Elk County Forum

Roma Jean,

The Independence (Mo) paper said this morning that MODOT in Springfield has for the last two years been experimenting with beet juice to clear icy roads.

The test was successful and is going state-wide this winter.

Somehow they mix the beet juice with salt.

It is not supposed to turn the roads red.

Well, I will say, I never quit learning "things I didn't know" on this forum!  Somehow beet juice on the ice roads just surprises me!

Is this idea sponsored by the National  Beet Growers Association? ;D

According to MODOT it is in widespread use in Canada and Europe.

According to the report, the beets are grown mainly in the Dakotas.

  I did not know that, but will pay attention this winter and see if I hear something about it here.

There are lots of beets grown in Minnesota also.  We have a friend that drives the transport trucks that they use up there.

Heard tonight on the Chicago news that the city is using beet juice on the streets during this current ice storm.

Moline needs beet juice!! Bring it on!! I'll try anything, maybe we could sprinkle it on the trees also? :D :D

And just what exactly is the purpose of beet juice?  Is there something in it that thaws the snow and ice and keeps it from re-freezing?

And how do they keep it from staining everything it touches or gets on.?
( or is that a dumb question)  :-[

Ok - I did some searching, because I was curious as well.
There are several sources for this information, including Channel 5 out of Kansas City.
This, from Ohio, says it best, I think:


The Ohio Department of Transportation also plans to try out the stuff this winter in the northwest corner of Summit County and parts of Lake County and western Cuyahoga County.

The biodegradable solution is better for cars, too, allowing reduced use of calcium chloride, which boosts the effect of salt.

''Calcium chloride is nasty,'' said Paul Barnett, Akron's public works bureau manager. ''It's wicked on cars, bridges, trucks.''

''It is a 'green' treatment,'' Webster said.

Columbus officials plan to wait until a snowfall of at least 1 inch is forecast and then try out the beet juice on some roadways in the brine pretreatment, then in the salt treatment after the snow falls.

The mixture isn't sugary; otherwise it might lure cattle and other animals to treated roadways. Once sugar has been extracted from sugar beets, a waste product remains. Producers developed the deicing use after noticing that the waste never froze.

The beet juice is brown, and gives salt and the brine liquid a similar color.

''You will notice the difference as it is falling off the trucks,'' Barnett said.

''When it snows, we may have to go over the same route three times applying salt and calcium chloride. According to the manufacturer, we should only have to go once (with the beet juice solution),'' Webster said.

Apparently, they cannot use this stuff straight for two reasons.

It is expensive.

And, there probably will not enough to go around once everyone gets on the bandwagon.

  Beets are just a nutrition packed food.  They have solvent properties and are known for being powerful detoxifiers  for the blood and liver.  They are also helpful with gout. I'm guessing it is these same properties that keep it from freezing.  I recommend beets to patients who have digestive problems. I have a friend who makes the best pickled beets.  Every year I have her can at least a dozen jars for me.  I've gotten up in the night, just feeling a little hungry, and eaten a few beets.  Better for a sweet tooth than candy and much more nutritious.  I believe it helps to thin the bile as well.

If I had to eat beets, I would starve to death. I can't think of anything I hate anymore than beets. or cooked carrots.
Lord, if I want to be sick..and I mean deaths door sick! .. cram some of those nasty things in my mouth.
( part of it is the taste and part of it is the natural sugar content) I detest and am highly allergic  to sugar and the taste of sweet,
in addition to the taste of them period.. :P

Wonder what V-8 juice would do for an icy road?

Roma Jean, so you are saying, if I eat lots of beets... It'll cure my gout, my feet won't freeze so I can save on winter footwear, and then I can pee on my driveway and the ice will melt.   No?...That's not what you said? Oh well  ;D

Wow, Diane, you have been off-line for a while.  That was a pretty interesting summation of this round-about discussion!  We're glad you're caught up now... hee, hee, hee!

I love this place!  And I love pickled beets!  I don't like beets any other way however, and I used to hate cooked carrots, but do like the kind roasted in the oven with beef... and I love carrot cake...  now I'm getting hungry!

My sister-in-law Joyce taught me how to make pickled beets after I first got married, but it's been so long...  Maybe I'll get around to finding someone to plow & till a garden spot for me this year.  I've got plenty of space and will probably need something to do to keep me busy and out of trouble.  Wonder if I could con Joyce into coming over to "teach" me again???  Probably not.  Oh well.  It was pretty easy as I remember, cleaning up was the worst part.

I saw a TV show about those sugar beets, they look like overgrown sweet potatoes and not like garden variety ;) beets at all.

Joanna, I too love pickled beets and canned several pints of them in the early 1980s when I had a respectable garden. I do remember it was easy but messy .... looked like a magenta paint ball battle took place in the kitchen. I don't know if we'll be able to till up a garden this spring, but I'm willing to help you if you should decide to do so. Dang....wouldn't we'd be a real "Lucy and Ethel" episode? (I'll be Lucy, as usual). LOL

How about prune juice on your icy roads?  Maybe it would help you go faster too.  ;)

I love good pickled beets too. I like to make pickled eggs and the beet juice gives them nice color. I'm not crazy about plain cooked carrots, but with a bit of maple syrup or brown sugar and a little butter, that's good. My favorites are in with the roast. The beef juices make them wonderful.

