How long should beets be boiled and how do you know when they are ready?

Boiled beets are recommended by doctors to include in the diet of everyone. The root vegetable strengthens the vascular wall, participates in hematopoiesis, increases the body's defenses, accelerates metabolism. To get the maximum benefit from the product, you need to learn how to cook the vegetable properly.

How to boil the beets until they are ready

For the first dishes, the root vegetable, chopped on a grater, stewed with oil in a pan. For salads, the vegetable is baked in the oven or cooked in a pot, microwave oven, multicooker, steamer whole. If you need boiled beets quickly, the tubers are cut into pieces in bars or cubes.

The time it takes to cook non-bulky beets:

• Multicooker - 30-35 minutes.
• Steamer (whole) - 60 min.
• Steam cooker (in pieces) - 15 min.
• Pot - 40-50 min.
• Oven - 40 min.
• Microwave - 8-12 min.

A low-power microwave oven (less than 1 thousand watts) takes twice as long to cook a vegetable.

On the stove top in a pot

Select equal-sized tubers of table varieties with red-burgundy skin, on which there are no visible mechanical, rotten damages. The best taste in a medium-sized root vegetable with a thin skin, dense flesh without voids.

Preparation algorithm:

• Beets are soaked in water for a short time, cleaned with a brush from the dirt, remove the tops;
• Place the vegetable in a pot, pour cold water;
• simmer over low heat for 40 minutes without salt;
• Check readiness with a knife;
• If the tip enters with difficulty, cook for another 10-15 minutes;
• Remove hot water, pour cold water.

When boiling, add more liquid.

If you need to boil beets quickly:

1. The washed vegetable is placed in a deep container, add water so that its surface rises above the root vegetable by 5-8 cm.
2. Add 100 ml of vegetable oil.
3. Turn on the burner to maximum heat, cook with the lid open Cook on the stove on maximum heat for 30 minutes..
4. Add ice water to the cooked tubers, drain the liquid after heating, pour again.

This method professionals advise to use in extreme cases. High temperatures and their sharp fluctuations quickly destroy vitamin C, reducing the usefulness of the product.

In the microwave

The microwave oven cooks beets in several ways and much faster than a pot on the stove. The latter fact is explained by the fact that the ultrahigh frequency waves do not work from the outside, but from the inside, affecting the water molecules that release heat energy.

In a short period of time (10-12 minutes), the vitamins are destroyed to a lesser extent than in a long boil. The vegetable retains its flavor, dense texture.

Options for cooking the root vegetable:

In water.
Cut the peeled beets into pieces. Shredded root vegetable is transferred to a glass or plastic dish for the microwave, pour 100 ml of water.

Turn the device on maximum power. After 10 minutes Check if it is ready with a toothpick. Drain the water so that the product does not become watery.

Under the lid of the microwave.
The lid used when reheating food is used to cover the container with the beets cut into a vinaigrette or other dish. The small pieces are cooked for only 5 minutes at full oven power. The main advantage of this option is that the vegetable is ready to be added to a salad, beet soup.

Under the food film
Peeled from the skin of the root vegetable is chopped, put in a dish, cover with foil. Cook for 10-12 minutes.. If you want whole tubers, they are washed, cut off the tail, pierced with a knife point in equidistant places. Cook the same way as slices.

In a bag
Beets in a bag are cooked in the same way as under the food film. The vegetable is washed in running water, dried with a paper towel. Next, make in a cellophane bag, a few small holes for air escape. After 10-12 minutes. After setting the regulator to maximum power and pressing the start button, the root vegetable is checked for softness.

Important! Take out carefully - there is a risk of getting burnt by steam.

In a pressure cooker

Time for cooking small beets under pressure in a pressure cooker multicooker depends on the model of the kitchen appliance, on average - 30-35 minutes.

Method of preparation:

1. The peeled root vegetable is placed on a metal stand (can be purchased separately).
2. Pour 160-200 ml of boiling water into a bowl.
3. Close the lid tightly, pressure valve.
4. Select the cooking mode, set the time.
5. After turning off the timer open the lid, release steam.

Similarly bring beets to softness in pressure cooker of old pattern. Tubers are lowered into a bowl, pour water, close the lid, the valve. After half an hour, the root vegetable is checked for readiness.

How much to cook beets for vinaigrette

To prepare a popular and useful salad, for a two hundred grams vegetable will need 40-50 minutes of cooking, a tuber weighing 0.5 kg - 2 hours, and a tuber cut into pieces will become soft in 20 minutes.

To ensure that the carrots and potatoes are not stained, the beets are boiled separately. To maintain the bright color, add 10 ml of lemon juice, 0.5 tsp. 70% vinegar essence or 5 grams of sugar to 1 liter of water. If a cellophane bag option is used, the vegetables are cooked in one pot, removing as they cook.

In a steamer, all the ingredients that need to be cooked at the same time, if they are properly distributed on different levels. Place chunks of beets on the bottom, whole carrots on the middle tier, and chopped potatoes on the top tier.

How to find out if the beets are ready

Verify the readiness of the root vegetable, using a knife or fork. One of the cutlery poke in the place of growth of the tops. If it takes effort to penetrate deep into the pulp, the beets are sent to the pot, boiled until soft, as the fork should enter the ready tuber with ease.

Another option for determining readiness is the light separation of the peel.

How to cook beets in a bag

This method is preferred by housewives to others because of the absence of a specific smell, watery product. The pot stays clean after cooking, the vegetable is bright and juicy.

Guidelines for cooking beets in a cellophane bag:

1. Choose a small burgundy-colored root vegetable.
2. Wash, trim off the tops.
3. Place the vegetable in a sturdy bag or two thin ones, sprinkle in 5 grams of granulated sugar for a brighter flavor.
4. Remove the air, tie a knot at the edges.
5. Lower the bag with the contents into the pot.
6. Pour in water, completely covering the tuber.
7. Turn on the stove to maximum heat, after boiling, reduce the heat, Cook for 40-50 minutes..
8. Immerse the cooked root vegetable in a container of cold water.

Regardless of the method of cooking beets better preserve the texture, color, if the tubers are not peeled from the skin and do not cut the tail. Violation of integrity entails leakage of juice, change in color to whitish, watery flesh.