what is the best way to preserve asparagus
It'southward usually best to preserve only enough product to last until the following year, when the vegetable is in season again, or no longer than twelve months. Then recollect virtually how often y'all want to consume asparagus all year long (once a week? Once a month?)—it may be less than yous call back.
Here's a summary of nutrient preservation methods for fresh asparagus.
Canned asparagus. As with all patently vegetables and meats (low acid foods), y'all must preserve asparagus using a pressure canner. Plan on an average of 3½ pounds asparagus per quart. If desired, add together 1 tablespoon salt to each quart jar before filling with asparagus. For hot pack, add asparagus to boiling water, cook 3 minutes, and keep hot while filling jars. For raw pack, pack spears tightly or one-inch pieces to just beneath the threaded neck. Add together hot cooking liquid or boiling water to ane-inch headspace. Procedure asparagus in a punch guess pressure level canner at xi pounds or weighted gauge at 10 pounds; pints for thirty minutes and quarts for 40 minutes (at 0 to one,000 anxiety).
Pickled asparagus: Prepare 1 to 1½ pounds asparagus spears or ane-inch pieces, or enough to fill a pint jar. Wide-mouth or tall pints (narrow 12-ounce jars) are ideal for asparagus spears. If desired, add 1 clove garlic and ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper or a few black peppercorns to each jar before filling with asparagus. For pickling syrup, bring to a boil 1/2 cup water, 1/two cup white vinegar, and 2¼ teaspoons pickling salt. Comprehend asparagus with hot pickling liquid. Cool, embrace, and refrigerate. Pickled vegetables may exist served within 1 to 2 hours, but are all-time later on at least three days. Use within 1 calendar month. For longer storage, this pickled asparagus recipe may be canned. Since pickled asparagus adds vinegar, you can use a boiling water canner. The acid in the vinegar makes it safe to use the lower temperature in a boiling water canner. Adapt pickling liquid to ½-inch headspace. Process pints (including tall pints) pickled asparagus in a boiling h2o canner for 10 minutes (at 0 to one,000 feet). Apply pickled asparagus as office of a vegetable tray or every bit an ingredient in salads (such as green, Niçoise, or pasta salad).
Miso pickled asparagus (Misozuke): Soaking fair-skinned vegetables in miso (fermented soy bean paste) is a typical Japanese pickles. Blanch one pound prepared asparagus in boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes, or until tender but notwithstanding house in the center. Drain and pat dry out. Place in a glass or ceramic dish and cover with white miso. Refrigerate up to i calendar month.
Frozen asparagus. Blanch whole spears or cutting asparagus in humid salted h2o for 1-two minutes, or until tender but still firm in the center. If you adopt no table salt, the season of frozen asparagus can be improved past tossing each pound of asparagus with 1 to ii tablespoons lemon or orange juice after blanching. Spread blanched asparagus on a tray and place in the freezer xxx minutes, or until solid. Pack into freezer- safe containers. Apply frozen asparagus in almost whatever favorite recipe calling for fresh asparagus.
If you don't desire to invest in either canning equipment or a freezer, so consider drying or salting. These methods produce shelf-stable foods that do not crave refrigeration. In full general, dried foods have a strong odor, however delicate flavor after rehydrating. Many people discover dried vegetables more useful and tasty than canned ones.
