How to Can Carrots for Long Term Food Storage
Having canned carrots on hand is such a nice convenience all year long. Learn how to easily can carrots for long term food storage this year.
Canning carrots for long term storage is really quite simple and a great way to ensure they last a long time.
If you are growing carrots in your garden, you want to be able to use them as long as possible. When you can carrots, they are shelf stable for a year or longer and can be used in many ways.
Our favorite ways to use canned carrots after getting them out of the jars is to add them to soups (like our cheeseburger soup) or stews near the end of the cooking time. We also like to open up a jar and dump them into a pot to warm up and eat just like that, maybe a little butter and brown sugar added when warm.
This is what I call homemade fast food. And the reason that we choose to can carrots.
Equipment You Need to Can Carrots
Carrots are a low acid food and will need to be pressure canned. You will not be able to use a water bath or steam canner to can carrots.
If you haven’t gotten your pressure canner off the shelf yet, carrots are a great start. That is where I started when finally being brave enough to get out the pressure canner for the first time.
Quick List of Equipment
- Carrots
- Salt (kosher or sea) optional
- Pressure canner
- Jars (pints or quarts)
- New lids and rings for the jars
- Funnel
- Kettle for boiling water or stock pot if hot packing
- Ladle
- Towel to set the jars on when they come out of the canner
How to Prepare Your Carrots to Can
Basically there are 2 ways
- Scrub your carrots real well so they don’t need to be peeled
- Skip the scrub step and just rinse and peel
You will do a bit more scrubbing or spend a little more time on peeling. Whatever works best for you.
Once you have scrubbed or peeled (I’ve done both and don’t really have a preference)
You will need to chop up your carrots. This is the most time consuming part of canning carrots. Recruit helpers if you can.
Raw Pack or Hot Pack your Carrots
Raw pack is when you put your chopped up carrots into the jars and then pour boiling water over the jars before placing the lid on top. This is how I do a lot of my produce including pineapple and green beans.
Hot pack is when you boil the carrots in water on the stove for five minutes to get everything good and hot and then place those carrots into the jars with a ladle and then top with the hot cooking water before placing the lid and ring on top.
You can do either method and I have instructions for both. I like using the raw pack and filling the jars as I cut up the carrots. Then I fill with the boiling water when I have enough for a canner full.
Should I Use Salt with Canned Carrots?
Canned carrots are good with salt and without salt. You get to decide because it doesn’t change anything with the safety of canning or the length of preservation.
If you want to use salt, fill the jars with chopped carrots. When you have a canner full of jars ready, put 1/2 teaspoon of salt for a pint or 1 teaspoon for a quart of carrots. You can reduce or not use also.
Make sure you are not using table salt. Use a kosher, canning, or sea salt that does not have any other ingredients besides salt.
Step-by-Step How to Can Carrots
Clean Your Kitchen
I think this is an important step that sometimes gets forgotten with canning. Usually there is a lot going on when produce is coming in at the end of the season and things can get a little crazy.
Take your time and start with a clean kitchen. Dishwasher cleaned out, dishes washed and put away. Have all your main counters clear. You will thank yourself later.
Get Out All Your Supplies
Take out your pressure canner and place it on the stove with the proper amount of water according to your canner instructions.
Gather all the jars you think you will need. If they are not clean, get a soapy sink of water going and put them in it. Clean them out and place them on a towel next to your cutting board. They do not need to be dry.
Locate your cutting board, knife, funnel, ladles, jar lifter, new jar lids, and rings. Place them out in all the places you will need them when canning.
Clean Your Carrots and Prepare for Jars
When you can carrots, you want to clean them first.
Scrub or peel your carrots and get them ready to chop.
Chop your carrots how you will want to eat them. I usually slice them 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
For Raw Pack –
Place carrots in the jars as you chop, pushing them down tight. While you are chopping, make sure your canner with water is warming up. You will not want it to be boiling, but just warm so that it is near the same temperature as the jars when they go in.
Also be warming up water to be poured over the top of the carrots in the jars. This water should be at boiling temperature.
When you have your carrots in the jars, you can either put salt on top of the carrots or not.
When you get enough jars full to fill your canner, ladle the boiling water into the jars over the carrots.
Leave 1 inch headspace and put on new lids and then add rings.
Add your jars to the pressure canner with the water at similar temperature as your jars (not too hot or the jars will break while canning).
For Hot Pack –
As you chop your carrots, place in a big bowl or pot. You won’t be filling jars as you go.
Once your carrots are all chopped, or you have a large amount, blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes and then transfer into warm jars. (I leave my jars in a low oven after rinsing them out so they stay warm when I hot pack.)
Once your jars are full with hot carrots, fill to the top with boiling water leaving 1 inch head space. Add lids and rings and place into the canner. Your canner water can be hotter with hot pack carrots because your jars are much warmer than they are with raw pack. It can be at a simmer.
Pressure Canning the Jars
Make sure you read through your pressure canner manual before starting this part. If you are brand new to pressure canning, read through a couple times to be sure of the steps for your specific canner. You will also have some differences in time/pressure with a dial-guage pressure canner compared to a weighted-guage pressure canner.
Once the jars are in the canner, place the lid on top and tighten. Turn the heat up and let the pressure build in your canner. I have found that on my camp stove gas burners that I use outside, I do not need to turn it up all the way. It does better with medium heat. You will have to play with your stove and see what works best for you. Your burner on high at this point could be fine.
Watch the canner for a steady stream of steam. Once you see the steam, set the timer for 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, place the canning weight on top. Then you will watch for the pressure to build up on the dial. Watch for the correct pressure on the dial and then start the timer according to your altitude and type of canner. See chart below.
Watch the Canner
With pressure canning, you need to be around to watch the pressure gauge. Adjust the temperature up or down if needed to keep it at the right pressure.
When the time is done, turn off the stove and leave it alone to come down in pressure. It will take awhile to cool to room temperature. When it does, open the canner and remove the lid. Carefully, lift the jars out of the canner and place on a towel on the counter. I make sure all the rings are tight at this stage as some work their way a bit loose.
Check for the lids to seal, but leave the jars on the counter for the next 12-24 hours undisturbed. If sealed, remove the rings, wipe down, and label. Store jars in a cool, dark place and they should last 12-18 months or longer.
If there is a jar that doesn’t seal, place in the fridge and use within a week.
That’s it! Now you will be able to can carrots too.
Don’t forget to pin this for later!
