Defrosting Carrots via Microwave?
 

I recently started buying ready-to-eat baby carrots to eat as a healthy
snack. You're supposed to keep them in the refrigerator section of your
fridge but I have some kind of a mental block and always "instinctively" put
the darned things in the freezer section instead of the fridge section. I've
done this three times now, most recently last night.

I tried letting the first package frozen carrots thaw out on the counter but
they turned dark and didn't look right. I tried letting the second package
of frozen carrots thaw out in the fridge section but the same thing
happened. My mother told me that if they turned dark they weren't safe to
eat so I threw both of those packages in the garbage.

Now I've done it a third time. Is there anything I can do to "rescue" the
frozen carrots? I was wondering if defrosting them in the microwave might do
the trick: get them back to a temperature where they can be stored in the
fridge section again WITHOUT having turning them black and inedible? I
really hate to throw out yet another package of these carrots.

If there is a technique that will work - microwave-based or not - I'd love
to hear about it. I'm bound to do this again a few times until my brain
comes off autopilot and stop putting the carrots in the freezer section of
the fridge....

--
Rhino

Rhino wrote:
> I recently started buying ready-to-eat baby carrots to eat as a healthy
> snack. You're supposed to keep them in the refrigerator section of your
> fridge but I have some kind of a mental block and always "instinctively" put
> the darned things in the freezer section instead of the fridge section. I've
> done this three times now, most recently last night.
>
> I tried letting the first package frozen carrots thaw out on the counter but
> they turned dark and didn't look right. I tried letting the second package
> of frozen carrots thaw out in the fridge section but the same thing
> happened. My mother told me that if they turned dark they weren't safe to
> eat so I threw both of those packages in the garbage.
>
> Now I've done it a third time. Is there anything I can do to "rescue" the
> frozen carrots? I was wondering if defrosting them in the microwave might do
> the trick: get them back to a temperature where they can be stored in the
> fridge section again WITHOUT having turning them black and inedible? I
> really hate to throw out yet another package of these carrots.
>
> If there is a technique that will work - microwave-based or not - I'd love
> to hear about it. I'm bound to do this again a few times until my brain
> comes off autopilot and stop putting the carrots in the freezer section of
> the fridge....
>

You're never going to get the original texture back. Freezing produces
ice crystals that puncture cell walls and allow leakage of fluids.
That's why your carrots turn black and floppy. Think frostbite.

They're probably not poisonous, merely disgusting. The easiest remedy
is to pay attention to what you're doing.

Kathleen

Rhino wrote:

> I recently started buying ready-to-eat baby carrots to eat as a healthy
> snack. You're supposed to keep them in the refrigerator section of your
> fridge but I have some kind of a mental block and always "instinctively" put
> the darned things in the freezer section instead of the fridge section. I've
> done this three times now, most recently last night.

...snip...

The best I can suggest is that you do something about that mental block and stop
putting them into the freezer. Get into the habit of sticking into the freezer
only those things which are already frozen or things that you want to freeze. A
good rule of thumb is that produce meant ot be go into the freezer usually
doesn't come in clear bags. You can buy frozen baby carrots, and they are not
bad.

Just to followup on this thread, I've come up with a satisfactory solution
to my problem.

I was overstating the case when I described the defrosted carrots as black;
they were a little darker and softer looking than before the freezing but
black is too strong a word. So, when the third bag of carrots defrosted, I
decided to try a bite of one of the carrots. I figured one bite wouldn't
kill me, especially if I spit it out if the taste were off.

As it turns out, the carrots tasted fine. They were soft and absolutely
saturated with moisture; it was as if they'd been soaking in water for
hours. I think that explains the colour change. But the taste was fine and
I've eaten a fair number of them now with no ill effect.

And for what it's worth, I didn't put the carrots in the freezer because I
was drunk. In fact, I don't drink alcohol (or use illicit drugs). I have
been in the habit of buying only frozen vegetables for a long time so I
inevitably put vegetables into the freezer when I was done with them,
without even consciously thinking about it.

The correct solution to my problem was, as several of you pointed out, to
simply stop putting the carrots in the freezer. However, since I was not
consciously deciding to put them in the freezer, I had to think of another
solution. I've decided that future packages of baby carrots will be
immediately transferred to an empty margarine container as soon as I unpack
my groceries. That way, I will be very unlikely to ever put them in the
freezer because they won't be in a bag any more and because I don't put
margarine in the freezer. Simple, but it should work ;-)

Rhino

Just to followup on this thread, I've come up with a satisfactory solution
to my problem.

I was overstating the case when I described the defrosted carrots as black;
they were a little darker and softer looking than before the freezing but
black is too strong a word. So, when the third bag of carrots defrosted, I
decided to try a bite of one of the carrots. I figured one bite wouldn't
kill me, especially if I spit it out if the taste were off.

As it turns out, the carrots tasted fine. They were soft and absolutely
saturated with moisture; it was as if they'd been soaking in water for
hours. I think that explains the colour change. But the taste was fine and
I've eaten a fair number of them now with no ill effect.

And for what it's worth, I didn't put the carrots in the freezer because I
was drunk. In fact, I don't drink alcohol (or use illicit drugs). I have
been in the habit of buying only frozen vegetables for a long time so I
inevitably put vegetables into the freezer when I was done with them,
without even consciously thinking about it.

The correct solution to my problem was, as several of you pointed out, to
simply stop putting the carrots in the freezer. However, since I was not
consciously deciding to put them in the freezer, I had to think of another
solution. I've decided that future packages of baby carrots will be
immediately transferred to an empty margarine container as soon as I unpack
my groceries. That way, I will be very unlikely to ever put them in the
freezer because they won't be in a bag any more and because I don't put
margarine in the freezer. Simple, but it should work ;-)

Rhino

In rec.food.cooking, Rhino > wrote:

> And for what it's worth, I didn't put the carrots in the freezer because I
> was drunk. In fact, I don't drink alcohol (or use illicit drugs).

Maybe THAT is your problem. Loosen up!

I bet that you suffer from anxiety, so that all sorts of stuff is
constantly swirling through your head, distracting you from the task at
hand.

If you are too uptight to even think of chemical help, try some zen-type
meditation. Be Here Now. Never mind the gaffe you commited 5 years ago.
It's over. Don't worry about your daughter's sore throat turning into
rheumatic fever. It probably won't.

Be Here Now.