I already ate this, can I eat this? Carrots edition.
December 1, 2011 8:20 AM   Subscribe

Carrot puzzler, why is the water blue....and green?

My SO was steaming carrots in a small pot on the stove last night. He steamed them as usual, and then he ate them (he said they tasted normal).

Later when cleaning up the dishes, he noticed the water in the pot was now a blue/green colour.

Did steaming the carrots turn the water blue/green? Is this possible? Any possible health ramifications?
posted by devonia to Food & Drink (12 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
As a data point, I've boiled sliced carrots and had the water turn orange, not blue/green.
posted by Stephanie Duy at 8:43 AM on December 1, 2011


Send an e-mail to the World Carrot Museum.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:47 AM on December 1, 2011


Come to think of it, what's the pot made of? Could there be copper that's oxidizing?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:48 AM on December 1, 2011


I was going to ask whether the pot was copper as well....
posted by nevercalm at 8:52 AM on December 1, 2011


Was anything else in the carrots? Onions, garlic? Spoon with copper?

Also, if he was cooking and they got accidentally sprinkled with a bit of baking soda....
posted by thelastcamel at 8:56 AM on December 1, 2011


Best answer: This question on the World Carrot Museum site doesn't seem to answer the question exactly but it does seem like there is a parallel avenue to explore (carrot cakes).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:03 AM on December 1, 2011


Response by poster: The pot is a regular stainless steel pot. It is possible something got sprinkled in (as we keep our spice rack/baking supplies in the cupboard above the stove. His go to spice of choice is garlic salt, however I'm not certain what he used that day, if anything.
posted by devonia at 9:49 AM on December 1, 2011


Carrots used to be purple, and I've gotten carrots from the farmers market that were purple and yellow, so I wonder if there's something about the carrots that includes some of those purple-y blues and reds and some yellow? I've never noticed it with today's traditional orange carrots, but I could see the older varieties leaving those colors in the water.
posted by ldthomps at 10:26 AM on December 1, 2011


Best answer: Carrot peels turn green when baked-- I make carrot cake often, and if I forget to peel the carrots, the finished caked will have little hunks of green or blueish carrot peel in it. Were the carrots peeled before they were steamed?
posted by bonheur at 11:27 AM on December 1, 2011


Response by poster: Its likely they were not peeled (SO tends to not peel things, remove seeds etc.).
posted by devonia at 11:49 AM on December 1, 2011


Best answer: I'd bet he DID use garlic and that's why...

I get fresh garlic turning colors on me all the time, especially if mixed with
.
posted by utsutsu at 12:22 PM on December 1, 2011


lemon.

not sure what happened there...
posted by utsutsu at 12:38 PM on December 1, 2011


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