The “summer slowdown” is a well-known restaurant phenomenon. While dining establishments in tourist areas see a boom in traffic, many others experience a slump in July through September. We have an idea for keeping your kitchen staff busy during the slow season and reducing food costs: Get to work preserving the best summer produce!
The PrimaVac™ line of commercial vacuum sealing machines makes it simple to extend the usable life of fragile produce, such as berries and herbs. You can also seal and freeze produce that’s at its peak.
Here’s why a commercial vacuum sealer is essential equipment for every restaurant kitchen — in the summer and all year round.
Why chefs love the PrimaVac™ line of commercial vacuum sealers
Reduced food waste: Commercial vacuum sealing can dramatically extend the life of produce and other foods by removing oxygen from the packaging. Some of our customers tell us that their PrimaVac™ sealer paid for itself in just 5 to 7 weeks, because they’re able to reduce their food spoilage/waste costs by $200-$300 each week.
Precision: PrimaVac™ chamber vacuum sealers have 10 programs for precise sealing. The adjustable Soft Air function (standard on all PrimaVac™ models) allows the user to control the rate at which air re-enters the vacuum chamber after the pouch is sealed, so that the pouch gently settles around delicate and sharp-edged foods. Gas Flush comes standard on our largest model, the PrimaVac™ 406. This function inserts inert gas, such as nitrogen, into the pouch before it’s sealed to protect delicate ingredients (such as baby greens or fresh fruit) and inhibit spoilage.
Organization: Professional chefs know that a well-run kitchen is a tidy, well-organized kitchen. It’s not OK to mislabel food, let food go bad, or get sloppy about food safety. A PrimaVac™ commercial vacuum sealer
helps keep everything straight with clear, no-mess sealed packaging that’s easily labeled. You can even seal protein in its marinade or liquid ingredients!
Efficiency: Pre-portion and pre-season proteins and other dishes, then vacuum-seal and refrigerate or freeze to speed kitchen service.
Creativity: A chamber vacuum sealer enables chefs to try new culinary techniques, from rapid-curing salmon for gravlax to infusing simple syrups to removing the air from sauces for a denser, velvety result.
The highest-ROI summer fruits and vegetables to preserve with a commercial vacuum sealer
Beans: Green beans, wax beans, and snap beans all freeze well. Select young and tender pods, then wash, trim and blanch them for 3 minutes. Let the beans cool before vacuum-sealing and freezing. You can vacuum-seal and freeze fresh lima beans, butter beans, and pinto beans too.
Bell peppers: Why are red, yellow, and orange bell peppers so expensive? They come from the same plant as green bell peppers, but they take longer to ripen. This ripening process (60 to 90 days) requires a lot of water and care — not to mention hot summer weather. That’s why buying bell peppers in bulk in the summer, vacuum-sealing and freezing them can be a money-saver for restaurants. Blanch briefly before freezing, or leave raw for a crisper texture.
Berries: Summertime tastes like fresh berries. But their peak season is short, and berries have a notoriously short life in refrigeration. Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries typically last just 1-3 days in normal refrigeration. Vacuum-sealing can extend that to 1 week. Blueberries have a longer shelf life, lasting up to 6 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks when vacuum-sealed and refrigerated. To freeze fresh summer berries, first rinse them and let them dry thoroughly. Freeze the berries in a single layer for an hour, then vacuum-seal and freeze up to 8 months.
Herbs: Basil. Dill. Mint. Cilantro. Fresh herbs are the glory of summer. If your herbs are a bit tired-looking, your vacuum sealer can rejuvenate them — no actual sealing required. Just place the greens in a shallow bowl or other container, then cover them with paper towels and add ice water. (The paper towels prevent the herbs from getting freezer burn.) Add the container to the vacuum sealer chamber and run the vacuum cycle twice. This forces cold water into the leaves, restoring the herbs’ color and freshness. It works on other greens, too! Here’s a demo with Chef Andrew Manning.
Can you vacuum-seal and freeze leafy herbs? Yes, but you have to blanch them first to protect their flavor. Dip them into boiling water for a few seconds, then dip them into ice water and dry them. Now, they’re ready to be vacuum-sealed and frozen for later. Don’t skip the drying step: sealing damp herbs can make them mushy.
Tips for effective and safe vacuum-sealing
- Certain foods should never be vacuum-sealed, because they emit gases that will swell the vacuum-sealed pouch and break the integrity of the seal, or they decay faster when sealed, or they may grow harmful anaerobic bacteria. These include:
- Fresh onions and garlic
- Fresh mushrooms
- Bananas
- Cruciferous vegetables (unless blanched first)
- Some vegetables just don’t do well in the freezer, losing their texture and/or taste. These include celery, cress, cucumbers, endive, lettuce, and radishes.
- Cooked or blanched produce that’s still hot should be cooled before vacuum-sealing.
- Use the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s guidelines on freezing produce of all kinds.
- Most importantly, make sure your kitchen staff is well trained in food-safety practices for reduced oxygen packaging (ROP). While vacuum sealing prevents spoilage by removing oxygen, certain harmful bacteria (such as botulinum) can thrive in anaerobic environments when improperly stored. That’s why vacuum-sealed foods must always be clearly labeled, refrigerated or frozen at the correct temperature, thawed carefully, and cooked to safe temperatures.
Ready to add a PrimaVac™ in-chamber vacuum packaging machine to your commercial kitchen?
