up in the basket, with the tips above the water edge. that way, both the stems and the tips should be ready at the same time.
this i worked out and will try next time, as i left the basket in the pot while bringing the water to boil and then dropped the asparagus in and it went through the holes on the sides. what i should have done is to place the asparagus stems in the basket, place the basket in the pot and measure up water to be below the tips. then take the basket out, bring the water to boil and put the basket back in for 3 