Learning How to Store Carrots

Have A Surplus Of Carrots? Don't Know What To Do With Them? We'll Show You How to Store Carrots

Getting Everything Ready, the First Step in Learning How to Store Carrots
Worried about how to store carrots? There are different techniques at your disposal and we will go through all of them to give you the knowledge you need to maximize the use of your carrots.

The green ends of your carrot can actually rob precious minerals and nutrients from its main body. They can also continuously suck in moisture in order to stay alive which in long term storage will greatly reduce the freshness of your stored carrots.

Try not to wash the carrots either as scrubbing away some of the top layers may actually expose the fresher layers below and get rid of some important chemicals that help preserve the carrot. It also helps if you wrap the carrots securely in bags that restrict oxygen flow and place them in the coldest region of the fridge.

Any vegetables or fruits that can create ethylene gas should be removed from the vicinity of the carrots because the gas can interact with the skin of the carrots to produce a bitter taste.

Method 2 - Refrigeration

This is perhaps the most obvious way to store your carrots because it is the most commercially available and the most widely used method of storing goods in the world. Utilizing this method can extend the life of carrots to upwards of three full months.

This is an extremely easy method that requires no real preparation and will keep your produce fresh for a relatively short while. You should only refrigerate if you are sure you will consume the carrots within a reasonable time period.

Before you place the carrot in the refrigerator it is imperative that you allow the carrot to develop its own protective shell that will help it retain its moisture by laying it out in the sun for at least 24 hours.

The danger of drying out will prompt the carrot to protect itself by creating a hard shell. This shell will ensure that you maximize the amount of moisture that stays locked in which is what will keep your carrots edible and delectable.

Method 3 - Microwave

It is possible to use your microwave to blanch your vegetables. Blanching is the process in which food is super heated in order to stop certain enzymes in the food from causing the food to spoil. This keeps the vegetable rich in vitamins that won't deteriorate over time. It also allows foods to be frozen for even longer.

It should be noted that using your microwave to blanch can lead to vegetables that taste funky and look odd. This is because the microwave is not a very reliable way of making sure you halt every single enzyme on its tracks.

The best way to go about it is to place your carrots in a microwavable container. Then take pot full of boiling water and dump it inside of the container. Don't let the water boil the carrots too much, immediately after you finish pouring the water in you should dump it out. Do not dry the carrots!

The little bit of water that remains will help the microwaving process not rob too much moisture from the carrots. Microwave the carrots for less than 9 minutes but enough for the blanching process to be done correctly.

Caution! Using the microwave to blanch foods could be spoiling them. Find out the best ways to store your carrots.

Method 4 - Home Freeze

This method works hand in hand with blanching. It is important to perform blanching (with a microwave or without) so that you get fresh tasting, nutritious carrots. If you skip the blanching process then you will end up with weird carrots that look pale and don't pack the same punch as regular carrots.

If you do not want to use the microwave to blanch your carrots then it is recommended that you boil them or steam them. The former is the more proven strategy to make sure all of the enzymes stop working.

Once you have blanched them, regardless of the method you used, there should still be drops of water left on the carrots and in their container. Do not throw this out. Do not dry it out. The small amounts of water can actually form a protective layer will help your carrots last longer.

The amount of time you can store them in this fashion is entirely up to what equipment you have and how you decide to package them. In a standard freezer wrapped in nothing more than a plastic bag you can probably get around eight to nine months of life out of your precious carrots.

Method 5 - Sand Technique

If you need another extremely long-term storage solution for your carrot problem then you can use sand. This is an extremely cost-efficient way of storing your food because sand is cheap and if you live near a beach – free. If you are going to store the carrots in this fashion then you cannot wash them! Again, it is important that the carrots keep their hardened outer layer so that the sand won't suck out the carrot's moisture.

The location of where you put your sand is crucial as well. It is more convenient to store the sand in a crate or a large container but what will maximize the amount of time your carrots remain fresh and edible is keeping them in a dark, cold place with ventilation. This means you should not seal any container you decide to place your carrots in! This method ensures that your carrots keep for over five months.

Caution - the way you store your vegetables could be spoiling them or causing depleted reserves of vitamins.

Method 6 - Underground

The general rule of thumb is that if you don't know how to store your carrots or any vegetable then the lower you go the better. This applies to both temperature and depth. Covering your carrots will ensure that they are protected from the harshest elements and they will allow them to retain their shell and keep their moisture locked in.

If none of the aforementioned methods don't work for you and you're willing to put in the effort to create an underground root cellar then this will guarantee fresh vegetables for months on end. The key features of a successful root cellar are maintaining the location cold, around two degrees more than freezing, and almost complete humidity.

A root cellar utilizes a pit that you can add various layers of soil and straw to in addition to potatoes to safeguard the carrots. The carrots should be unwashed and simply placed in a strong plastic bag. These bags should be placed in boxes that are filled with a dry material like straw. It is possible to use dirt as well but that might change the taste of your carrots. Do not place fruits alongside your carrots!

Different Methods

Duration	Different methods	What to watch out for
Short-term	Refrigerator, sand	Keep away from apples and other fruits that can release ethylene gas, keep carrots dry
Long-term	Deep freeze, root cellar, blanching	Keep away from fruits as stated above, leave outer skin of carrot intact, leave some moisture on the carrot surface