How To Dehydrate Carrots
Got extra carrots?? Dehydrate them! Drying carrots is one of the best way to preserve it. Dehydrated carrots is great for adding flavor to soups, stews, sauces and more easily and without the mess. The process of dehydrating carrots is easy, and when properly stored, they can be kept for over 12 months.
Ingredients
- 1 lb carrots fresh
Instructions
Wash + Blanche:
- Place a steam basket in a large heavy-bottomed pot and add water to just below the level of the basket. Cover and place over medium-high heat to bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, trim the green fronds from the tops of the carrots, and scrub away any soil. For carrots grown in my own garden, I simply clean them well before proceeding. Purchased carrots get peeled before dehydrating here, because I don't know the conditions they were grown in. Avoid soaking your carrots in water as this can cause nutrient leaching.
- Dice, slice, or shred your carrots as desired.
Blanch The Carrots:
- Once the pot reaches a boil, carefully transfer diced or sliced carrots into the steam basket and process for 3-4 minutes, opt for 2 minute blanch if you're working with shredded carrots.
- Meanwhile, prepare a large bowl by filling it with cold water and ice cubes.
- Transfer the blanched carrots from the steam basket into the ice bath. Allow cut carrots to cool completely in the ice bath before straining well and blotting dry with a clean kitchen towel.
Dehydrate:
- Spread prepared carrot pieces on dehydrator trays, it's important to keep it in a single layer, again, to improve drying time, efficiency, and consistency.
- Place the trays in the food dehydrator and dry at 125f for 6-8 hours or until completely dried. To test the carrots for doneness, remove a few pieces, allow them to cool to room temperature, then check out the texture - they should be very hard and brittle.
Store + Condition:
- Once the carrot pieces are completely dried, allow the racks to cool in the dehydrator for 30-45 minutes. This allows the heat to dissipate and reduces the chances of condensation forming in your storage container.
- Once the dried carrot pieces are in storage containers, shake the jar each day or so for a week and observe the container for signs of moisture. If there are no signs of moisture, you're good to go, place them in a cool dark place for long-term storage! If there is evidence of moisture in the container, you must add the celery back to the dehydrator and dry it longer. After they've been dried the second time, you'll need to go through the conditioning process again.
Notes
storage
Dehydrated carrots, properly stored in airtight, preferably glass jars, in a climate controlled location will maintain its quality for at least 12 months. Aim to keep yours in a cool, dark location, away from light that can degrade the quality during long term storage. I personally like to place my dehydrated carrots into jars and vacuum seal them in my Avid Armor USV32 chamber vacuum sealer! It works amazing for removing the air from mason jars, giving my dehydrated goods a longer shelf life.rehydrating dried carrots
The guidelines for rehydrating carrots are the same as most dehydrated foods - add an equal amount of dehydrated carrot and water - by volume - and allow to soak.
The dried carrots can be reconstituted using hot water or cold water, hot water will begin cooking the carrots while cool water will take longer to rehydrate. Avoid soaking for longer than 2 hours - it can get a little gross!
to blanch, or not to blanch?
Blanching your carrots before dehydrating can stop chemical changes within the carrot associated with spoilage, preserve color, and stop ripening. Although it seems counter intuitive, blanching can help improve dry time as cooking can help to break down fibrous cell walls within the carrots. Blanched veggies store longer without noticeable deprication in product quality and actually rehydrate faster.