Beet top tend to get tough and chewy when old. Best when younger but you can still do the old ones if you want.

Link below is How to Freeze Beets - yes slice or cube. Never roasted them but worth a try I guess - we prefer them canned and/or pickled.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: How to freeze beets

Thanks Dave.

I leave the skins on, drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven until tender. When they are cool enough to touch take the skins off. They are soooo good. They taste good on their own, on a bed of the greens, in a salad, etc.

We like them canned too, so maybe I'll try them both ways. I don't think I have ever eaten a frozen beet. Come to think of it I can't recall ever seeing them in the store that way. Or beet greens for that matter. I wonder why? Hmmm.

I don't can the greens, but instead use them in borscht, a cold beet soup. It may be easier to simply freeze them. The stems are fairly tender too in most cases. I use the stems and leaves even if they have a few bug holes in them. They do get washed well first however. If the beets are overgrown and going to seed, then greens can be tough. I do can pickled beets as slices for bigger that 2 inches, and while under about 1.5 inches. They are pickled in a sweet pickle brine.

Thanks Ken, they aren't going to seed yet, so maybe they will still be ok.

never-give-up, since you have experience with home-grown beets, can I ask you a question? I have roasted store-bought beets at 425°F for about an hour with no oil, just wrapped in foil packets. That method has worked well on multiple occasions.

This summer I got home-grown beets from my farm share, and every time, that method made the beets all burned and smoky before they ever got tender. It was so weird...more sugar in them maybe?

Can you give me specific directions on how you roast the beets from your garden? Thanks.

Melissa

Here is a link that might be useful: marthastewart.com directions for roasting beets

Beets moisture content can differ greatly as can sugars and density in many differnet types. If yuou have smaller beets, a lower baking temp/time might be needed. When I do pickled, they get the tops cut off about an inch away, and I leave most of the root tips. I boil mine partially. They are then cooled once fork tender/firm. I peel off the skins and cut root and tops off close to the beet. The reason I leave on the partial tops is when they are cooking, if the tops were completely cut off the beets, they would 'bleed' badly and the rich color wouldn't be the same.

I imagine that beet greens follow the same pattern as other greens. They're best picked first thing in the morning, and they're milder with mild, cool weather. Hot weather makes them bitter --yes, even the same greens.

Melissa, I have never done them in foil packets. I cut the greens off leaving a half inch or so. Scrub them and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Leave the peeling on. Put them on a pan, uncovered in the toaster oven @ 400 to 425. Roast them until tender. Let them cool enough to handle and pull the peelings off. I like to cook the greens separately then slice the beets and place them on top of the greens. Delicious!

I have never had the experience that you had. The peelings do get dark, but don't burn. I wonder if it is because I oil them and you leave them dry, maybe it's the foil??? Or maybe what Ken said, the difference in sugar or variety.

I use the same open pan/olive oil method for, asparagus, beans, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. They all end up a little browned, but it is just the sugars carmelizing. (spelling?) They all sweeten and are delicious.

Thanks never-give-up. I'll try them with oil and no foil next time. Or maybe it's the sugar content of the farm share's beets. It was really sad, because the burned flavor went all the way through, so I had to throw them out. My dog was disappointed too because he loves beets, and I had this nice VA goat cheese to go with them.

Melissa

I suggst that if you bake them again, that you take out the biggest one after some of the cooking time and poke fork into it. It should be as tender as a cooked potato. If not another 10 minutes cooking. If the oven is higher than about 400, it would burn a bit before reaching the core.

I roast my beets also. I do pour a cup of water into the bottom of the pan and cover with foil, otherwise my convection oven dries them out too badly.

When I take them from the oven, I dump them into some ice water, wait and few minutes, and slip the skins right off. Half are for eating right away and the other half get sliced or diced and go into the freezer for later.

Awesome, thanks dogear6. I have never tried to freeze roasted beets before and wasn't sure how they would turn out. It would be nice to get the mess over in one wack.

Thanks again!

I freeze beets every year. I can't tell you how they come out, because *I* don't eat them. LOL! : )
However, hubby does and *loves* them.
I freeze them in the right sized clumps to fit in his lunch containers. once frozen, I put the beet clumps in large freezer bags, suck the air out, and then put back in the freezer.
when I need a veggie for his packed lunch, I just pull out a beet clump and pop it in his dish. : )
super easy.
I freeze enough so that he can eat beets once a week from December to March/April.

I've never canned beets...but am thinking about it for this year beacause my freezer is already full!