[Rowan]

We had a go at pickling some beetroot.

used white malt vinegar with a small amount of sugar and boiled beetroot.

After 3 days we tasted some and the beetroot was really nice, but it was very very vinegary... what is the lowest percentage vinegar you can use and still store long term?? or how do you reduce the acidity and make the whole thing more palatable.

for short term pickling (ie to eat now) what do people suggest

FYI vinegar was T***O 5% "distilled vinegar"

[Ozwytch]

Hi
You can actually buy  pickling vinegar which is better,,, yu just boil it and pour it over the cooked beets, or buy a pickling spice, it will give you the amounts of spice and vinegar to use together.......malt vinegar is better for beets xx
Barb

[Yorkie]

Have a quick look at this thread for some more ideas on picking (or even pickling!) beetroot and which vinegars / spices you might try.

[compostqueen]

I prefer cider vinegar, it's less well vinegary  

[Bear]

we've just done our first lot. I used cider vinegar - much better taste. boiled it with a load of spices and some sugar. amounts vary but there's plenty of recipes out there.

it's delicious!!

[compostqueen]

I fancy trying some made with raspberry vinegar

Has anyone else tried it?  

[jennyb]

i bought some cyder vinegar wih rapsberry from tescos and am going to use this,  i just came on here to look for ideas about spices etc.

[Ice]

I did some last year with pickling vinegar.  At first it tasted too vinegary, really took your breath away.  After a few months the tast mellowed and they were great.

[Trillium]

You actually need a bit more sugar to mellow out the vinegar taste in most 'sweet' pickles (vs sour pickles). Doesn't matter the type of vinegar.

[compostqueen]

yep, I use brown sugar if poss and a couple of bay leaves

[Tilly]

Have only just joined the site but had to tell you of an old family method of preserving beetroot.  We simply use malt vinegar and demarara sugar -8oz sugar to 1 pint vinegar.
Peel the cooked beetroot while it is still hot and slice (or whole baby beets) into hot jars, pour over the hot vinegar/sugar (which has been brought to boiling point to dissolve the sugar) and seal the jars while hot.
This is supposed to be kept for at least 1 month before using but has been used before then, I have also kept it for over two years before eating.  
The beetroot is deicious pickled by this method and I have 'converted' several people who were adamant they detested beetroot.
Good luck.