Asparagus season is indeed here. With asparagus still in the freezer from last year I thought I would can some this year. We like it both ways and if (God forbid) one of the the freezers were to go out I would still have asparagus. It's that saying your grandmother used to tell you about not putting all your eggs in one basket : )
So I took today's asparagus harvest and washed it well and trimmed off any tough ends. I placed it on an absorbent towel to air dry while I got everything ready.
If you would like to follow along you can find these instruction on page 66 of the Ball Blue Book.
100th Anniversary Edition 2009
First thing was to heat a large pot of water full of jars so that they would be hot and sterile when I got ready for them. Once the water and jars were heated I sat it off the stove with a lid on it until needed.
Then boil another large pot of boiling water to put over the asparagus and a small pot on the back of the stove on low with my lids and rings in it to warm.
Then my asparagus was trimmed to fit into my pint jars leaving a 1 inch headspace. The trimmings can also be put into a jar for soups or casseroles where you want pieces of asparagus. You want to pack that as tightly as you can.
For asparagus those old pint and a half tall jars work great if you don't want quarts.
Into each jar of asparagus goes 1/2 teaspoon canning salt.
Then into each jar of asparagus and salt pour boiling water to cover asparagus to within 1 inch of top. Release bubbles with your bubble releaser. ( The blue plastic wand in the jar)
Then I take a damp coffee filter and wipe the edge of each jar well.
With your canning magnet place a warm lid on each jar and then a ring and tighten (Finger tighten only)
Once all your jars are filled take the remaining boiling water and place in your pressure canner to the depth recommended by manufacturer. Then place closed jars in canner.
Once all your jars are in the canner seal and process for 30 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. After 30 minutes turn off heat and allow canner to cool until your dial gauge goes to zero and the safety valve is in the down position.
Remove lid being careful of escaping steam.
Now you can remove your hot jars of asparagus and allow to cool. You will hear a ping when the lid pulls down and seals. I let my jars sit until the next day and then remove rings and wash down cool jars and store in pantry. If any jar does not seal place in refrigerator and eat within several days.
(Don't worry if your asparagus is floating it should sink to the bottom in a week or so and won't hurt anything !!!)
(Don't worry if your asparagus is floating it should sink to the bottom in a week or so and won't hurt anything !!!)
Asparagus can also be blanched and frozen on cookie sheets. You can find the directions here.
Or even dehydrated which is how I like it for soups. You can find my directions for that here.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Your asparagus harvest looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteGreat info in this post!
ReplyDeleteHow big of a asparagus bed do you have? I have a 5foot one at this point but mine is newish. 1/3 of the bed was planted last year and 2/3 was planted this spring. I would love to be over run with asparagus. I can't decide if I should put in more or not. As I don't know what to expect from a 5 foot by 3 foot bed.
My oldest bed is 5 foot wide and 20 foot long and has been planted for 14 years. My newer bed is 3 foot wide by 35 foot long and has been planted for 10 years. The two beds supply my family with all the asparagus that we would need and some to share.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting! This is one plant, I don't have in my garden yet and will start planing and prepping for next year.
ReplyDeleteThat looks great! I don't care much for asparagus but I need lots of jars of it because the juice is the best and fastest remedy in the world for a UTI. I make it like you do except I use fewer spears per jar in order to maximize the juice per jar.
ReplyDeleteMy family adores asparagus therefore I grow and can lots of it. Maybe that is why noone in my family has ever suffered from a urinary tract infection...
DeleteThanks for the info, I am thinking my little five foot by 3 foot is going to need to be bigger LOL
ReplyDeleteEveryone has to start somewhere ! I just kept adding to mine every so often.
DeleteThank you for such an informative post! My husband's all time favorite vegetable is asparagus so we eat a LOT of it here! We are newly married & received a pressure canning set for the wedding. I have never canned before, but am gearing up to begin. I am a little nervous but excited to provide for my family in this way! I am pinning this post to my "canning board" for reference!
ReplyDeleteVisiting from The Homestead Barn Hop! :)
Have you seen the new pint&1/2 canning jars from Ball, CQ? They are supposed to be the perfect size for canning asparagus.
ReplyDeleteI saw them here: http://www.foodinjars.com/2012/03/canning-101-how-to-use-pint-half-jars/
You know I saw them and even went shopping for them. Evidently they have not made it to my neck of the woods yet. It takes awhile for things to reach us out here. WalMart didn't even have them and the local hardware store that carries all my pressure cooker parts looked at me like I had lost my mind ;)
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