Beetroot, Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the beetroot thoroughly to remove any dirt, keeping the skin intact.
Place the beetroot in boiling water.
Cook
Cook steadily for 1 to 3 hours, depending on size; about 2 hours for medium-sized beetroot.
Carefully remove the beetroot and let it cool slightly.
Peel and serve
Rub off the skin, cutting only where necessary.
If serving hot, plunge in cold water briefly before peeling; if for a salad, let it cool completely.
Slice or quarter larger beetroot for serving; small beetroot can be served whole.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Beetroot
- Is the vegetable being cooked, so its flesh becomes tender and its skin loosens for peeling.
The step that matters
Keeping the skin intact during cooking. Beetroot loses its colour and sweet earthy flavour into the water when the skin is broken or cut before cooking. Keeping the skin on and the root tail intact limits this bleeding, so the flesh stays deep red and moist.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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