and it’s a very common experience.
As juicers, we can solve some of this problem by juicing what is on hand before it spoils, but there are some important things to know about buying and storing fresh produce nonetheless.
In the old days of small villages and local shops, people went to the green grocer a few times a week and didn’t have to worry about storing produce for any longer than a couple of days at a time. But these days, we often end up shopping only once a week, and have to plan carefully what we need in order not to run out of fresh produce and not to be throwing something away uneaten because it has spoiled.
Unfortunately, for a large majority of us, frozen and canned foods became the norm for a number of decades after the advent of flash freezing methods; particularly in the U.S. While we still purchased fresh fruits and salad vegetables, many households spent very little of their food budget in the produce aisle.
The lack of experience with shopping for fresh produce can become an obstacle in itself. We literally do not know how to store produce or even what some of it is! One of our favorite resources for produce education is Mark Mulcahy, co-host of the radio show “An Organic Conversation” which broadcasts out of San Francisco every Saturday. It is also available on the “An Organic Conversation” website and as a podcast on iTunes.
One of the interesting things we learned from listening to Mark, for instance, is that we should not wash our strawberries or other delicate berry fruits until we are ready to use them. We were very happy to learn this one, because we had lost a lot of beautiful berries, even from our own gardens, by doing it wrong. As soon as they are washed they start to break down. For instance, we would pick a nice big bowl of strawberries from the garden, bring them in and wash them. Even when stored in the fridge, by the end of the day, or early the next day, they were beginning to become mushy, and within a few days they would develop mold. What a sad fate for such beautiful fruits! Now we don’t make that mistake anymore, and our berries last quite nicely for more than several days in the fridge, because they are dry. We wash them just before we eat or juice them, and never earlier.
Another tip we learned from Mark Mulcahy was to keep our peaches and nectarines on the counter. Often when you buy peaches and nectarines, they are still hard and will need a few days to ripen. The thing is, once they start to ripen, they all ripen at once. But, as Mark pointed out, and it is completely true, once you put either of these fruits in the refrigerator they lose their amazing flavor almost instantly and it doesn’t come back. So only buy as many as you can eat in a couple of days even if they are not ripe yet, and then when they do ripen you won’t be throwing out the ones you cannot eat fast enough. Of course if you are juicing, you can juice them up and have the juice for a couple more days, so long as the juice is stored properly.
Another great idea we use every summer is to freeze whole peaches on a cookie sheet just as you would blueberries or strawberries. Wait until they are ripe but not over ripe. Lay them out on the cookie sheet on a sheet of freezer paper and freeze them solid – usually overnight is all it takes. Don’t leave them in longer than necessary to freeze solid, or they can develop freezer burn.
Once they are frozen, bag them in Ziploc® freezer bags, removing as much air as possible. A drinking straw inserted as you close the bag can be used to suck out as much air as possible as you zip the bag closed and slip the straw out. It takes a little practice to get it just right but it works like a charm once you get the knack.
This is a great way to save peaches and nectarines when the season is in full swing and prices are low. You can use them as frozen fruit desserts later in the year – and your Omega Juicer can be used to make them, too!
You can also simply remove the frozen fruits from the freezer and run them under warm water to gently thaw, and make excellent peach pies, sauces and smoothies with them.
We keep bags of whole frozen peaches, nectarines and blueberries in the freezer and pull them out for smoothies, frozen desserts, pie and muffin baking all winter and right up to the next harvest the following summer. Nothing like fresh blueberry pancakes any time you want them for a special Sunday breakfast.
The best thing about using this method of buying in season and freezing is that you have excellent additions for fresh juices all year long at bargain prices. We buy organic peaches for around 90 cents a pound in August when the crop hits full swing. Otherwise they can often run 2 to 3 dollars a pound. That’s a big savings for your budget.
If you do want to juice them after they’ve been frozen, let them thaw on the counter for a few hours. Blueberries can also be juiced this way, although you will get less juice from them than you will from fresh. We tend to use the blueberries for the frozen desserts with the juicer, rather than for fresh juice.
Juicing Staples
You can certainly pick up carrots and celery most times of the year because both of these crops are grown year round in green houses all over the place. Carrots are a root crop which means they are generally plentiful all fall and winter, and if they get slim, look for yams as an additional sweet and orange replacement in the short term.
Beets are also more and more commonly found throughout a large part of the year, and the natural organic bunch beets are often selling at 2 bunches for $5 in our part of the world. You can juice the whole thing, greens and all. Or you can chop off the greens’ tops and make a salad or put them in soups and stews.
Produce even when organic, is not that expensive if you know where and when to shop. In comparison, processed and packaged foods continue to rise dramatically in price.
The increased demand for fresh organic produce has also expanded its availability. For instance, Costco sells a good selection of organic produce at very reasonable prices these days. One of their large boxes of organic baby spinach goes for around $4. That is often half of what specialty grocers will be charging for the same product.
Storing Produce
Sweet potatoes, apples, oranges, lemons, limes and pears all have a relatively flexible at-home storage time of five to ten days. This makes them all good juicing material that can be used several times over a week without having to worry about spoiling. Apples and pears can be stored in the refrigerator in between layers of freezer paper for up to three months depending on their type. Sweet potatoes can be kept on a counter or in a cool dark cupboard just as you would store a potato or an onion. Citrus will need refrigeration after about five days depending on your indoor climate, as they can develop mold.
When it comes to fresh greens, your timing must be a bit more precise and these must be kept refrigerated. Herbs, greens, lettuces, and other tender-leaved vegetables are all more susceptible to spoiling, and so should be used within a few days of purchase.
Happily, these tender greens are also some of the easiest things to grow, and having a nice crop of fresh greens in a sunny spot in the window, on a patio or deck in warm weather is really a snap. You don’t need a whole kitchen garden but if you are so inclined it will save you even more on your juicing budget.
Here is a typical week’s supply of juicing materials around our house. We are two people, but we generally drink a 12 to 16 ounce juice per person per day, so that should give you a good idea of what to expect to need once you become a regular juicer:
Carrots: 2 to 4 pounds, we usually buy two 2lb bags once a week, with some weeks only needing one as there are some left from the week before.
Beets: 2 bunches of beets with 3 to 4 beets each including greens.
Celery: 2 nice large bunches.
Oranges, Apples, Pears: We tend to rotate these around depending on the season. In winter we buy more oranges as they are in season and also contain the extra vitamin C to help us stay healthy and ward off colds and flu. 4 to 6 oranges, apples or pears or a mix of all three.