Easy Sun Dried Carrots

attosa
Diamond Post Medal for All Time! 1,246 Posts

Dried Carrots with and without lemon juice Take advantage of the extra hot, dry weather if you've got it. We definitely do here in California, and next door in Nevada and Arizona. Some foods, you can sun dry without blanching beforehand. Carrots are a great example. When dehydrated, they can be reconstituted in soups, stews, and casseroles. You can also pulse them in a food processor and use them in cakes, smoothies and breads. My local shop had carrots on sale for 29 cents per pound so I had to fill up!

In this main photo, you can see the batch I made with lemon juice on the left (more vibrant) and the batch I made omitting the lemon juice on the right (a bit brown).

Ingredients:

2 lb shredded carrots
4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Steps:

Add lemon juice to the carrots and mix well. This will prevent the carrots from turning brown in the drying process.

Sprinkle carrots onto large baking sheets in thin layers, making sure they will be well exposed to the sun. Leave them under direct sunlight until dried, about 2 days. Bring them inside at night to avoid any dew. To use them, give them a quick rinse and dry beforehand. To fully reconstitute, soak them in water for one hour.