Carrot juice recipes are probably the most popular and well known of vegetable juicer recipes. I believe the sweetness/taste of carrot juice and the cheap price and ease of availability of carrots are the prime reasons for this popularity.
Choosing Juicing Carrots
To make the best raw carrot juice ensure you pick the freshest of carrots. Avoid carrots that are limp, rubbery and excessively cracked, these are all signs that the carrots are old. If the carrot tops are wilted this is another sign of old carrots. A fresh vibrant carrot should be firm, bright colored, relatively straight and of smooth texture. The more orange the carrot is the more of the potent antioxidant beta-carotene it contains. Beta-carotene is the plant pigment that puts the orange color in carrots.
If you want the sweetest carrots then choose those that are the thickest. The inner core is where most of the sugars are stored. So the thicker the carrot the thicker the core, the more sugar the carrot will supply.
Is it OK to Juice Carrot Tops?
There is a divide about this subject because the carrot tops are both mildly toxic and extremely nutritious. Some say the carrot top greens are even more nutritious than the carrot. There are people who juice carrot along with their tops or even use the green tops in their salads and report no side effects. I will leave the choice to you. Personally I lean towards caution and don’t use the tops in my carrot juice recipes. As an extra note the tops don’t contain sugar like the main body of the carrot and taste very sour when juiced.
Organic Carrot Juicing
It is important to point out that non-organic carrots are usually plastered in pesticides. These pesticides can contain toxic heavy metals like lead and arsenic as well as as a plethora of other harmful (and carcinogenic) chemicals. I therefore highly recommend using organic carrots whenever possible. If you are using non-organic for juicing carrots then It is a good idea to peel them first. The majority of the pesticides are found in the skin.
Carrot Juice Recipe
Juicing Recipes
In health
Darren Haynes
