Sous Vide Carrots

I tested the sous vide earlier this week on carrots.  I have read how the sous vide works exceptionally well with vegetables like carrots and I wanted to verify the claim for myself.

I took eight carrots (not the little "baby" carrots, but real ones) and soaked them in some ice water for an hour or so.  After which, I peeled them and put half of them in a 184F water bath for another hour or so.

What I noticed at this point is there was some water loss in the carrots, but not much.  I then took the four raw carrots and two cooked carrots, patted them dry and roasted them in an oven at 350F for 30 minutes.  I took the last two cooked carrots and roasted them in a 450F oven for 15 minutes (after patting them dry as well).

The first observation when the carrots came out was how much color was lost from the raw sample.  They were a dusty pale orange, while the 350F sous vide carrots retained much of their bright orange.  They all had a dark roasted color where the carrots touched the metal.  It was between the grill marks that the color was very different.

In a blind taste test, the 350F sous vide carrots were sweeter and more carrot-like.  The 450F sous vide carrots were slightly firmer than either of the 350F carrots.  They, too, were sweeter and more carrot-like.

While all this is true, my last observation was the degree to which they differed from simply roasting raw carrots.  The difference in taste and texture were difficult to distinguish.  Sure, side-by-side, the taste and texture were noticeably different.  However, by the third carrot, Weezie remarked how they all tasted like carrots to her.  Once an entire carrot is eaten, the rest all taste like roasted carrot.  The taste and texture difference is only noticeable when compared side-by-side.  The only significant and lasting difference was in the color.

Will I do it again?  Probably not.  The amount of time and effort are greater than the payoff.  I might do it one more time to add a few other techniques to the comparison.  For example, what about putting the carrots to a butane torch or perhaps seeing how it takes on smoke.