Best way to store carrots

scoobes19

Hello lovely people at OS

Apologies for what may be considered a dim question....

Just what is the best way to store carrots?

I love carrots, I wouldn't want to store them for longer than a week as they wouldn't last that long! The ones I bought from the supermarket on Sunday are already really soft and gross. Am I being too fussy? I never used to have this problem, seems to have been the last couple of years, but this year the carrots are just not nice! :mad:

I've tried putting them in the fridge, dark cupboards, veg racks etc, but to no avail.

I am now throwing more away than I am eating and that is certainly not very money saving! :rotfl:

Any help offered would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Scoobes

elsien

Have you tried the green food saver bags they sell in the pound shops? I was quite sceptical but thought for a pound it was worth a go, and it certainly makes a difference, not just for carrots but for all veg.

scoobes19

elsien wrote: »

Have you tried the green food saver bags they sell in the pound shops? I was quite sceptical but thought for a pound it was worth a go, and it certainly makes a difference, not just for carrots but for all veg.

Wow, that was quick! No, I haven't tried those, i will certainly have a look out for some at the weekend though and give them a whirl. Do you then keep this bag in your veg rack?

Many thanks

elsien

I keep it in the fridge, but that's because in my miniscule kitchen I don't have room for a veg rack.
I got the last lot from poundland - they're coated in some sort of enzyme or something, so don't last forever but there were about 15 bags in the pack and so far they're still going strong.

mioliere

I live in France and I'm really disappointed in the fruit and veg sold here - it's as though it's been hanging around in a warehouse for months before being put out for sale. I love carrots but here they go off within a couple of days, so I now blanch them first in bulk (I use a steamer but you can parboil them in a saucepan, or in the microwave) , then freeze them in portion sizes.

meritaten

I have noticed that sometimes carrots will keep well and sometimes they dont! It was annoying me so I opened one bag straight away and found that the carrots were wet! I took them out and dried them off with kitchen towels and put them in the salad drawer - they seemed to last much longer. so I dont leave them in the plastic bags now. I do the same with mushrooms - I take them out of the plastic punnets and put them in a paper bag and pop in the fridge. they last much longer.

TitchTori

My friend went on holiday the other week and gave me a big bag of carrots in food she was going to chuck away and i already had quite a few carrots in the fridge so i stood and peeled and chopped the lot (into chip shape rather than round which is how i like carrots) i then blanched them for 2 minutes from the water coming back to the boil, plunged them into cold water, dried them off and put equal quantities into bags. I couldn't be bothered to open freeze them so every so often i opened the freezer to shake them to make sure they weren't freezing as a big mass.

They are much nicer than the ready chopped and peeled carrots i bought the other day (were 5p reduced bags from Mr T that i cooked in their bags in the microwave - ok, but mine were better somehow!!)

McKneff

The green food bags for £1 are brilliant, I put some fresh sprouts in there that I didnt use on Christmas day and when i went into the
bag on New Years day they were still as fresh as the day I put them them there. They are just as brilliant for all other veg.
Your just turn the tops over and bobs your uncle, they are washable too.

They are the best thing since sliced bread and pay for themselves in no time.

Pound shop, poundstretchers, all cheapo shops.

xrjtg

I don't keep vegetables in the fridge if I can avoid it, but I've found carrots keep very well there. The absolutely crucial thing (which holds for all vegetables) is to get them out of the plastic bag. Otherwise they get damp and rot.

For ones that are on the turn, peeling them and keeping them in water works too.

scoobes19

Awww, thank you so much to everyone that has replied, this is why I love this forum!

The comment about people finding them damp in the bag, i agree with that, but i always buy mine loose, i never keep them in a bag.

I think the thing that's coming through in the responses is that carrots just don't seem to keep very well!

I had never heard of parboiling and freezing, so that may be one for me to try if the veg bags idea doesn't work. I buy a lot of my veg frozen and I am fine with this idea, but with carrots, I don't know what it is, but they never taste cooked (obviously I do cook them!), I just prefer the flavour of fresh ones, but perhaps freezing my own will have a better taste.

Thanks once again.

Scoobes

bex2002

I think I will have to look out for these. We are having the same problem with our vegetables but especially carrots they are going slimy after a couple of days.