Written by Grumpy Pumpkin

Asparagus by the Balls

Yes, you read that right….it’s canning season. Things have started to grow and cold weather crops are coming into season. For me in growing zone 5, this means asparagus has peaked and is being sold in the local markets. Prices for asparagus will never be cheaper than they are right now, which makes it a perfect time to put some away for the rest of the year. Since social distancing is in effect, even the farmer’s markets bring your items to your car, so I decided to take a chance on “irregular asparagus” meaning, it’s not perfectly straight so they can’t sell it to grocery stores or restaurants. For less than half the price of a regular case, it was worth it. And I cut mine up to can, so these bends and squiggles don’t make or break my final product.

This is the types of bends I am referring to. As you can see, the case is huge.
This was hard to show with one hand, but in order to get the “wood” off the end of each stall, simply bend it til it breaks. It will break where rigid meets soft, ensuring the finished product will be tender.
Once snapped, discard the hard end bit and cut up the top tender bit into approx. 1” pieces.
Start filling a bowl with the cut up, tender pieces. They will be your finished product.
I am boiling down all my scrap bits that weren’t part of the wood. I am going to try my hand at some cream of asparagus soup, minus the cream for now. Although people will say you are able to can milk, I don’t. I would rather be safe and in times of shortage, I’ll add powdered if need be.
Make sure you have scrubbed all your canning equipment. From left to right, you’ll need rings for your kids, fresh lids, a funnel, a jar grabber, a lid tightener, a magnet and an air bubble wand.
Put the bits you do want to can in a large pot and bring them to a good book for three minutes.
I’m even going to try pickled asparagus….seems popular, so why not. I just cut whole spears down to size and put them in the jars facing the same direction….fancy!!
Asparagus MUST be pressure canned since it is a low acid food. Some of the old heads will swear they did it by hot water bath (putting jars under boiling water on the stove) but that is not considered safe anymore. Better safe than stuck on the toilet all weekend.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to canning asparagus. You either raw pack it without cooking or you boil for three minutes and put it in hot jars. I am hot packing, since all the pics online show much more being able to compress into the jars when it’s hot. I will raw pack many vegetables, but not this one. It’s all up to personal preference.

Once you let your asparagus come to a boil for three minutes, drain off the water it boiled in and ladle the cooked bits into hot jars til they are a comfortable inch from the top. This is called headspace.
Use your magnetic pokey tool to work your way around the edge after you have added fresh boiling water and a teaspoon of salt to each jar. You want those air bubbles out.
Wipe the brims clean. Check for any cracks or dips in the jars….this WILL make your seal fail.
Using your magnetic end of the pokey tool, get one of the lids from the warm water you have on the stove. You warm these to soften the rings of rubber and promote a good seal.
Place the lid on your jar and screw on the ring. Doesn’t have to be holy crap tight, just firm finger tight.
Use the jar grabber to place your jar in the pressure canner once sealed. Do not let the jars rest in there touching each other. That rattling could compromise your seal.

For quart jars, you’ll need to process the jars at ten pounds of pressure for 40 minutes. Higher elevations need to process at higher pressure amounts, but that information can be found on the Ball website depending on where you live. I’m pretty much at sea level.

This is the nub in which the pressure gauge rests on. You may be able to tell that mine is a ten pound weight (it isn’t actually ten pounds, but through the glory of science and very smart people who figured out this exact tiny weight is just enough on the outside to equal ten pounds of pressure on the inside).

So here is my disclaimer: If you are new to pressure canning….I’ll break this part down for you, as pictures won’t help. Any kind of pressurized pot of today has many safety features since the cooks that came before us use to blow them up in their kitchens. They either lost track of time, lost track of pressure, didn’t secure the lid properly or a manufacturer defect spelled disaster by way of contents exploding all over the kitchen and pot parts that became projectiles. This is no joke – these pots are dangerous and should be treated with respect. They need a set of eyes on them at all times while on the stove, quick potty breaks being the only exception. I don’t even trust the computerized models that adjust the pressure for you….give me old school pressure dial any day. I want anything under pressure in my kitchen completely in my control.

Pressure canners of today have safety features that have saved many people from disaster. They have a pressure gauge, a nub to vent that holds the weight, a pressure release valve that snugs shut once the water inside starts creating enough steam and a super duper emergency nub in the front that is designed to be the last resort should pressure get to dangerous levels. This plastic coated nub is never to be tangled with, if it wears out, you can order this or any part and fix it yourself. I ordered a new pressure gauge this year since my old one seemed to be alittle wonky. This is highly pressured, scalding hot water we are loaded with, never mind the glass jars and pot parts.

Bottom line, read your canner instructions, don’t take them lightly, no matter how long you’ve been doing it or how your grammie did it. Science, wisdom and common sense have come a long way since the time of our grandparents….I don’t even think a lot of them had pressure canners….they were just hot water bath canning everything. And yes, food-born illnesses were common back then, only they didn’t have the technology to study it like we do today. Be careful, follow instructions and trust the Ball Canning Book or website….they have put years and years into being safe.

Okay, so after I load my jars into my pressure canner, I secure the lid, leave the weight off, let the pressure release valve steam and shake til it builds enough pressure to snug shut, then I let hot steam shoot through the weight nub for ten minutes. This let’s the steam and jars get good and hot, kinda like warming the car engine up. After ten minutes, I place the ten pound weight on the nub and watch the pressure build on the gauge until it’s at ten pounds (I usually let it get to 11 or 12). Then I lower the burner temp to try and hold pressure at that level and set a timer for whatever time the contents are specified to process for. In the case of asparagus, it’s 40 minutes. I stay in the kitchen, I watch the dial and make sure pressure doesn’t fall below 10 pounds of pressure. If it does, I have to start my timer all over again at 40 minutes. Yes, all over again. It’s a drag when that happens.

So after time is up, I turn my burner off and wait for pressure to drop to zero and the emergency release valve to drop also….you remember, the same one that snugged you on it’s own? Usually takes about 45 mins. Once that happens, you can carefully remove the lid (steam and hot jars inside, beware) and gently take your jars out and put them on a heat tolerant surface on the counter for at least 12 hours to completely cool before getting crazy with them, putting them in the cabinet or inviting them to a dance party. The ones that are going to seal correctly are usually bubbling their asses off, the fails are usually not. The fails need to be refrigerated, treat them like leftovers.

Once the successful ones are cool, remove the rings, write what they are and date the lids, put in cupboard and there you have it….you just successfully preserved food!! I am no scientist, so there are many ways and thoughts on different ways to can food. I like to stick with the ball book, although I admit I’ve canned some tricky stuff but for now, let’s play by the rules. Tomorrow, it’s strawberry preserves 🍓 . Trust me, popping open a can mid-winter and remembering the smells and tastes of summer will make all this canning worth it!! 💜🌱💜

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