Because carrots should taste like carrots, not soap.

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Biting into a soapy-tasting raw carrot is just the WORST.

It took me years to overcome my aversion and enjoy munching on raw carrots.

An open bag of baby carrots

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And it’s preventable.

The Reason Raw Carrots Taste Soapy

Most raw carrots don’t start out tasting soapy.

Why would they be such a popular vegetable if that were the case?

How to Sous Vide Carrots peel the carrots

Simply Recipes / Alison Conklin

Nope, carrotsbecomesoapy-tasting because ofa chemical reaction right in your fridge.

Carrots get their signature flavor from compounds called terpenoids.

So far, so good.

Where it most often goes wrong is in storage.

Fresh produce gives off harmless ethylene gas, some (like apples and bananas) more so than others.

(I guess my family stored our carrots all kinds of wrong when I was growing up.)

Terpenoids are highest when carrots are young, so carrots harvested too early can be bitter.

Then pop them into an airtight container or zip-top bag.

Same deal for larger, regular unpeeled carrots: keep them in an airtight bag.

Kept this way, carrots can last for months without getting soapy.

Are Soapy-Tasting Carrots Safe to Eat?

They just taste gross.

But not all is lost.

The soapy taste mellows once those carrots are cooked, so consider puttingglazed carrotson the menu tonight.