Best Fermented Food and Drink: Dilly Carrots – How to Make Pickled Carrots

Dilly Carrots – How to Make Pickled Carrots

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I just love pickled foods. So does my family. Pickles, in particular. My kids would eat an entire jar of pickles if I let them. There is just something magical about the combination of salt, dill, and garlic.

I have lacto-fermented pickles in the past, but wanted to try something different. I have heard of people pickling green beans, but I still wanted the crunch, so I thought fermented carrots might be a good option! I am pretty sure anything can be lacto-fermented (don't quote me on that) so I started looking around. Turns out lots of people make a dilly carrot of some sort. Most of the recipes I found were practically the same, so I decided to just wing it and throw something together. It worked.

First I threw some quartered garlic in a jar along with a bunch of dill. Then, I sliced some carrots into sticks. Anywhere between 5 and 7 carrots will fill a quart size mason jar. I knew I just needed enough to REALLY pack them in there tight.

Once I had my sticks, I packed them in my jar as tight as I could and then added 1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt and 1 Tablespoon of whey.

All that was left to do was to fill the jar with filtered water. Leave some headspace at the top of the jar, an inch or so. Screw on your lid and leave it on your counter and ferment for 4 to 7 days. The warmer your kitchen, the faster the ferment. In fact, mine were ready in 3 days. Taste them after 4 days and if you like them pop them in the fridge to stop the fermentation process and enjoy! You may notice your carrots start to float to the top. This is normal, just make sure they stay submerged in the liquid.

NOTE: If you use a mason jar, you will need to “burp” your jars periodically. I would just check the metal lid from time to time and if I couldn't push it, I knew it was time for a burp. Some people prefer to use a vegetable fermenter of some kind that has an air lock at the top. This eliminates the need to burp your jars. A fermenting crock is on my wish list for sure. No more burping lids AND it has a weight to hold down the veggies.

UPDATE: Tamara informed me that she recently learned that “burping” the jars is unnecessary. Just cover tight with a mason jar lid and leave it be until it is done. She recommended putting the jars on a cookie sheet to catch the liquid that seeps out during fermentation. I will give this method a try next time!

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