If you can’t enjoy produce fresh, the next best thing is probably for you to freeze it. We have been growing asparagus for a few years now and when in season, there is always way more than we can handle. In the past, I used to turn to canning asparagus as a way to preserve our harvest. Nowadays, I have also started freezing my asparagus too.
There are 3 different methods that you can use to accomplish this. You can either blanch, steam or microwave your asparagus before actually freezing it. I personally prefer to use the blanching method, simply because I feel that it is the best way to preserve all the natural goodness and nurients. Microwaving is probably the faster route to go and steaming may take a little longer than all the other methods.
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Here’s What You’ll Need:
- fresh asparagus
- large stockpot
- water
- knife
- cutting board
- ziploc bags
- paper towels
- cookie sheets
- marker
- large bowl
- ice
- steamer basket (optional)
- microwave (optional)
- food saver (optional)
Step By Step Instructions
Step 1.
Wash your asparagus and cut of the hard bottom ends.
Step 2.
Boil some water in the large pot and when the water
starts boiling, you can begin the blanching process.
Step 3.
Slowly add your asparagus to the boiling water and only
after water starts to boil again, set your timer to 2 minutes.
Step 4.
Immediately remove the asparagus from the boiling
water and plunge it into the boil of ice water.
Step 5.
Using the tongs remove from the ice water, and lay it out
to dry off on some paper towels.
Step. 6
Transfer your dry asparagus to the cookie sheets and flash
freeze for a few hours or overnight in a single layer.
Step 7.
Label your ziploc bags with the date and produce, pack your
asparagus in there and store in your freezer.
Did you know that when freezing asparagus, it can store for up to a year? Also if you have access to a food saver you can use that to pack your asparagus, otherwise the old ziploc bags will work just fine.
I’ve covered the blanching method above, there is a link below for the ‘microwave’ method and you will also find a video detailing the ‘steaming’ method. Feel free to use whichever method works best for you! 🙂
You get details on the ‘microwave’ method on the Hickery Holler Farm blog, here…
How To Freeze Asparagus
Using A Microwave
You can watch the video below on how to freeze asparagus…
You can watch the video below on how to freeze asparagus using steam…
You can watch the video below on how to freeze asparagus…
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