Known and loved for their crunch, fresh carrots are available year-round—but keeping that snap for an entire bag of these root vegetables takes a little bit of storage know-how. Carrots offer many health benefits including offering vitamins A, K, and Cas well as potassiumand calcium. Here, we’ll show you how to store carrots so they can keep their crunch as long as possible.
How to Store Whole, Fresh Carrots
There are a few ways you might buy carrots: packed in a perforated bag without the greens, sold individually with greens still attached—usually found in theorganic section—or in bunches at thefarmers' market, fresh from the ground. And just as there are different ways to buy carrots, there are different ways to store them. Here’s how.
How to Store Bagged Carrots
Together, the crisper and the ventilated bag will keep the carrots cool with the right amount of moisture—it will be dry enough to prevent rot and moist enough to keep the carrots crunchy for up to a month.
The Best Way to Store Carrots
Carrots can weather a variety of storage conditions, but they thrive when it’s cold and damp. If you are lucky enough to grow your own carrots, they may be left in the garden (in the ground with mulch or moist sand) until the ground freezes. If you happen to have a root cellar, you can bury them in moist potting soil as if the carrots are in the ground. But for most, water, a container, and a refrigerator will help carrots keep their crunch for up to a month.
How to Store Peeled and/or Cut Carrots
You can keep your carrots stored this way for up to a month.
How to Store Individual Carrots without Water
The carrots continue to feed the greens after they’re pulled from the ground, so removing the tops keeps the moisture and nutrients in the root. This method allows you to store carrots for up to a month.
Featured Recipe:Maple Roasted Carrots
How to Freeze Carrots
Forfreezing food at home, most vegetables are dunked in boiling water (blanching) and transferred to ice water (shocking) before being frozen. This slows down enzyme activity that normally distorts flavor and texture. Here’s how to do it:
How to Freeze Carrots Without Blanching
While that is the traditional way to freeze carrots, you can skip the blanching without too much difference in flavor and texture. If you want to skip that part of the process, here’s how to do it:
Featured Recipe:Candied Carrots
How to Add Crunch to Soft Carrots
Peeled or not, if you stored your carrots without water and they’ve become soft, they may be salvageable. Like other fruits and vegetables, carrotslovewater and water can help revive limp carrots. Here’s how to freshen up your carrots again:
If your carrots are limp because they’ve gotten a little dry, this method should restore their snap—they should be just as crunchy as they were when you brought them home from the farmers' market.
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