I make pickled eggs in hot sausage  juice .. yummy...
( The day after though, you don't have many friends that want to hang around you..)
(http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/FartDog.jpg)

That sounds good too...the first time! :o

Joanna, I think it would look like, well....like there had been some serious beet pickling going on in that kitchen of yours! LOL

Diane, I have two cooked carrot recipes you might like. One had a peanut butter sauce and the other has a brown sugar/orange juice glaze. Both are dee-lish!

Am I the only one that likes cooked carrots just plain with a little butter?  salt, of course.

I love pickled beets and cooked carrots.  Teresa, I'm with you on those pickled eggs.  I guess there aren't many foods I don't like.

Have you ever tried just steaming carrot rounds? Of course it is best not to cook them with salt as they can be bitter. Steaming just makes them soooo sweet, and I add butter and salt afterward. Yummy! I also like carrots cooked in the beef juice. And love pickled beets. I make them by the batch when I can find canned beets. They are just about as good as home grown, but I would not say as good. Steaming improves the flavor of lots of veggies.

I like pickled beets and pickled eggs. I think the color of the eggs in the beet juice is pretty.
It's a childhood memory. My Grandma Bertie made them and it was one of our treats when we came to visit.

I like cold carrots, sliced very thin and stored in ice water.

I also like cooked carrots - steamed with a touch of butter or
a recipe called "copper pennies" which kind of pickles them.
You can spice them up all sorts of different ways.

I'm with beets like Johnny Carsons used to be about cats. There should only one cat, and everybody could just go see it.

Frankly, I'm glad somebody finally found a use for beets. They're ugly, taste like weeds unless you pickle them after which
they taste like pickled weeds. They grow underground like rats and moles, and they smell like dirty socks.

They deserve to be driven over.

Bah.

Amen

Quote from: Wilma on December 11, 2007, 08:23:34 PM
Am I the only one that likes cooked carrots just plain with a little butter?  salt, of course.

I can only eat cooked carrots....and yes they are good with butter and salt

Rudy.....Regarding beets.....why don't you tell us what you really think?  :) :) :)

Bonnie.....I'm sure glad Rudy doesn't tell about something he really doesn't like.  HA! HA!

Hey, other than beets, I like everything!

It's a black and white world: I classify everything as "beet" or "nonbeet."

A simple mind is so easy to manage.

I.e., all my friends on the forum are nonbeets. Of course, that doesn't take into consideration my old
friend, Janet.  How does one classify our TaTa? (I may have to consult Teresa on this one. When it comes
to Janet, Teresa always has the words.)

Well Rudy..~~ Ta Ta is.....................ahhhmmm................... hmmmm...........
Ta Ta is.................sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............. well... you said "old Friend".. so you got a little of that right.. ( the OLD)  ;D
and then .......well........let me think about it.. and I'll get back to you. ;)

Boy, oh boy ... TaTa is gonna be lathered up and mad by the time she finishes these posts. I'd say we'd all better send her
a Christmas card and tell her how much she is loved.

And, yes, she's a nonbeet, too.

Rudy better be careful, his lifetime clock is about to have another click too. Stay up 'till midnight Rudy, maybe the animals will sing to you.

Indygal, some day when you have a little extra time, I would love to have the two cooked carrot recipes. Thanks, ahead of time. :)

I'd be happy to share the recipes, Diane. It's just a matter of digging them out of the recipe box (wherever that is!...we're in the process of moving so things are in a bit of disarray....that's my excuse for now, which buys me some time until we're moved in, then what will I use as an excuse for the mess? Oh fiddle-dee-dee....! LOL) Seriously, I'll post the recipes here on the forum so all can try them if they wish.

I used to cook the small carrots in 7-up or Sprite, as I was told that is what the Cracker Barrel does.  I don't know if that is true, but it does give the carrots a nice flavor!  If I use canned carrots, I drain the juice down and stir in some brown sugar Splenda white they arae heating. 

Myrna

The carrots w/peanut butter sauce sounds yoummy.  I will be looking for that post.

My god.. that just makes me shudder :P

I put peanut butter on everything, even charcoaled steaks.

Mmmm.

Rudy, I always knew there was something wrong with you.

There's a burger joint in Lafayette, Indiana, near the Purdue campus called the Triple X (XXX), and one of their house specialties is a steak burger served with peanut butter. I've never tasted one (just can't imagine that it tastes good), but my son loves them. Next time you're headed for a Boilermakers game, Rudy, you'll have to stop by and try one. I know their burgers without the PB are excellent!

Oops....forgot to mention I posted the two carrot recipes in the Recipes folder. Thinking about that burger must have short-circuited my brain. OK, that's my excuse for now anyway... LOL