So Confused, please help

Good morning everyone,

I pickled beetroot for the first time last year (October through to December), about 15 jars and the method I used was to boil the beets till tender, skin them, slice them and put them in sterilised jars with Sarsons Pickling Vinegar. Well the first few jars were lovely but the last 4 or 5 I have thrown away because the beets have gone a browny colour and they taste revolting.

Now I have done a search on the net to see where I went wrong and I am so confused, the messages I am getting are:-
1.   Don't use pickling vinegar (also known as paint stripper) this is only for strong veggies (onions etc) not delicate beetroot, use ordinary malt vinegar either with or without sugar.
2.   Make up my own vinegar from malt, sugar and balsamic.
3.   Use malt half and half with hot water.
4.   Use pickling vinegar (Sarsons), this person is still eating beets pickled in 2007

What am I doing wrong, I don't want to eat it 2 years old but 6 months would be good, I have a blinking garden full of the stuff as my Husband loves it pickled (I prefer unpickled) so I really need to get this right.

How can some people use Sarsons pickling vinegar and still be eating it after 2 years when mine was only pickled in November/December and had to be thrown away.

By the way it is kept on a cold shelf in a dark garage when pickled.

Please help or I will just have to freeze the lot and try pickling as and when necessary.

I'm off to work now but will be bakc later this afternoon.

Regards karen

Hi Val,

Thank you for your reply, it was Sarsons brown pickling vinegar i used although I did not boil it I used it cold. What is the difference between white and brown, even though the beetroot lost it's colour with brown surely it should have lasted longer.

Hi Val,
Thank you for clarifying the vinegars for me.

Yes I did sterilise the jars in a steam steriliser at work no less. The taste was due to the vinegar I think, it was awful extremely vinegary, if that makes sense.

I will try the white vinegar and probably make some of my own as well, I just need to make it last longer than 4 months or it's really not worth the bother.

Regards Kaz