What's the skinny on fat asparagus?

Question

I had always heard that pencil thin asparagus is the best, and that has always been what I look for. But now I've heard from a few (what I would consider reliable) sources that skinny isn't better when choosing asparagus. My local grocery tends to get really fat (stems easily an inch in diameter) asparagus that otherwise looks great (nice color, tight tips, no wrinkling). I've always avoided this asparagus even though I love roasted fresh asparagus, because I've expected it to be woody. Is that the case?

I've never peeled asparagus, I've just snapped off the ends at the "break" point. If the consensus is that this fat asparagus is worth trying, should I peel it before roasting?

Answer 1

Martha's Vinyard Magazine suggests that the diamater of the stalks is not directly related to their age as one might suspect:

Some might assume thinner spears are younger and therefore more tender. The diameter, however, has more to do with the age of the plant itself and the particular asparagus variety.

They go on to cite Cook's Illustrated, saying:

[T]hin and thick spears as equally sweet, nutty, and grassy, but ... thicker spears have a slightly better, more tender texture. The reason is that the fiber is somewhat more concentrated in thinner spears.

You can peel asparagus if you choose to. Personally, I peel the base of thicker stalks. Mark Bittman recommends peeling from just under the flowers to the base of the stalk on the thicker stalks.

Thinner stalks may be easier to saute or grill, and thicker ones more suited to steaming, poaching, and so on, but this is more related to the time it takes them to cook through.

See also:

• Mark Bittman writing in the New York Times
• Better Homes and Gardens
• Martha's Vinyard Magazine

Answer 2

Well, after reading the answers and comments here, I was anxious to try the fat asparagus next time I saw it in the store. Wouldn't you know it? For the next several months all I found was the normal, skinny stuff. Then lo and behold, yesterday my store had the fat asparagus again. (BTW, a US quarter has a diameter of 24.26 mm, 0.955 in.)

I treated it my favorite way, which is to toss it with garlic butter, salt and pepper, then roast it at 400F. Usually that only takes 8-9 minutes, this asparagus took 15 minutes. In the name of science, I peeled the stalks of half of it and left the other half unpeeled.

It was delicious.

I found the peeling to be an unnecessary step. I might peel fat asparagus again, but only if the meal was particularly elegant.

Bottom line is that this was some of best asparagus I've ever had. Assuming everything else looks good (no wrinkling, tight tips, good color) I would not hesitate again to buy fat asparagus.

BTW, it's a good idea to make a little tin foil envelope to protect the tips of asparagus for roasting. I think I learned that trick from Alton Brown.

Answer 3

I think it depends on the flavors you want to get from the asparagus:

If you're looking for roasted, char-y flavors, it's pencil-thin all the way. Thick ones wouldn't be cooked through in the time it takes for the surface to be nicely charred.

If you're looking for more vegetal flavors, thick ones work well, because you can boil or steam them without having them go limp.

Answer 4

It totally depends what you are doing with it.

My use cases for different thicknesses:

Thin - steam, boil or fry and serve whole as-is. Medium - Chop into chunks, and stir fry Thick - Soups, purees etc.