Can you freeze carrots and carrot juice?-a simple but crucial question is often asked. It’s because we blindly believe that freezing carrots spoil the full natural nutrients.
Honestly speaking, you cannot expect the same standard of fresh carrots and carrot juice (Buy the best carrot juice here) when you freeze them. Freezing spoils nutrients, natural color, and taste a bit but is not full.
You can freeze carrots for sure with or without blanching. But we recommend you blanch them first before freezing.
Blanching helps kill harmful bacteria, keep vitamins, enzymes, and all other nutrients alive and preserve them for more extended periods.
How to freeze carrots:
Before freezing, you have to choose fresh, young, tender, and medium-sized carrots. Avoid limp and dried carrots.
- Wash the carrots properly to remove any dirt, insecticide, or germ from them.
- After washing, peel them and cut them into smaller chunks namely ¼ inch cubes.
- Blanch the carrots’ slices or cubes for up to 2-3 minutes.
- Cool the blanched carrots using ice water.
- Pour them into the freezer-safe bag or zip lock bag and freeze them for later use.
Consider Reading:
How to blanch carrots for freezing:
You can preserve carrots’ color, texture, taste, and nutrients if you blanch them properly.
– Take a large pot, pour some water, and keep the pot on the stove until reaching boiling point.
-Now, throw the carrots slice in the boiling water and boil them for 2-3 minutes.
-Take some ice water in a large bowl and pour with the boiled carrots
-Once the carrots get cold, drain them in a colander or strainer
– Dry them properly. You can use a dry cloth or towel to dry them thoroughly.
-Now, they are ready to freeze.
You can also freeze the carrots for smoothies following the same process.
Can you freeze carrots without blanching?
You can also freeze carrots without blanching. For that, you should not go through the whole process mentioned earlier.
But, you may lose color, texture, and some nutrients if you freeze the carrots without blanching.
How to freeze carrots without blanching:
-Choose the fresh and medium-size carrots.
-Clean and wash them properly to remove any dirt, germ, or insecticide.
– After peeling, cut them into small cubes or slices. If you want maximum nutrients alive, you can cut them without peeling.
– Place the carrots’ cubes or slices on a cookie sheet and freeze them for a couple of hours.
-Once frozen, transfer them in a freezer-safe bag, seal them tightly, and preserve them in a freezer for a longer period.
Can you freeze carrots whole?
You can freeze carrots whole instead of slicing or cutting them into cubes. Before freezing, choose the garden-fresh and tender carrots, wash them well, peel the skin, and cut the stems if have.
Place the whole carrots in a cookie sheet and freeze them until get frozen.
Then, transfer the frozen carrots into a zip lock bag and freeze them for extended periods or later use.
Freezing grated or shredded carrots:
You can also freeze grated or shredded carrots effortlessly. Use shredded carrots in soup, baking, salad, sandwich, pizza, and many more.
Luckily, shredded carrots are easily thawed and you can use them quickly. Freezing grated carrots enables you to use them for longer periods.
Before freezing shredded carrots, you have to cook them well. Blanching prevents certain enzymes from reducing the carrots’ nutrients contents.
How to freeze grated or shredded carrots?
-Collect the garden-fresh and young carrots.
-Clean and wash them well.
-Remove green stems and peel them though it’s not necessary.
-Shred the carrots using a large shredded tool in a food processor.
– Boil 2/3 water in a medium size pan or pot.
– Throw the grated carrots into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes (according to the University of New Mexico).
– After boiling for two minutes, drain the water in a colander and soak another 2 minutes.
-Take some ice water in a large pot and pour with the boiled carrots to stop further cooking.
-Drain them again once get cold and dry them thoroughly covering a towel or dry cloth and refrigerate them for 30 minutes.
-Once get frozen, transfer them in a freezer-safe bag, seal tight and preserve them in a freezer for later use.
Can you freeze raw and baby carrots?
Freezing raw baby carrots is quite easy. Though raw baby carrots are a bit crunchy and sweet, freezing doesn’t degrade the taste and texture that much if you blanch them before preserving them in a freezer.
We recommend not freezing the raw baby carrots without blanching as the enzyme in carrots degrade taste, color, texture, and nutrients.
Blanching helps stop the enzyme’s act of breaking down natural nutrients, color, flavor, and texture and also helps freeze for longer periods.
But, the question is how to freeze baby carrots? You have to follow the same preservation process that we mentioned in how to freeze carrots.
If you freeze baby carrots without blanching, you don’t get the natural color, texture, taste, nutrients as before.
Can you freeze carrot juice?
You can freeze carrot juice without fail for later use. The freezing process is easy and quick. Carrot juice is a sweet, nutritious, and healthy drink that anyone can make easily.
Freezing won’t lose juice’s nutrients, color, taste, and texture that much if you extract the juice using the best carrot juicer.
When frozen, carrot’s juice flavor could be intense. At that time, you have to add some water after thawing to remove concentrated flavor.
How to freeze carrot juice?
- Pick the garden-fresh and medium-size carrots.
- Wash them properly, remove the green stems and peel if you prefer but not essential.
- Toss the whole or slices of carrots into a carrot juicer and add some water.
- After juicing carrots, pour the juice in a glass bottle or an airtight container.
- Seal the jar tightly, write down the date and freeze them for more extended periods.
How long do carrots and carrots juice last in the fridge?
Carrot is a hard root vegetable and could last for 5-7 days at room temperature. If you preserve the carrot whole in the fridge, it may last for 3-4 weeks for sure.
But in the freezer, it lasts for around 8-12 months. You can refrigerate baby carrots for up to 3-4 weeks and preserve them in the freezer around 7-9 months.
Chopped or shredded carrots last for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator and around 6-8 months in the freezer. You can preserve cooked carrots for up to 3-5 days in the fridge and 10-12 months.
If you store carrot juice in an airtight container, you can preserve the juice for up to 3-5 days in the refrigerator and 10-12 months in the freezer. If you open the jar and refrigerate it again, the juice may last for 2-3 days.
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