Drying asparagus. Drying vegetables is like shooting fish in a barrel with an electric appliance called a nutrient dehydrator, which can be purchased for every bit lilliputian equally $50. Nesco makes a minor, inexpensive nutrient dehydrator that is good for first time users. If you are new to drying food, you can first try drying vegetables in your oven (see below). Vegetables need to exist blanched before drying. Without blanching, the food volition lose color and flavor during drying and subsequent storage. For most stale foods, steam blanching is preferred over boiling water blanching, then that boosted water is non introduced and prolongs the drying fourth dimension. Dry asparagus until they are leathery to brittle. After drying, absurd, and and then place dried vegetable in an airtight jar and seal with tape. Store in a cool, dry place. Properly packaged, well-dried foods tin be stored at room temperature for upward to 1 yr. However, less dry out, pliable dried nutrient may have a shelf life of only a few weeks to a few months. Bank check dried foods every couple of month for spoilage, ordinarily mold if they were not fully stale or moisture seeps into the container for whatever reason. Discard whatsoever moldy product. Utilize dried asparagus in any soup or stew recipe. Or, rehydrate stale foods by covering with boiling water and soaking 20 to 30 minutes, or until they accept plumped up to their original size. Serve rehydrated asparagus as a side dish, or use in favorite recipes calling for fresh asparagus. Grind dry out asparagus into a pulverization (using a coffee grinder reserved for spices and vegetables). Add boiling h2o to asparagus pulverization to make asparagus soup, enhance with cream or butter, if desired.
Oven Drying Method: Prepare a drying tray—stretch cheesecloth or natural muslin over an oven or cake rack or a wood frame, and attach information technology with masking tape, newspaper clips, or clothespin. Preheat oven to the lowest temperature setting (usually 140°F to 170°F). Maintain an oven temperature between 125°F and 145°F; check the internal temperature with an authentic thermometer. Decrease the temperature by propping open the oven door with a wooden spoon or folded towel. Caution: oven-drying is non safe in a home with modest children.
Salted vegetables retain the flavor, texture, and diet of the fresh vegetable. Many people familiar with salted vegetables consider them to be superior to either canned or frozen vegetables. Salting is a very old-fashioned method that was popular in the early twentieth century. During the first and second Globe Wars, salting was promoted as an alternative to canning in order to conserve glass, metal, and fuel. Of grade salted vegetables are—very salty! And then, before using them, you may wish to remove excess salt by soaking in water. Soak vegetables in three or 4 times their volume of cold water for 2 hours, or until saltiness is reduced to your taste (up to eight hours). Change the water several times to speed upward the de-salting process. Use salted vegetables raw in salads, or prepare and serve salted vegetables in the same ways yous would every bit if they were fresh. The heavy table salt used in dry salting is out of stride with today'due south tastes. You might desire to try preserving a small amount of vegetables before preserving an entire crop.
Salted asparagus. Steam 1 pound cut asparagus over boiling water for 30-60 seconds, or until barely tender and slightly house. Arctic in water ice water and bleed thoroughly. In a large basin, toss together the fair-skinned asparagus and 1/3 loving cup (iii.two ounces) pickling or Kosher common salt until evenly mixed. (Do not use table, bounding main, or iodized salt.) Pack the vegetables and salt into a sterilized 1-quart canning jar, leaving at to the lowest degree one inch headspace. Printing gently as you lot add together each layer to excerpt liquid. If juices do non cover asparagus, prepare a very potent brine using 1 cup pickling table salt per quart of humid water. Cool and pour plenty brine over asparagus to cover completely. Fill a plastic bag with very stiff brine and place over the asparagus to agree information technology under the brine. Place jar on a tray to catch any spill over during curing. Shop container at 64°F to 72°F and allow to cure for 2 to four weeks. Remove the brine-filled handbag, cover jar, and store salted asparagus in the refrigerator. Open up the jar at least one time a week and check for a white scum floating on the surface of the alkali. Remove it immediately, if it appears–information technology isn't harmful just tin create off-flavors if not removed. Keep the vegetables completely submerged in brine at all times during storage. Mold, soft vegetables, or rotten odors betoken spoilage; discard these vegetables without tasting. Nether ideal conditions, salted vegetables may be stored in the refrigerator up to half-dozen months.
For more than data about food preservation methods and recipes, see the book The Dwelling Preserving Bible by Carole Cancler, available from booksellers everywhere.
Source: http://www.homepreservingbible.com/1774-how-to-preserve-fresh-asparagus-for-your-favorite-asparagus-recipes/
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