Carrots can quickly turn soft and bendy if they're not stored properly, but a food scientist has shared a simple way to help them stay fresh for longer. Most people probably put their carrots straight into the vegetable drawer after getting home from the supermarket. But food scientist Dr Bryan Quoc Le says the key to keeping carrots fresh is getting the temperature and humidity right.
Temperature and humidity tips
Speaking to Simply Recipes, Dr Le, author of 150 Food Science Questions Answered, said carrots are best stored as close to 34F, around 1C, as possible and at 98% humidity. While a fridge crisper drawer can provide fairly humid conditions, he explained that most only reach around 95%.
Instead, he recommends putting carrots inside a closed container in the fridge, with a separate bowl or container of water next to them. Dr Le said: "The very best way to keep the humidity high" is to store them this way.
Alternative methods and storage life
The added moisture helps create the humid conditions carrots need without leaving them sitting directly in water. Another option is to keep carrots in a bag after wrapping them in a paper towel, which can help deal with excess moisture that could otherwise lead to mould. However, Dr Le said carrots stored this way won't last as long as those kept using his preferred container method.
Any green tops should also be removed before the carrots are put away. The greens can pull moisture from the roots, which means leaving them attached could cause the carrots to dry out more quickly. According to Dr Le, carrots stored using his preferred method could remain fresh for between 14 and 18 weeks.
Impact on freshness and waste
The same storage advice can be used for regular orange carrots as well as rainbow varieties. So rather than simply throwing a bag of carrots into the fridge and forgetting about them, changing how they're stored could help keep them firm for much longer and mean fewer end up being thrown away.
