How to Freeze Fresh Vegetables and Save Money in Your Restaurant
Improve your restaurant's ability to offer fresh, flavorful vegetables, increase the food's nutrition level and increase the bottom line with one change -- freeze fresh vegetables in season for use throughout the year. Prepared vegetables, both canned and frozen, are convenient but costly. Replace these with vegetables you purchased fresh and froze for later use. The more preparation your staff does in the kitchen, the less expensive the ingredients that go into your restaurant's dishes.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Commercial freezer
- Zippered plastic bags
- Plastic freezer containers
- Knives (See References 2)
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1
Analyze and list what vegetables you buy and serve regularly. Keep the list handy on shopping days. Focus on purchasing these vegetables fresh at the peak of the season -- usually the lowest price of the year. Know what season to buy broccoli and onions vs green beans and corn, for instance. Wash, chop, blanch (if needed) and freeze for year-round use.
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2
Check the local grocery store ads for specials. Make regular weekly or monthly visits to local farmers markets prepared to buy in quantity.
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3
Bake sweet breads, cakes and muffins from fresh vegetables in season. Bake and freeze carrot cakes when you find a great deal on carrots, for instance. Thaw and ice the cakes as needed. When zucchini is on sale, bake zucchini bread. Breads and cakes freeze well and slice easily when semi-thawed. Use muffins and mini-loaves if you prefer individual serving sizes. Making four cakes at once saves time, energy and money compared with making one cake four times in a row.
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4
Put chopped vegetables on a cookie sheet and freeze for about an hour in the freezer. Then remove them, dropping them into a gallon plastic bag or other freezer container. The pieces will not stick to each other, and you will be able to grab as much as you need and reseal it for future use. Good cooks constantly use onions, bell peppers and garlic, for instance. These can be processed by hand or in a food processor, frozen and bagged.
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Tips & Warnings
If you use chopped peppers in one recipe and sliced peppers in another, chop and freeze it both ways.
Prevent food loss by ensuring that the freezer door is not left standing open.
For large quantities of frozen food, have a backup plan, such as a generator, for keeping food from going bad in case your lose electricity.
Sometimes you can find good values on commercially frozen vegetables from the grocery store freezer case.
