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Providing fresh fruits and vegetables to customers is a priority for many restaurants. However, it is challenging to keep everything fresh, even if you have a walk-in refrigerator or commercial freezer. Luckily, you can extend the life span of produce in many ways. Here are several strategies to maintain the freshness of common fruits and vegetables.

How to Keep Produce Fresh in a Restaurant

1. Leafy Vegetables

Tender salad greens—such as arugula and baby spinach—are more fragile than other varieties, so you should use them as quickly as possible. However, if you want to extend their shelf life for up to two weeks, take them out of their original packaging and place them in a container with a paper towel lining. This helps to absorb mold-causing moisture that may build up in your refrigerator. 

On the other hand, you can blanch firm greens, such as kale and bok choy, and place them in your commercial freezer. Blanching involves placing the vegetables in boiling water for up to one minute, dunking them in ice water, and drying them. This preserves the flavor without fully cooking the vegetable. After blanching, you can store the vegetables in a commercial freezer for up to eight months.

2. Tomatoes

commercial freezerAlthough you may want to put tomatoes in the fridge as soon as you get them, the best way to preserve the flavor and texture is by keeping them at room temperature. If the tomatoes are unripe, place them stem down in a cardboard box or paper bag to speed the ripening process. You can store ripe tomatoes with the stem facing up on a counter in a room with a temperature between 55 and 70 degrees.

3. Fruits With Pits

Similar to tomatoes, you can place unripe peaches, plums, and mangoes in a paper bag for up to three days to encourage ripening. However, after they are ripe, you must refrigerate the fruits to avoid rotting. Although they can last for up to a week in a refrigerator, check each fruit frequently for signs of mold since it can quickly spread to the entire supply.

 

If you need to purchase new restaurant equipment, contact Commercial Refrigeration of KY Inc. With over 30 years of experience, they provide high-quality restaurant equipment such as commercial freezers, fryers, and ice makers to restaurant owners in the Campbellsville area. They also offer a wide range of other cooking equipment, including ovens and grills. Visit the website to learn more about their available products. Call (270) 465-2910 to speak with a team member today.

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