How to choose good Carrots?

[StillShaving]

I often eat raw carrots as part of a small plate of other raw vegetables including broccoli, tomatoes, onions, etc. Basically a mini tossed salad without the lettuce. While I use to think of carrots as tasteless orange fiber, I have grown to appreciate some of the tastier ones. My problem is that I cannot consistently get the really good ones. I found that buying organic carrots gives better flavor and consistency, but still the "same" bag of whole carrots can taste different each time. My favorites seem a touch sweet and minty at the same time. Searching online I read complaints about spicy and soapness which might be a factor. I had never thought of carrots as being soapy until reading about it and thinking about some of the off flavors. This outline may be off base but the spectrum of flavors seems to progress from: tasteless -> sweet -> minty -> spicy -> bitter -> burnt/smoky. Are these flavors affected by harvest time, shelf age, growing conditions, or something else?

I am trying to figure out which ones to buy, whether that is brand, variety, time of year, etc. I have not bought the individual ones with the green tops, perhaps I should be getting those.

 

[Mempho]

I'd like to know the answer too. Like you I buy organic carrots but it's a crapshoot. All the carrots in a bunch will be the same but one bunch may be sweet and the next tasteless.

 

[borwish]

The best carrots are the ones in the compost! The only way I can eat a carrot is if it is boiled. Raw, roasted, pickled, etc. and they are all bitter. My wife and brothers have always maintained that they are slightly sweet, but I know better. I had to pick them out of my egg fried rice at lunch today.

 

[Tirvine]

See if you can find a mixture of colors, orange, yellow, and purple. Mix in some other root vegetables. I like parsnips, radishes, and, in moderation, daikon.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

If you want a carrot, or any other fruit or veg, that is full of flavour then grow your own. I am no gardener but I recall when my daughter was a child we grew carrots in small pots from seed and they were delicious. My wife now has a small allotment in the garden and everything she grows is way more tasty than anything from the store. I suspect freshness is the key.

 

[StillShaving]

I'd like to know the answer too. Like you I buy organic carrots but it's a crapshoot. All the carrots in a bunch will be the same but one bunch may be sweet and the next tasteless.

Yes, it seemed that my carrots were better tasting this past summer but the last few purchases had been more spicy/bitter. So it could be seasonality and the sourcing. Though the most recent bag had a really nasty tasting one, as if it were grown in charcoal or an old rubber tire.

 

[StillShaving]

See if you can find a mixture of colors, orange, yellow, and purple. Mix in some other root vegetables. I like parsnips, radishes, and, in moderation, daikon.

Thanks, I should add some of these to get even more variety. Daikon (I had to look it up) has never entered the house in raw form, but I think I have seen it in some of the asian food stores in my area.

 

[Tirvine]

Thanks, I should add some of these to get even more variety. Daikon (I had to look it up) has never entered the house in raw form, but I think I have seen it in some of the asian food stores in my area.

It is bitter and intense. So use it judiciously.

 

[Buster]

The stubby carrots the size of a golf ball. Those ones are sweet. Not sure where you’re located but here in Northern California it’s perfect time to plant carrots from seed. Best carrot flavor is one you picked from your garden.

 

[hairless wonder]

It is bitter and intense. So use it judiciously.

Totally depends on how it's prepared. If you've ever had fried turnip cake at dim sum, you had daikon. The turnip in the dish is actually daikon.

Also, daikon in broth-based soups (especially soups made with pork bones) is delicious. There's no bitterness at all.

 

[Mempho]

I grew my own carrots and, yes, home-grown carrots are the sweetest. I never actually tasted them myself, but the rabbits who ate them told me so.

They loved my peanuts even more.

 

[Tirvine]

Totally depends on how it's prepared. If you've ever had fried turnip cake at dim sum, you had daikon. The turnip in the dish is actually daikon.

Also, daikon in broth-based soups (especially soups made with pork bones) is delicious. There's no bitterness at all.

Absolutely, but if you eat it the way you'd eat a raw carrot you are in for a ride!

 

[hairless wonder]

Absolutely, but if you eat it the way you'd eat a raw carrot you are in for a ride!

