Sous Vide Carrots: Temperature and Time

Sous vide carrots cook at 183°F (83.9°C) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. They come out fully tender with a clean carrot flavor. The butter and juices left in the bag then reduce to a glaze in a skillet.

Temperature and time for carrots

The calculator has one setting for carrots.

The minimum is 45 minutes and the best window is 45 minutes to 1 hour. The time is for whole baby carrots or 1 in (2.5 cm) chunks. Thickness is not an input for carrots in the calculator.

The calculator sets no maximum for carrots. Its note is that the upper time is a texture guide, not a limit, and that longer cooking only makes the food softer.

Potatoes use the same bath temperature, and the vegetables chart covers the other vegetables in the calculator.

Why carrots need a hotter bath than meat

Anova's vegetable guide describes pectin as a glue that holds plant cells together and keeps a vegetable firm. It says pectin does not break down until 183°F (83.9°C), and that the bath has to be at least that hot for vegetables to turn tender.

Jason Logsdon tested the lower end at Amazing Food Made Easy. He held carrots at 150°F (65.6°C) for about 7 hours and reports that they were still very crunchy and tasted almost raw.

Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking makes the same point about carrots used as an aromatic. Sealed in a bag with meat, they do not soften the way they do in conventional cooking, because the meat's temperature is too low to soften their starches and cell walls. If you want carrots with a chuck roast, cook them in a separate bath. The same goes for corned beef, whose hottest setting is 176°F (80°C), still below the carrot bath.

Whole or cut

The calculator's note is to cut thick carrots into even pieces. A thick carrot tapers, so the wide top takes longer to heat through than the narrow tip. Even pieces remove that difference.

Two published recipes handle the cut differently:

Baby carrots can stay whole. López-Alt's cut matches the size the calculator's time applies to. Anova's guide suggests cooking vegetables in the shape you plan to serve, and fitting them into the bag in a tight single layer.

How to sous vide carrots

1. Heat the bath. Set the circulator to 183°F (83.9°C).
2. Prepare the carrots. Peel or scrub them. Cut thick carrots into even pieces.
3. Bag with butter and seasoning. López-Alt's glazed carrots put 1 pound of carrots in the bag with 2 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Arrange the carrots in a single layer.
4. Seal. Use a vacuum sealer, or a zipper-lock bag sealed with the water displacement method. Anova's guide warns that zipper seals can break at high temperatures, and America's Test Kitchen double bags.
5. Submerge and weigh down. The bag has to stay fully under water for the whole cook.
6. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
7. Glaze. Finish in a skillet with the bag liquid, as described below.

Glazing in the bag liquid

The butter, the sugar and the juices the carrots give up all stay in the sealed bag. López-Alt writes that the carrot's flavor intensifies there into "a sweeter, stronger, and downright tastier version of itself."

His method for the glaze:

1. Empty the entire contents of the bag into a 12 in (30 cm) heavy skillet.
2. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid reduces to a shiny glaze. He gives about 2 minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

If the glaze breaks and turns greasy, he adds water a teaspoon at a time and shakes the pan to bring it back.

America's Test Kitchen's honey-glazed carrots start with more liquid in the bag: butter, chicken broth, honey, lemon juice and thyme. Its bath is hotter and longer than the calculator's setting, 190°F (87.8°C) for 1 to 2 hours. That recipe drains the carrots, reduces the liquid alone in a skillet over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes until 2 tablespoons remain, then whisks in cold butter off the heat. With that much liquid the reduction takes longer, and the carrots stay out of the pan while it happens.

Lemon juice in the bag does not dull the color. The University of Illinois Extension's handout on cooking vegetables says carotenoids, the orange pigments in carrots, do not change much in acid and do not dissolve in water. Green vegetables behave differently, which matters for asparagus.

The bath and the glaze can also happen at different times. López-Alt's recipe says the cooked carrots can be stored in the refrigerator after the bath and glazed later. The meal prep guide covers chilling and storing cooked food.

Cooking carrots from frozen

The calculator's carrot times are for carrots that are not frozen. Its instruction is to thaw them first, then cook for the normal 45 minutes to 1 hour.

The guide to cooking from frozen covers the foods that can go straight from the freezer into the bath.

Safety

The calculator lists no safety warnings for carrots. It does not apply a pasteurization table to them, and it shows the pasteurization status as not applicable.

Submersion is the point that applies. Baldwin's guide says pouches must be completely submerged and not tightly arranged or overlapping, to prevent undercooking. The broader rules are in is sous vide safe.

Common problems

The bag floats. America's Test Kitchen notes that carrots tend to float in a water bath and that this leads to uneven cooking. Baldwin adds a second cause at high temperatures: some of the liquid in the bag turns to vapor, and the bag puffs up. He holds bags under with a wire rack. Anova's guide suggests a weight inside the bag or clipped to the outside.

Some pieces are firm and some are soft. The pieces were different sizes, or they were stacked. Cut to one size and keep a single layer.

The carrots are still crunchy after an hour. Check the bath temperature. Anova's guide says pectin does not break down below 183°F (83.9°C), and in Logsdon's test 7 hours at a lower temperature did not soften the carrots. If the bath is at temperature, leave the carrots in longer. The calculator sets no maximum for them.

The glaze is greasy. López-Alt's fix for a broken glaze is to add water a teaspoon at a time and shake the pan until it comes back together.