Whole asparagus spears packed tips-up with garlic, dill seed and a hot pepper, covered in a boiling vinegar brine and canned in a boiling-water bath. A tested process.
Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is part of the collection’s pickled batch and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 10 pounds asparagus
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 4½ cups water
- 4½ cups white distilled vinegar (5%)
- 6 small hot peppers (optional)
- ½ cup canning salt
- 3 teaspoons dill seed
Directions
- Wash and rinse 6 wide-mouth pint jars and keep them hot. Prepare the lids as the manufacturer directs.
- Wash the asparagus gently under running water. Cut the stems from the bottom so that the spears, with tips, fit the jars with a little less than ½-inch headspace.
- Put a garlic clove in the bottom of each jar and pack the asparagus in tightly, blunt ends down.
- In an 8-quart Dutch oven, bring the water, vinegar, hot peppers (if used), salt and dill seed to a boil. Put one hot pepper in each jar over the spears.
- Pour the boiling brine over the spears, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, adjust the headspace, wipe the rims and apply two-piece lids.
- Process pints or 12-ounce jars in a boiling-water canner, raw pack: 10 minutes at 0–1,000 feet, 15 minutes at 1,001–6,000 feet, 20 minutes above 6,000 feet.
- Cool undisturbed 12–24 hours and check the seals.
Notes
Source Adapted from the National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Pickled Asparagus” (University of Georgia, released 2003).
A smaller batch The same page gives a batch for 7 twelve-ounce jars: 7 pounds asparagus, 7 garlic cloves, 3 cups water, 3 cups vinegar, 7 small hot peppers, ⅓ cup canning salt and 2 teaspoons dill seed.
Storage Shelf-stable once sealed. NCHFP: “Allow pickled asparagus to sit in processed jars for 3 to 5 days before consumption for best flavor development.” Asparagus is a low-acid vegetable; only this tested vinegar proportion makes it safe for a boiling-water canner.
The photo The photograph shows processed jars of home-pickled asparagus.