before canning.

Sorry to hear about your set back -

but let’s just call it....................... Lessons Learned and go on from there.

Remember it was only beets and a few lids NOT a major canning like doing a side of beef <-- now THAT would have been a big loss.

 

[Jeepers]

Yep AH. After I kicked myself in the posterior I tried to put it into perspective and realize it was only beets. If it would have been beeF...

 

I canned some more today and they turned out just fine. If I had redone the other ones I would have been obsessing thinking about them all winter.