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Tips from produce distributors


tafkap4d

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Thought this was interesting...

1. microwave a lemon for a short time or run under hot water to

double the juice content

2. keep Saran wrap in the frig for ease in tearing off

3. on an oven spill use 1 part cinnamon to 6 parts salt

4. to ripen fruit or to preserve bread products (cakes, muffins, etc)

place an apple in a brown bag with the product to be ripened or

preserved

5. never keep tomatoes in the frig - the best place to keep them is

on top of the refrigerator on a paper towel - as the vibration from

the refrigerator motor will keep the chemicals active and prolong life

6. do not use soap to wash produce as the soap chemicals will stay on

or in the product

7. microwave acorn squash 4 min before cutting for ease in cutting,

then hold the knife steady and rock and squash back and forth

8. wrap yams in saran wrap to preserve and never refrigerate (or

white baking potatoes but not the light skinned white potatoes)

9. always wash packaged greens even though they say they've been

double or triple washed and rebag them along with a damp paper towel

to retain freshness

10. slice garlic and let sit in olive oil for 15 min before using

11. peel bananas from the opposite end we think of peeling them and

there will be no strings to remove

12. mushrooms are grown in manure boxes and cannot possibly be rid of

it all when packaged - a brush will not remove the traces - so

remove the bottom stem and at that end begin peeling with your

thumb. A thin skin will peel off. Then to slice mushrooms use an

egg slicer.

13. cut avocados with the peel on - lengthwise in half - for ease in

removing fruit (by spoon) It will detach in one piece.

14. most organic produce is not truly organic because it has come in

touch with non-organic produce at some point from picking to the

grocery shelf

15. produce on the grocer shelf is at least 5 days from picking,

even if picked locally because all produce has to be shipped to a

distributor for repacking and shipping to grocers

Whoever said that man cannot live by bread alone...simply did not know me.
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Where does this information come from?

For the banana another way to peel it with no strings is to start the peeling the regular way. Peel one strip all the way to the bottom, pinch the bottom of the banana skin, and slide the banana out of the gap you just peeled.

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More like...who comes up with this information, who tries and tests it?? This came from a friend in D.C. she sent it out on a onelist...thought it was interesting fodder.

Whoever said that man cannot live by bread alone...simply did not know me.
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More like...who comes up with this information, who tries and tests it??  This came from a friend in D.C. she sent it out on a onelist...thought it was interesting fodder.

Generally, all the distributors do something of this nature in support of their retail customers. Here's an overview of a merchandising program:

http://www.supervalu.com/sv-webapp/service...chmarketing.jsp

The distributors provide special events, recipe cards, consumer tips to the various produce departments to hand over to the consumer who shops in the store. It has become so commonplace that most distributors of any size have a dedicated merchandising department that builds programs around what is seasonal, plus provides sort of generic year around tips to produce managers in order to hand off to the consumer.

Generally, the retail outlets have come to expect this out of their distributors as a "value added" competitive offering when considering which distributor to work with.

The days of three kinds of apples in the grocery store are over. It really is a hard category to manage at the store level, and it is even more difficult for the typical produce manager to keep up with market trends and changes. The market has become so diversified - especially when somebody whips out a daikon on Iron Chef America or Martha Stewart prepares whole baby artichokes.

Edited by annecros (log)
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I agree...I recall in the late 80's looking for an item that I had seen perhaps in a larger city (D.C., NYC, LA, etc.) that was common place there but not in my hometown. The face of the grocer has certainly changed.

Whoever said that man cannot live by bread alone...simply did not know me.
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4. to ripen fruit or to preserve bread products (cakes, muffins, etc)

place an apple in a brown bag with the product to be ripened or

preserved

somewhat true, though you don't really need the apple, and in most cases, you don't really need the brown bag. some fruits (pears, apples, peaches) give off ethylene gas as they ripen, which acts as a trigger to begin ripening other fruits.

Edited by russ parsons (log)
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5. never keep tomatoes in the frig - the best place to keep them is

on top of the refrigerator on a paper towel - as the vibration from

the refrigerator motor will keep the chemicals active and prolong life

yes, and lining your windows with aluminum foil will keep the cia from reading your mind. tomatoes shouldn't be refrigerated because chilling kills the flavor. that's all.

Believe you meant Johnson & Wales. Parchment paper for the CIA.

"Viciousness in the kitchen.

The potatoes hiss." --Sylvia Plath

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