You know, oddly enough, I'd never considered doing that. Maybe it's because I've eaten it cooked my entire life. It'd be like someone suggesting I try uncooked bacon. It's just something I'd never consider, even though I've had (end enjoy) steak tartare and sashimi. Now I got a hankering for some raw bacon with a side of uncooked daikon!

 

[Tirvine]

You know, oddly enough, I'd never considered doing that. Maybe it's because I've eaten it cooked my entire life. It'd be like someone suggesting I try uncooked bacon. It's just something I'd never consider, even though I've had (end enjoy) steak tartare and sashimi. Now I got a hankering for some raw bacon with a side of uncooked daikon!

I eat it cooked as you would, but last Thanksgiving I decided to toss a few very small, thin bits in with roasting fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, and leeks. I tried just a very small piece fresh. Yikes! The roasting mellowed it some, but it still came through as very assertive, making me glad I had cut it extremely fine. It was actually a kind of welcome counterpoint to the rich things like dressing with mushroom gravy.

 

[StillShaving]

The stubby carrots the size of a golf ball. Those ones are sweet. Not sure where you’re located but here in Northern California it’s perfect time to plant carrots from seed. Best carrot flavor is one you picked from your garden.

I will look for those, maybe they will be available at my local farmer's market.

I did try some loose unbagged ones for the past couple of days. They were roughly 1.5-2 times larger in diameter than the bagged ones (approximately two fingers in dia) . They were straighter and cleaner than the bagged ones, not quite as perfect as those "baby" carrots, but still looked like they had been processed. They were better tasting, there was some sweetness to them though not very much, but at least no bitterness. And they were softer.

 

[StillShaving]

You know, oddly enough, I'd never considered doing that. Maybe it's because I've eaten it cooked my entire life. It'd be like someone suggesting I try uncooked bacon. It's just something I'd never consider, even though I've had (end enjoy) steak tartare and sashimi. Now I got a hankering for some raw bacon with a side of uncooked daikon!

I have known people who would eat raw turnips on a dare, and claimed to have eaten that way as a kid. I can barely take them cooked. Sounds like daikon is even stronger.

 

[hairless wonder]

I have known people who would eat raw turnips on a dare, and claimed to have eaten that way as a kid. I can barely take them cooked. Sounds like daikon is even stronger.

I've never tried a raw turnip, so I couldn't say. Then again, I've also never tried a raw daikon.

 

[Faron_shaver]

I often eat raw carrots as part of a small plate of other raw vegetables including broccoli, tomatoes, onions, etc. Basically a mini tossed salad without the lettuce. While I use to think of carrots as tasteless orange fiber, I have grown to appreciate some of the tastier ones. My problem is that I cannot consistently get the really good ones. I found that buying organic carrots gives better flavor and consistency, but still the "same" bag of whole carrots can taste different each time. My favorites seem a touch sweet and minty at the same time. Searching online I read complaints about spicy and soapness which might be a factor. I had never thought of carrots as being soapy until reading about it and thinking about some of the off flavors. This outline may be off base but the spectrum of flavors seems to progress from: tasteless -> sweet -> minty -> spicy -> bitter -> burnt/smoky. Are these flavors affected by harvest time, shelf age, growing conditions, or something else?

I am trying to figure out which ones to buy, whether that is brand, variety, time of year, etc. I have not bought the individual ones with the green tops, perhaps I should be getting those.

In order to get sweet carrots, you need to find the seeds of a sweet carrot variety. Grow it on loose soil fertilized with ash and manure or compost.

I don't know how farmers grow. But in our country, you can buy sweet carrots on the market.

 

[StillShaving]

I went to a different grocery store this week and got some more loose carrots. A gentleman patiently waited behind me until I picked out my portion, I then asked him if these were any good and how they compared to the bagged ones. He basically said the loose carrots were more tender, sweeter, probably a lot fresher and even cheaper than the 2 lb bag. So better in all aspects. That he never bothered with the bagged ones.

Which made me wonder how did my household and so many other people get conditioned into buying the pre-bagged carrots? I believe this grocery carried 1, 2, and 5 lb bags as well as baby carrots. The bagged ones are a little more convenient and seem a little more sanity (especially in these corona times), but as long as they are washed there should be little worry.