Learning how to store carrots correctly will keep them fresh for longer and reduce food waste. Here’s how to store carrots like a pro.
It doesn’t take long before carrots develop dark brown spots or grow moldy. Improper packaging, already foul vegetables, temperature, and humidity all play a role in determining how long your vegetables last. However, storing carrots correctly can extend their shelf life to up to 14 days.
We’ll show you how to store carrots efficiently using a variety of different methods. With these household hacks under your belt, food waste doesn’t have a chance.
1. How to Store Carrots from the Grocery Store
Storing carrots you bought at the supermarket is easy, yet many of us let our fresh vegetables go to waste all too easily. Here are a couple of useful tips:
- Plastic packaging takes its toll on fresh vegetables. Carrots irresponsibly packaged in bags or plastic trays tend to start to “sweat” more quickly. It is therefore best to go plastic-free and buy carrots loose – you can just pack them in a cloth bag for the trip home. This not only prolongs their shelf life, but also helps avoid unnecessary packaging waste.
- If you happen to buy carrots housed in plastic packaging, be sure to remove them from the plastic tray or bag as soon as you get home.
- If you buy them in bunches, it’s best to remove the greens before storing your carrots. Otherwise, they will draw moisture ot of the carrots. And by the way: There’s no need to throw these “scraps” away! How about you reuse vegetable scraps like carrot greens in a homemade pesto?
- Carrots are best stored in the vegetable bin in the refrigerator. Fridge temperature and organization are key to keeping your carrots fresh longer. Ideally, vegetables should be kept slightly moist. You can do this by wrapping the carrots in a damp cloth.
- Some pople recommend storing carrots in airtight containers, however, you will have to keep an eye on them to make sure there isn’t too much moisture inside.
- Alternatively, you can store carrots in fresh water. Simply fill reusable glass jars or a small dish with fresh water and put the vegetables right on in. In this case, make sure you’re storing your carrots in the refrigerator and changing the water daily.
- Make sure you keep carrots away from from fruits that produce ethylene such as apples, pears, or bananas as they will speed up the ripening process.
By the way: We firmly recommend that you only buy carrots that are organic in quality. For one, these grow without the use of chemical pesticides. Plus, organic farmers must also comply with numerous additional regulations that promote the protection of the environment and its native species.
Utopia’s tip: Put Onion Skins Back to Use: 5 Useful Tricks
2. How to Store Freshly Harvested Carrots
It’s impossible to know how long carrots from the supermarket have been stored, and under what conditions. If you do not buy carrots but grow them yourself, you’ll know firsthand. And you’ll always have the advantage of being able to harvest your own fresh vegetables.
During harvest season, you may soon run out of space to store carrots in the refrigerator. If this sounds like you, Utopia’s here to help with the following tips on how to store carrots you’ve recently harvested:
- When harvesting, make sure that the carrot skin is intact and free of bruises. Bruised carrots start to mold more quickly and can affect the shelf life of other carrots stored in close proximity. If you want to store carrots for later, you should only use fresh and undamaged vegetables. Simply eat the less aesthetically pleasing carrots immediately after harvesting.
- Do not wash the carrots before storing them. Simply remove the greens.
- The temperature in the storage room should be around 41°F/5°C with highest possible humidity. During the colder months of the year, you may be able to store your harvest in the basement.
- Now you’ll need a wooden box and slightly dampened sand. Spread the sand out at the bottom of the box as the first base layer and then put the carrots inside. The carrots should not be touching.
- Now continue adding layers of sand and the next harvest of carrots until you have stored the whole harvest.
- This way, carrots can keep fresh for several months.
3. How to Store Frozen Carrots
If you want to preserve carrots for longer or don’t have the space to store them in sand, you can freeze them. It’s best to blanch and cut them before freezing.
This article was translated from German to English by Evan Binford. You can view the original here: Möhren lagern: So bleiben Karotten lange haltbar.
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