We’ve been laying down more winter stores today, pickling a large batch of baby carrots that will last about three months as snacks. We plant all our carrots at once, not in succession, then thin to finger-width spacing in late June or early July. Two weeks later (now, in other words) we thin to two-finger’s width spacing and pickle almost all the baby carrots we pick. In another two weeks, we’ll thin to four-finger spacing and pickle those thinnings as well. After that, we’ll let the crop grow on as main crop carrots, picking them as we need them through the autumn and then lifting the rest for storage (either freezing or clamping) through winter. We also eat fresh carrots now, but it’s more important to lay down stores for winter and spring than to enjoy a glut of fresh carrots.
What are pickled carrots like to eat and whats the process of pickling them?
Pickled baby carrots are delicious. We scrub them, leave the skin on and pop them (still raw) in hot sterilised bottles, then pour boiling hot pickling vinegar over them. The lids, which have been immersed in boiling water, are then put on. When the bottles cool, they should vacuum seal - any that don’t will have to be bottled again or refrigerated and eaten within a few weeks.
Pickling vinegar must be at least 6% acid - anything less and there’s a strong risk of the pickles going off. For baby carrots, the vinegar is flavoured with mace, whole white peppercorns, dill seed, caraway seed, and a couple of teaspoons of salt. (It’s a similar process to pickling onions or beetroot - although beetroot does need cooking first.)
I can concur they taste delicious having had the pleasure of tasting Stoneheads pickles and preserves.
I have also done ‘dilled’ carrots and added a sprig of dill. A nice treat. I also love pickled beets - they look so beautiful on the shelf and taste so good on the tongue.
We also pickle French beans (with dill), courgettes (with chilli flakes), cucumbers (sliced) and gherkins (whole), broad beans, and eggs. If we ever stop eating fresh cabbage long enough to pickle some, then we’ll have sauerkraut as well. But we sow so many different varieties of cabbage that we can eat them fresh year round.
Pickled garlic, pickled shallots and pickled gooseberries are next on the list.
We also make relishes, chutneys, chow-chows, and the like. It means we can make the tastes of summer extend right through to the following spring.
and having tasted many of the above, am currently salivating!
except for the picked beets…that just not fair!
I’m going to try the carrots. Do you eat them with bread and cheese or with a hot meal?
We tend to eat pickled carrots as snacks when fresh fruit is out of season, with sandwiches for lunch, and occasionally with roast meat and roast veg.
One thing to remember when making pickles is to use only whole spices, not ground ones. If you use ground ones they turn the vinegar brown and you get all sorts of strange stains on the vegetables - they still taste good though.