Asparagus
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select fresh, tender asparagus tips of uniform size.
Wash the asparagus.
Cut the asparagus to the right length for cans.
Scrape off the tough outer skin.
Tie the asparagus in bundles.
Blanch and cool
Blanch the lower ends in boiling water for 2 minutes.
Immerse the entire tips in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes longer.
Plunge the asparagus into cold water.
Pack and process
Pack the asparagus neatly in jars with tips up.
Fill the jars with brine made from 4½ oz salt to 1 gallon water.
Process the pints in a hot‑water bath for 1 hour on each of three successive days.
Alternatively, process in a steam‑pressure canner for 30 minutes under 10 lbs. steam at 240°F (115°C).
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 tips
- The main vegetable; heat softens its tender stalks while it keeps a firm shape in the jar.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the brine and helps preserve the asparagus in the jars.
The step that matters
Processing the sealed jars. Asparagus is a low-acid vegetable, so jars must be heated long enough to destroy Clostridium botulinum spores. Too short or too cool a process can leave spores alive in the sealed jar.
“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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