Growingpains - It is recommended that carrots be peeled in order to safely can. The reason is that the spores that can cause botulism are found in the soil. Since carrots grow directly in the soil there is a higher chance that botulism may be a risk.
Oh dear Netty. It's a wonder I'm not dead. I have almost always washed freshly pulled carrots in white vinegar solution, scrubbed with a brush and eaten. In fact, I have pulled one, washed it with the hose and eaten it. I reckon I best rethink my methods. Thank you.
Rather than peeling with a knife or anything,,try getting a pack of those cheapie Teflon scrubbies . The thin flat ones. Takes the peel right off in a third of the time. Don`t worry Growingpains,, you are safe. Botulism is in the soil everywhere but is harmless as long as oxygen is present. Its the canning that creates the oxygen free environment and that is when they produce the toxin. They have no toxin as long as oxygen is present.
Here's a funny story about cleaning carrots...Many years ago when our children were young, I had a massive garden plus stock to take care of, worked part time and Mike worked away from home 5 days a week. I was a busy, busy woman. Anyway I procrastinated on thinning my carrots so when I harvested them, they were all small! Most only 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. I just left them in the wheel barrel as I wasn't going to try to peel or scrub that many. Mike came home that night and asked about the carrots and I told him I was going to feed them to the animals! He said he'd check them out and I started dinner. About the time dinner was ready, he brought in the carrots and they were all cleaned of dirt, skinned and ready to can! .... He had washed the dirt off them and then put them in the washing machine and let the machine agitate them! The agitation rubbed all the skin off! He assured me he didn't use soap, bleach, or fabric softener AND it didn't hurt the machine!
Over 50 years ago while in the military I found myself on KP. The cook said for two of us to peel 100 lbs. of potatoes. The task was not as daunting as it sounds as the kitchen had an industrial size peeler. We just dumped the 100 lbs into the peeler and turned the machine on. The rotary action of the rough sided peeler would soon have the potatoes done. That is, if you watched the machine....needless to say other tasks had us not minding the spuds. Time passes quickly when you are a potato in an automatic peeler. Later when we remembered the tubers and opened the peeler, they were the size of walnuts. The next 100 lbs. were however, watched carefully and the cook was none the wiser. Jerry
