# Preserving carrots



## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Ok so i have way more carrots then will fit in my fridge, how does everyone else preserve them? Freeze, can or store? Any advice would be great. Thanks
Rebecca


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I can them whole for baked carrots. Good for soups and pot roast too. I dry a lot for soup, chop them and dehydrate. Most are just covered with straw and used as needed....James


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

Here are links to a few of the many recent discussions about carrots that may be of help to you.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=365426&highlight=carrot

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=363093&highlight=carrot

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=227064&highlight=carrot

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=206289&highlight=carrot

LOts of recipes and good tips.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

I will need a pressure cooker to can the right?


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I can them plain, candied and dilled. I use them to make a couple of jams, and breads (mini-loaves that I wrap and freeze). jams and dilled don't need a pressure canner, but the other two do. (At least I think the candied does, can't find the book right now).

I've got two big batches of mini-loaves in the oven now, one is called carrot cake bread and the other Morning glory muffins (though I made loaves). When they are cool, I wrap and freeze them. Used up 9 cups of shredded carrots this afternoon.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Judy thanks for the links I will read through them.

macy, I will see what I can find about canning candied carrots as I love them like that. And heck didn't even think about making carrot cake, I love that too


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## Granny Sue (Jan 12, 2009)

I froze mine last year. Worked great. I washed but didn't peel, then blanched and froze. They were great for soups, stir fry, pot roast and stews. I recall that you can root-cellar them in damp sand too, but I've never tried it.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Granny Sue said:


> I froze mine last year. Worked great. I washed but didn't peel, then blanched and froze. They were great for soups, stir fry, pot roast and stews. I recall that you can root-cellar them in damp sand too, but I've never tried it.


Do they become mushy when frozen? I like mine with some crunch still.

Rebecca


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## Granny Sue (Jan 12, 2009)

They weren't mushy. Not crunchy, but not mushy. It might depend on the variety of carrot though. You might try the wet sand thing if you want them to stay crispy. You can google it and get a lot of information. I just tried it.


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## katy (Feb 15, 2010)

Granny Sue said:


> They weren't mushy. Not crunchy, but not mushy. It might depend on the variety of carrot though. You might try the wet sand thing if you want them to stay crispy. You can google it and get a lot of information. I just tried it.


GrannySue, if you grew these, may I ask what variety they were ? thanks


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

> Do they become mushy when frozen? I like mine with some crunch still.


Then you probably won't want to can them. Yes they require a pressure canner for canning and the PC processing cooks them. No "crunch" left. Better texture is retained with freezing but freezing anything does rupture the cell membranes so as Granny Sue said, they will be softer.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

judylou said:


> Then you probably won't want to can them. Yes they require a pressure canner for canning and the PC processing cooks them. No "crunch" left. Better texture is retained with freezing but freezing anything does rupture the cell membranes so as Granny Sue said, they will be softer.


So looks like I may wan't to try the sand method then. I will do some research on that.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I love the idea of making carrot cakes and freezing them that way. Macybaby, care to share your recipe?


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread

The first time I made it I doubled the recipe and used a 15 oz can of pineapple. Thought it came out a bit dry. Next time I used a 20 oz can of pinnapple and liked the way it turned out much better.


Here is the Morning glory muffins. These are very moist and it was hard telling when they were done. Turns out when they started to shrink away from the pan sides, then they were finally dried out enough. I was looking for ways to use up my extra apple sauce but this one takes a lot of carrots too.

Scroll down the thread a ways

I'm going to try the Apple Carmel Mini Cakes this weekend.


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

If you have a cool place (45-55 degrees or so) that doesn't ever freeze, then the damp sand is great! We used five gallon buckets, sand that was cool and damp to the touch, lids placed on loosely, and kept them all winter. The only issue is that if some were damaged by bugs or harvesting, then those spots can soften and go bad. And they begin to grow little hair sized roots; but if they offend, you can scrub them off or peel them.

Our old Civil War era house has a root cellar in the basement. There's a door to a small room on the north side, and you can see in the walls where the boards used to be. Duct work was added many years later and that made it a little warm; but we wrapped it with heavy insulation and have places for everything we need. When I got so deeply into outside training and competing with the horses, we let it go. The door rusted shut, and we just left it that way for about a decade. A few weeks ago I decided I was reclaiming it! There's a lot of preparation work to be done, but next year I'll put squash, carrots, onions, potatoes, apples, cabbages, and even hang some longkeeper tomatoes down there. 

It's such a great old house; you can access it from a door on the outside, or from some inside stairs. That's a blessing for going in directly from the garden, and for getting your stuff to make supper when the whole world's covered in snow.

Oh! And you can bury them! I just saw this somewhere recently-- you can cut the bottom off a five gallon bucket and set it down into a hole in the ground you've dug to accomodate it. Layer carrots and damp sand, top with the lid (not tight) and cover with straw. You could make a little bank of them and plop a bale of straw on top; easier to move and replace during horrid weather.


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## unregistered65598 (Oct 4, 2010)

Macybaby said:


> Oatmeal Carrot Cake Bread


With the amount of carrots We have I should be able to make about 150 loafs of this LOL. It sounds really yummy and I will give it a try adding the extra pineapple. I am also going to try the carrot cake jam.

Rebecca


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