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Dried Carrots
Young carrots are the best. Scrape, wash and dry, then cut in thin slices and dry in the same manner as string beans.
A cross-reference recipe: the whole method lives under the string bean entry, which in books of this period means spreading the prepared vegetable in thin layers on trays and holding it in gentle, moving heat until brittle. A few specifics fill the gaps.
- The hinge: slice thin and evenCarrots dry slowly because of their density, and uneven slices mean some pieces are brittle while others are still damp enough to mould in the jar. Aim for 1/8 inch, and a mandoline or the slicing disc of a food processor is worth the trouble here.
- Blanch firstThe original skips this. Two to three minutes in boiling water (or steam) before drying deactivates the enzymes that turn dried carrot dull and hay-flavoured; drain and pat dry before the trays.
- TemperatureA dehydrator at 125-135F stands in for whatever gentle heat the string bean entry directed. In a conventional oven, the lowest setting with the door propped and a fan nearby; much above 145F risks cooking or case-hardening the slices instead of drying them.
- How dry is dryProperly dried carrot is leathery to brittle and snaps rather than bends, with no cool or pliable spot in the centre. Expect 6-10 hours in a dehydrator. Let a slice cool before testing, since warm pieces always feel softer than they are.
- ConditioningNot in the original, and it matters. Pack the cooled chips loosely in a jar for a week, shaking daily; if any condensation appears inside the glass, return the lot to the dryer. This evens out residual moisture between pieces.
- StorageAirtight glass or metal, dark and cool. Cloth or paper bags, often recommended in period books, invite insects and humidity; a sealed jar should keep the flavour well for a year.
- Yield and useRoughly 2 lb of trimmed carrots gives about 4 oz dried. They are for soups, stews and stock rather than a side dish: cover with boiling water for 20-30 minutes, or add them straight to a long-simmered pot.
- "Young carrots are the best"Sound advice, and worth honouring. Older storage carrots have a woody core that never rehydrates properly and stays stringy in the finished dish.
Drying was the oldest and cheapest form of household preservation, and it survives in canning manuals of the early twentieth century as the poor relation of the glass jar: cheap, requiring little equipment, and increasingly out of fashion as home canning equipment became affordable. That is likely why the entry is so brief and refers you elsewhere — the reader is assumed to have already met the tray-and-warm-air routine in the string bean recipe. Interest in home drying revived during the First World War, when American and British food-conservation campaigns promoted it alongside canning as a way to save tin and sugar. Dried carrot was valued for winter soup stock, carrying sweetness and colour into the pot.