Asparagus Ganned in Pint Jars
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the asparagus
Select fresh, tender asparagus tips of uniform size.
Wash the asparagus and cut it to fit the jars.
Scrape off the tough outer skin of the asparagus.
Tie the asparagus in bunches.
Blanch and pack
Blanch the lower ends of the asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes.
Immerse the entire asparagus tips in boiling water for 2 minutes.
Plunge the asparagus into cold water.
Pack the asparagus carefully in sterilized jars with tips facing up.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt to each quart jar.
Cover the jars with boiling water, leaving ½ inch from the top.
Sterilize
Sterilize the jars by intermittent sterilization for 1 hour on three successive days.
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
- Asparagus
- Forms the crisp, firm body of the pickle that holds its texture after blanching.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the spears and draws out moisture, helping the flavor penetrate the asparagus.
The step that matters
Intermittent sterilization over three days. Heating the jars on separate days lets any spores that survive one heating germinate and then be killed by the next, which is what makes the jars safe to store. Skipping days or shortening the heating can leave the pickle unsafe.
“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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