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How to Store Carrots Easily and Affordably
I can’t begin to tell you how often I’ve chucked fresh vegetables and produce into my fridge without any thought, only to find them spoiled and completely unusable about a week later. It’s one of the perils of a busy, modern lifestyle. We buy stuff fresh, thinking it’ll be better for us and then don’t have the time to cook it or store it properly.
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One of the biggest culprits for me has always been carrots, which is why I’m taking it upon myself to step into the scary world of proper carrot storage and writing this article. I hope you can finally learn how to store carrots easily and affordably!
It’s much easier than you might think…
How to Store Carrots Easily and Affordably
What Will You Need?
Storing your carrots properly really doesn’t take much in terms of equipment. I’m sure that comes as no surprise to most of you. What you’ll need is:
- A decent sized refrigerator, with a salad drawer or something similar. This helps to keep the temperature low and separate your fresh veggies from the rest of your fridge’s contents, which might sap the moisture from your carrots.
- Vacuum packing equipment (potentially, but not strictly necessary). One storage method can be improved with vacuum packing your carrots. However, this is really just an optional extra.
- Some vinegar for pickling.
- A large container filled with fresh water that can fit all of your carrots at the one time.Possibly (depending on which method you use, discussed below):
- A healthy supply of carrots!
- And, of course, the most elusive thing of all… time!
I don’t imagine you’ll have to do much heavy-lifting to source this list of necessities, so once you’re ready, just dive right into our step, by step instructions on how to store your carrots.
- Do you know Where Carrot Seeds Come From? Find out The Fascinating Truth!
Method One: Bagging Your Carrots
1) The first important step to bagging your carrots for refrigeration is to trim off any green leaves that might still be growing at the top. The fresher the produce, the more likely you are to find carrots with foliage still attached - don’t let this put you off.
Cutting off these leaves will make sure that no moisture is drained from the root of the carrot itself, meaning the vegetable will remain juicy and fresh for much longer.
2) Tightly package the now trimmed carrots, unwashed, in a plastic bag or wrap – the tighter the better, as we’re trying to avoid letting air and moisture from the fridge into our carrots.
3) Find the coolest part of your fridge – which is usually going to be the salad drawers at the bottom – to store your carrots. The cooler they are, the longer they’ll keep fresh.
This bagging method should ensure that your carrots keep good as new for around two weeks!
Method Two: Freezing Your Carrots
1) The first important step before freezing any vegetable is to ‘blanch’ them first. Doing so will halt the natural decaying process of the vegetable (it’s all fancy scientific stuff to do with enzymes… All we really need to know is that it works!).
The easiest way to blanch your carrots is to simply put the carrots in a quick bath of boiling hot water – around five minutes or so. Don’t overdo it, though, as you don’t want to cook your carrots just yet.
2) Remove the carrots from the water, cool them down as quickly as possible and dry them off.
3) Store your carrots in a plastic dish or container and limit the amount of free space within – really jam them together as best you can. The colder your freezer is and the less space there is within your container, the longer your carrots will remain freshly frozen.
Here is a quick video on how you can do it.
PRO TIPS
If you have the equipment on hand, then vacuum pack your vegetables before freezing them. Not only will this ensure there’s no space for air to get trapped between the carrots, but it can also help with freezer burn if you’re intending to store your carrots for a long time.
The freezing method should last months at a time – more so if you vacuum pack them. Be warned, however, although the nutrients and moisture of the carrots will likely be unchanged… Spending so long in the freezer might sap some of the natural flavor from them.
Method Three: The Water Bath
1) First, you want to start on some familiar ground: cutting off any green leaves growing on your carrots.
2) Optional: cut and peel your carrots so that they’re all roughly the same shape and length. If you have kids, cut them in the size of baby carrots – this helps with storage more than anything else and isn’t strictly necessary if you don’t have the time or energy!
3) Find a container large enough to fit all of your carrots in and then fill it with cold, fresh water.
4) Store your carrots in the fresh water bath, making sure they’re completely covered, and place the container in the coldest section of your refrigerator. This might seem to contradict some of our earlier worries about moisture getting into the carrots and tainting their freshness, but as long as you keep the vegetables completely submerged, you should be fine.
Via ifood.tv
PRO TIPS
Keep an eye on your carrot bath; over time the water will start to change color and consistency, perhaps even changing to a sort of cloudy mess. It’s not the end of the road if this happens, all you need to do is pour out the old water and refill your carrot bath with some fresh liquid.
Keeping up this routine of cleaning out the water and storing in the coldest section of the fridge can ensure fresh carrots for weeks on end with no huge loss in taste or nutrition.
Method Four: Pickling Your Carrots
1) Mix your carrots in a bowl with some salt, making sure the vegetables are completely covered. Let them sit for around half an hour to an hour and then thoroughly rinse and drain.
2) Simply plop your carrots into an airtight jar filled with vinegar and leave for weeks to ensure they are pickled throughout. For those of you looking to get a little more adventurous, why not try a delicious pickling recipe?
Check out this video on how you can pickle your carrots.
- Did you know fresh carrots can last up to 5 weeks if stored properly?
That’s it, Folks!
And that’s all there is to it! Now you have no excuse for letting your fresh carrots succumb to mold and rot, lying in your fridge.
I hope this quick-fire guide on how to store carrots easily and affordably has been helpful to you - there’s nothing worse than thinking you have a fridge full of fresh produce to toss through your dinner only to open the door and be met with withered carrots.
Make sure to comment below with any thoughts or experiences you’ve had with storing your own carrots at home, or even suggest some other methods of storage that we haven’t mentioned here!
We’re all in it together, after all.
About the Author Laura Bennett
Hello, I’m Laura Bennett. I love nature especially when it comes to flowers and different kinds of plants. I started a very small garden behind my house and I named it Humid Garden. So, I created this blog to provide aspiring and inspiring thoughts about gardening for gardeners and anyone who has the intention of keeping a garden.
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