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brooklyn1 brooklyn1 is offline
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Default Do you need to peel carrots?

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> "Theron" > wrote in message
> ...
>> More about carrots. If you're making a stew or braised dish, do you need
>> to peel the carrots? Why can't you just scrub them thoroughly. I think
>> there's more flavor in the skin, and most likely there's more vitamin and
>> nutrient content near the surface.
>> Any thoughts?
>> Does anyone do this?
>>
>> Ed
>>

>
> There's no need to peel carrots any more than there is need to peel
> potatoes.


That's not true... they're very different vegetables. Most people enjoy
eating baked potato skins, many think the crisp skins are the best part,
they even stuff them. Potato skin contains the majority of the vegetable's
minerals (minerals neither evaporate or become damaged from heat), and a
goodly portion of fiber, so they're nutritious in boiled potatoes too... in
fact years ago folks ate the potato skins rather than filling up on the less
nutritious starchy insides but fed the insides to their livestock to fatten
them up for market.. this was very much the case in eastern Europe. When
folks feel like they have time it's a good idea to eye potatoes before
paring (eyes are toxic) and whiz the potato parings in a blender with some
liquid and add that to a soup/stew, adds extra minerals. Most people don't
like carrots with their skins, certainly not raw, the skins are bitter
(bitterness is a good indication that a vegetable is toxic, carrot skin is
slightly toxic), carrot skins add bitterness to a cooked dish too. Carrot
skins per se don't contain any special nutrition that isn't contained in the
entire carrot... if you're worried eat an extra half serving. And in long
cooking stews/soups, and braises much of the vitamins in carrots (Vitamin A)
is destroyed from the heat, mostly what one gets is sugar, and some fiber
because long cooking in liquid breaks down fiber too. I don't see the point
is scraping carrots (just as laborious as peeling, more laborious because
scraping creates a mess to clean), makes them look unappetizing, presents an
unappealing 'hairy' mouth feel, and increases the surface area of the
vegetable so they will lose more nutrition more quickly to evaporation and
seepage. Also there can be bits of sand, even small pebbles embedded in
carrots, peeling ensures removal... no one needs extra dental bills...
examine and scrub potatoes, any root veggies, carefully too, remove all
bruised/cut portions. And I don't like to order baked potatoes at
restaurants (they don't clean them properly... I usually opt for fries...
they contain little more calories than adding butter/sour cream to baked,
and I rarely make fries at home so they're more a treat, I can easily make
and often do make baked at home.. it's rare I light my oven for a roast that
I don't bake like a half dozen spuds... I enjoy cold spuds the next day,
baked potatoes make for the best potato salad. There're two reasons and
two reasons only for not peeling carrots, feeding live stock and lazyness.