They are usually sown all at once and therefore ripen at short intervals. There is not much time left for harvesting and consuming the carrots. But what to do with so many orange roots at once? Eat some, freeze the rest.

Carrots are briefly blanched before freezing

Suitable carrots

Carrots can be stored for a long time after harvest. That's why roots from the supermarket are rarely freshly harvested. But every day they spend off-world erodes the quality. These old carrots are also not recommended for the freezer.

Only freeze freshly harvested carrots from your own garden. You can also freeze leftover carrots from the grocery store as long as they are healthy and crisp. They should not have any rotten spots or even become moldy.

Raw, blanched or cooked?

No choice is necessary here, because all three variants are possible. Raw is the quickest, blanching extends the shelf life and cooked carrots can be prepared faster when defrosted.

Choose the approach that best meets your needs. You are welcome to use all three options if required.

Clean and prepare carrots

Fine soil particles often stick to carrots and they should therefore always be cleaned under running water. Any remaining green is removed beforehand.

The next steps are peeling and chopping the carrots into smaller pieces. Neither is a prerequisite for successfully freezing carrots, but it proves to be handy. When frozen, both are more difficult to accomplish.

Blanch the carrots briefly

Peeled and chopped carrot pieces can withstand frosty temperatures longer without damage if they are blanched briefly beforehand.

  1. Fill a large saucepan with plenty of water and bring to the boil.
  2. Add a portion of carrots and cook over medium-high heat for about three minutes.
  3. Quickly chill the blanched pieces by placing them in ice water for about two minutes.
  4. Drain the carrots in a colander.

tips

For carrot cream soups, you can cook the carrot pieces now and freeze them as a mush. This saves time during later preparation.

Blast chilling and freezing

Cool carrots can be placed directly in tightly sealed freezer containers and frozen or shock-frozen beforehand. Shock freezing forms a thin layer of ice around each piece, preventing it from clumping together later.

However, in order for this protective layer to form, the pieces must not touch each other during freezing. This works best if they are spread out on a flat tray and placed in the freezer for about two hours.

Once the carrots are frozen, they are placed in containers and stored sealed.

durability

Blanched carrot pieces have a shelf life of nine months. They are frozen and placed in boiling liquid. Unblanched pieces and purée should be used within three months.

Conclusion for fast readers

  • Freshness: Freeze only freshly harvested or store-bought carrots without rotten spots or mold
  • Variants: Carrots can be raw, blanched or frozen as a ready-made mush
  • Pros: Raw is fastest; Blanching extends shelf life; Mush saves time after defrosting
  • Preparation: Remove the green and wash the carrots, then peel and cut into small pieces
  • Blanching: Cook for three minutes over medium heat, then chill in ice water
  • Tip: cook the carrots and freeze them as a mush as a basis for carrot cream soups
  • Shock freezing: Spread the dried carrot pieces out on a tray and shock freeze, then place in a freezer container
  • Shelf life: carrot pieces have a shelf life of nine months; Mush must be consumed within three months

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Vegetable garden