One of the many struggles that a restaurant has to deal with is in organising pantry space. Not only doesit have to be checked now and then for spoiled food, but it also has to be restocked occasionally to ensure that the products inside are fresh and edible. There is a better alternative when it comes to dealing with your pantry space, and it involves buying frozen food over freshly-picked products.
Before you stop reading this article, frozen is better than fresh, at least regarding fruits and vegetables, not so much with meat products. Frozen goods have a longer shelf life and have perks and benefits that you wouldn’t have believed before. Here are some reasons why going for frozen is better, and it’s time to let go of fresh.
Preventing spoilage
Any pantry’s worst nightmare is spoiled products. Not only can it affect other products on the shelf but it can spell lawsuit in capital letters if customers receive spoiled food. There are of course a lot of traditional signs that show when food is about to spoil. Leafy vegetables often dry up, form ice crystals, and lose their colour when they’re about ready to be thrown away. The most obvious choice, of course, is checking the expiration date. Depending on how the food items are packed when buying, the shelf life of your products can range from an extra few weeks to a few days.
Frozen versus fresh products
If you’re a regular at the grocer or the wet and dry market, then you’re familiar with the different fruits and vegetables that come from different areas and countries. Exotic and in-demand products such as jackfruit take a long trip before it reaches the UK. Suppliers consider the distance it takes for their products to reach their destination and consider their packaging procedures through this computation. Many green products travel miles and even days before they enter the marketplace. The ‘fresh’ tag on the grocery could mean that they were taken on-site fresh but are a couple of days past that once they reach the grocery aisles.
You should think twice before you opt to order from your local jackfruit supplier if they offer the product in the right packaging as it can significantly affect its flavour and shelf life, as ‘fresh’ goods have less nutritional content compared to frozen goods as they aren’t packed and contained in the same way as frozen goods.
IQF procedure
Though products can be frozen traditionally in freezers and vacuum-sealed packs, IQF or Individually Quick-Frozen products have a longer lifespan due to the packaging process creating fewer ice crystals. After the fruit or vegetable product is taken from the ground, the food item is then placed in warm water to keep enzymes and bacteria off it to prevent spoilage. The product is frozenin about two hours, in contrast to common freezing practices which take up to ten hours, to make sure that the food’s fibres do not lose moisture and to keep its nutrients intact during transportation of the product.