Pressure canned these beets last night. Boiled them for about 20 minutes with stems & roots still on. Cooled & removed the skins. Pressure canned for 30 minutes with fresh water & salt. Allowed the pressure to drop on its own to prevent siphoning, but still ended up with a lot of loss of color this morning, they’re just a pinkish gray.
Any idea what I’m doing wrong? If I roasted them in the oven instead of boiling would that keep the purple color? I think these are technically fine, but if I recanned them with new beets would that help to give them some color back?
by donnyt
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My pressure canned beets are sad looking like that too.
Only the ones pickled in vinegar are vivid purple. I haven’t looked into it much, but I’m sure it has to do with the pH.
You know like red cabbage is red in acid and becomes greenish in a basic solution (fun chemistry demo to do for a class).
It’s just due to the heat. Doesn’t change the flavor anything. Beet’s coloring breaks down in higher temperatures.
I have heard the color will come back after they’ve sat for a while though. I’m not 100% sure though because I have never canned them lol. I just remember playing with beets and other foods in one of my chemistry courses lol