Grow Your Own Magazine

How long to cook beetroots - how can you tell if they are soft or not if you cant prod a fork in them, also is it a bit too early to harvest them yet. I cooked two of mine today and although they taste delicious they are very small.

kwa50
CraftChallenge.co.uk - Home

I roasted the first one with my first lot of spuds, about 30-40 minutes. It was lovely! And there was no purple anyway either - a miracle...
I'm not much of a beetroot expert though, I don't like the purple that gets everywhere. Might try a white variety next year though

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Well, I'm no expert, but I've just harvested the first three of my first ever beetroots! They were about the same size as a golf ball - maybe a little bit smaller. I wrapped mine in silver foil with just a tiny bit of olive oil and a few cumin seeds and put them in the oven (at about 200ºC) for about 45mins. In retrospect, I think I might have over done them a little bit.

To see if they were cooked, I opened the silver foil and poked a knife through the top of the beetroot (where the leaves joined). Once the beetroots felt soft when I put the knife in, I figured they were done. I think I was checking a bit too infrequently so, like I said, I over did them a bit - they were still very tasty though!

Then again, I'm *fairly* sure you can eat beetroot raw if you really want to so I guess you can't under-cook them. So as long as you don't incinerate them, and you enjoy the results then I'd say they're properly cooked!

Good luck!

Rob

grated raw beetoot is delicious in a salad, can't wait until mine grow a bit more (currently the size of a small pea)

a quicker cleaner way to cook beetroot for a salad or sandwiches,is not to boil them,as it splatters all over the place,but to put them on the bottom of a lidded dish with boiling water 1/2 way up the beets,and cook in the microwave,timing,golf ball size aprox 10 mins,for 3beets,a lot quicker,and no mess,and more flavour as is not boiled to death.

everyone, really have learned a lot.

kwa50
CraftChallenge.co.uk - Home

I like my beet quite crunchy, not soft. And I wouldn't waste 45 mins of lecky on them !!

I eat them grated raw, or boiled for about 10 mins (slicing or chopping reduces the cooking time). I am not liking the purple staining either, so I might get a Golden one for next year. My stripy beets (Chioggia) won't be ready for a while. http://z.about.com/d/gardening/1/7/v...t_chioggia.jpg

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Me neither, after my first attempt! The golden beetroot sound interesting.

Rob

The best way is to roast them!!!

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or steam them, then all the goodness stays in, then pickle them

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Just eaten 2 more roasted (done them in with the spuds and carrots, 20 minutes the lot). Mmmm, allotment dinner - had dwarf beans, sugarsnap peas and shelled peas with all those home grown roasties too.

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Warning: I have a dangerous tendency to act like I know what I'm talking about.