Frozen gus is much better IMO. It has more firmness and better color. Pickled gus is firmer than canned if you add Pickle Crisp to the brine and if you like pickles. Canned gus is an acquired taste I think - I like the flavor but the texture is quite soft. That could be improved somewhat by adding Pickle Crisp I think but have never tried it myself.

Buy yourself a commercial can of it to try and see if you like it. You can also buy a frozen package of it to compare.

Dave

I agree with Dave, canned asparagus is pretty mushy, unfortunately. I have frozen it and then roasted the thawed spears and that turned out pretty well, I'll do that again.

Like you, I planted a LOT of asparagus, 200 crowns. 100 of those will be ready to pick next year, the other 100 the following year so I'm hoping for lots and lots and lots of asparagus!

Annie

Thanks to you both for your responses. I'll test the canned and probably plan on freezing it. Annie I made your salsa last year it was so amazing I'm going to make so much more this year. I just wish I could use quarts! Also Dave I've been reading this forum for a long time your knowledge is invaluable.

Happy gardening!

My family likes pickled asparagus a lot. Store bought is expensive and often not satisfying because it's too mushy. So I can my own, and the family loves it.

What I do is a couple things. First is to not use the super-tender and thin spears- save those for your fresh eating and freezer. The spears you want to use are a bit more mature and thicker. Not too woody though- you can't pickle the woody out of asparagus, and it's not pleasant to eat either. If you can, pickle as soon as possible after harvest- letting them sit till the next day seems to make them shrink more in the jar, dunno why.

Second is I use Marisa McClellan's Food in Jars recipe. It's smaller batch, and I think that makes a difference too. 4 pounds for 3-4 pint jars, and just a straight pickled gus with a lemon slice, garlic, pickling spice, salt, and pepper flake. Cider vinegar/water ratio is 3 cups each.

We don't like Balls recipe- 7 pounds for 6 pints, has a lot of fresh peppers, sugar.. White vinegar/water ratio is 5 cups vinegar to 1 2/3 cups water.

The best Pickled Asparagus recipe IMO of the 6 or 8 I have tried over the years is the one from NCHFP. You can leave out the hot peppers if you wish or just reduce them and you can always sub cider vinegar for white if you wish.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/pickled_asparagus.html

Dave