The shelf-life of vegetables and fruits can be very short and sometimes we miscalculate the amount we buy and end up having to waste some of it. Here are some tips on how to keep your vegetables and fruit fresher for longer:
- Buy only when you need to: Make sure to purchase things only when you need them. This way you can avoid waste. Try not to buy too many vegetables that you will then have to storage until the next time you need to use them.
- Avoid plastic: If you buy vegetables that come wrapped in plastic, make sure you get rid of the packaging at home. That plastic is damaging your fresh purchases, so the faster you get rid of it the better. An even better solution is taking a cotton reusable bag with you to the supermarket. This way you don’t need to buy packaged goods.
- Be careful when storing things: Not all vegetables belong in the refrigerator, and most fruits are better just being left alone after purchasing. A good way to know how to properly store fresh goods is by doing some research on the subject. For example, did you know that onions and potatoes should not be stored together? The moisture that onions release will decrease the potatoes shelf life.
- Wrap your half-cut vegetables and fruits: A good way to ensure the moisture released by certain vegetables or fruits (like in the onion vs potato situation) is to use wraps. Beeswax wraps or cotton wraps are a good way to do this and most are reusable.
- Make sure everything is clean: Rotten vegetables or fruits will affect their neighbours. Making sure that you keep your greens in a clean place, and that you regularly check it, will ensure that all the spoilt bits are thrown out.
Additionally, you can freeze your vegetables and fruit. Freezing vegetables will not affect their nutrition and it can be a quick and simple process. All you need to do is wash your vegetables, cut them the size you will need them to be once you go to use them, boil them for a few minutes, then stick them in a bowl of iced water and drain them. The process of boiling your greens before freezing them is called blanching. You can skin this step, but it is recommended you do this because it helps vegetables keep their vibrant colours and retain nutrients for longer.
M&P Engineering has been manufacturing food production, preparation and filling equipment used by major food manufacturers worldwide for over 50 years. The company has grown to become a global business, with distribution agents all over the world and supplying to almost every continent – Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
M&P Engineering’s most popular and world-famous equipment is the onion peeling machine. The onion processing equipment uses a self-adjusting assembly of floating knives to top, tail and peel onions from 45mm to 115mm diameter. The onion peeler is simple to operate and easy to clean and maintain. And when dealing with onion varying in size, changing parts is not required.
If you would like to find out more about M&P Engineering’s peeling products, call 0161 872 8378 or click here.