Expert: Carol Schlitt - 11/12/2006

Question
I have had diced carrots in a plastic container in my refrigerator freezer for some seven months.  This was because my blender went bad.  When I thaw out this carrot it doesn't have a bad odor or seem spoilt.  Is it safe to consume this and could you direct me to a website that describes how to make this carrot into wine?
Thank you.  

Answer
Hi Winston,

Yes, frozen diced carrots are safe to consume after 7 months. Freezing is an excellent method of long-term storage of fruits, vegetables and meat -- but the key is proper preparation and packaging so that air is eliminated from the packaging. You see, air is the enemy in freezing -- it causes color, flavor and texture changes in foods making them taste funny, look funny and have a dried out, cardboard-like look.  

To freeze carrots for future consumption, I recommend to check out this research-based food preservation site -- The National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia. Their website is: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/  On the left hand side is a link under "How Do I" freeze.  When you click on that link, you'll be taken to a page that lists specific instructions on how to freeze individual foods.  Click on "carrots." This will give you the instructions on how to successfully freeze carrots.

Now to your second question -- how to make carrot wine. I found several websites with recipes by simply entering "carrot wine" in Google. Here's one recipe at this site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pagrosse/RecipeWines.htm#Carrot

I hope this answers your questions. If you should have more questions, please let me know.

Carol