Green ingredients and fruits don’t always have the best shelf life. Whether they be potatoes, tomatoes, or the leafy greens, they don’t usually last that long in the pantry with most of them ending up being spoiled if not enough dishes are sold with them as the main ingredient. The short lifespan of fruit and vegetable products in the pantry, along with their constantly fluctuating prices depending on the season, make off-season vegetables the more difficult choice when it comes to dressing your dishes.
Ironically enough, what we’re about to talk about is the purchase of frozen goods rather than fresh goods.
Fruits on the menu
Natural ingredients are integral to any restaurant. Not only are deserts and appetisers the main event for these dishes, but they’re also great for adding flavour to entrees such as pastas and casseroles. Fruit juices are becoming a popular choice over wine for those looking to add a mix to their palate. Articles have shown that besides matching wine flavours to the main course, fruit juices are also a great alternative for consumers to try with their meals. The inclusion of fruits and vegetables in your pantry won’t just add variety to your menu, they’ll also be a great supplement as garnish and added spice to your restaurant’s speciality dishes.
How does IQF work?
Individual Quick Freezing (IQF), or Flash Freezing for short, was discovered by a biologist in Canada who reinvented the method of expending the lifespan of raw products. Flash-Frozen items go through the freezing process and end up invacuum bags, examples include frozen meats, vegetables, and even fish.
The process of IQF involves processing the product at a relatively faster freezing rate compared to conventional freezing methods; this allows the products to have less occurrence of ice crystals which damage the fibres in the products’ cell walls. Due to the quicker process of freezing, fewer icecrystals form during the fast process which leads to the prevention of the product’s moisture drying out faster.
Frozen goods vs fresh goods?
Though it might sound like an inefficient saying to go by, buying fresh goods is not always the best option. Of course, when you’re dealing with raw meat, you’re advised to buy ‘fresh’items, but the same can’t be said for fruit and vegetable products.
You can tell that your pantry contents should be replaced when your ingredients are yellowing or if ice crystals are already sticking out. Products labelled as ‘fresh’ in your local grocer can be misleading. The productsare freshly taken from the root, but they are un-ripe as retailers take into consideration the time it takes to be ‘in stock’ or how far they will travel to their retailer’s site. You might want to reconsider ‘buying fresh’ if you realise that your grocer’s supplier is from overseas. These products’ nutritional value degrades in the time from being plucked from its roots to being on the shelves. An alternative is to purchase from IQF fruit suppliers UK wholesalers deal with, for the best possible quality ingredients.
Image: Pixabay.com
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