Jarred artichoke hearts come cleaned and cooked. The three things that make the difference are draining them properly, deciding whether to rinse, and giving them a short blast of high heat. Once opened, they go into a sealed container in the fridge and should be eaten within a few days.
A jar of artichoke hearts is a vegetable that has already been trimmed and cooked for you. What separates a decent plate from a good one are three steps almost nobody explains: draining properly, deciding whether to rinse, and getting the heat right. This guide walks through them using the figures on Cynara’s product sheets, so you know what is in the jar before you open it.
What is in the jar: net weight and drained weight
The label on a jar packed in liquid carries two numbers. Net weight is everything inside, artichoke and liquid; drained weight is the artichoke alone. In the European Union both must appear on foods packed in a liquid medium (Annex IX of Regulation 1169/2011), and the second is the one to use when working out portions. In the United States the same idea appears on many labels as “drained weight”.
For Cynara’s artichoke hearts in brine, the product sheets give these figures:
| Format | Net weight | Drained weight |
|---|---|---|
| 212 ml jar, Baby 8/12 counts | 190 g | 115 g |
| 314 ml jar, Baby 12/16 counts | 290 g | 175 g |
| 580 ml jar, Medium 10/14 counts | 535 g | 330 g |
| 1,000 ml jar, Medium 14/18 counts | 935 g | 540 g |
| ½ kg can, Baby 16/20 counts | 400 g | 240 g |
| 3 kg can, Large 25/30 counts | 2,500 g | 1,550 g |
The ratio holds across formats: artichoke is roughly 60 % of the net weight. A 314 ml jar yields 175 g of hearts, which at about 90 g per person as a side comes to two servings; that per-serving figure is this guide’s own estimate, not a Cynara figure. The “8/12” or “14/18” in the name is the number of hearts in the pack, so it also tells you how many pieces you have to plate.
The packing liquid in the In Brine range is water, salt and citric acid as an acidulant. The hearts contain nothing else. That is the whole ingredient list.
Draining properly, which is more than tipping out the jar
Half-drained artichokes are the reason most jarred hearts end up watery in the pan or dilute a vinaigrette. What works:
- Tip the contents into a colander and let them sit for a couple of minutes. An artichoke heart is a closed flower made of layers, and it holds liquid between the bracts.
- If you are going to sear or roast them, halve them lengthways and set them cut side down on kitchen paper. Halves release the water a whole heart keeps inside.
- For salads or cold sauces, a gentle squeeze in the hand, piece by piece, leaves the heart ready to take on dressing instead of leaking its own liquid.
The liquid goes down the drain. It is salted, acidulated water and adds nothing to a stock or a sauce.
To rinse or not to rinse
It depends on the dish. If the artichokes are going into something with its own seasoning (a stew, a tomato sauce, a sofrito), rinsing them under the tap takes the brine edge off and lowers the salt in the finished plate. In canned beans, a University of Tennessee study presented at the IFT conference measured a 36 % drop in sodium from draining and 41 % from draining and rinsing; that figure comes from a different vegetable, but the mechanism is the same, because most of the salt sits in the liquid.
If you are serving them cold with a dressing, or want to keep the salty, tangy note of the brine, leave them unrinsed: that note is part of the product. For anyone watching salt at home, Cynara makes a lower-salt Baby artichoke heart in a 212 ml jar with the same ingredient list.
Reheating: short and hot
The heart is already cooked. Long heat breaks it down; short, high heat browns the outside and warms the inside. Three ways, with indicative kitchen times:
- Pan or griddle. Halves patted dry, a thread of oil, high heat, two to three minutes a side without moving them until they colour. The fastest way to make a jarred artichoke taste freshly made.
- Oven. Whole or halved, with oil, at 200 °C (400 °F) for ten to twelve minutes. Good for volume, such as a ½ kg can for a sheet pan.
- Air fryer. Halves with a little oil, 190 °C (375 °F), six to eight minutes.
If you only need them warm for a stew, add them in the last two minutes so they keep their shape. In the microwave a few seconds are enough.
If you would rather skip the jar and the draining altogether, Cynara’s steamed artichokes come in a 160 g tray, in quarters or halves, with a one-line ingredient list: 100 % artichoke, pasteurised. They are kept refrigerated between 0 and 4 °C and go straight into the pan.
Serving: cold, warm or hot
Cold, drained hearts take a dressing of olive oil, lemon and pepper and hold up well in a bean or pasta salad without watering it down, provided they were drained as above. Warm, with a quick sear and flaky salt, they are a five-minute starter. Hot, folded into rice, an omelette or scrambled eggs, they go in at the end so they keep their shape.
Artichoke bottoms, the base of the heart with the bracts removed, have a use of their own as a base for canapés; Cynara offers them in 3 kg cans for foodservice (Bottoms 20/30 counts) and in a 212 ml jar for home (Mini Bottoms).
How long they keep once opened
Once the jar or can is open, it is no longer a preserve. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s advice is to move what is left into a glass or plastic container with a lid, refrigerate it, and use low-acid canned foods within three to four days. They keep better left in their original liquid than drained. Opened cans should not be stored as they are: metal in contact with air and liquid alters the flavour.
If you will not get through them in that time, you can freeze them drained.
With Cynara products
- For one or two servings, the 212 ml Baby 8/12 jar or the 314 ml Baby 12/16.
- For a sheet pan or a rice dish for six, the 1,000 ml Medium 14/18 jar.
- No draining, no rinsing, straight to the pan: steamed quarters and halves in 160 g trays.
- The full range of hearts in brine, with counts and formats, is under In Brine.
