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Market Gardener

Post harvest hydro cooling

9 years ago

Hello,

I have some questions on hydro cooling,
1. How long do you dunk the vegs into the cold water?

2. What do you do after dunking them? (do you have to dry them completely? Also read that have moisture on the surface of vegs promote decay) Also, I have read somewhere in the forum that they use big salad spinners or cloth bags to dry them off. And some people even say not to wash the produce as the water will hasten decay.

Featured Answer

boulderbelt

9 years ago

I dunk for about 10 seconds to a minute depending on the mass of the produce. the more mass the more time. Than I spin dry in a commercial hand cranked salad spinner and put the damp produce into towel lined crates and into a fridge for a few hours to cool down than I bag, bunch, etc and sell the stuff.

A bit of water is okay. Also i put about a pint of white vinegar and a 1/2 cup of salt in the water (10 gallons) and that kills off pretty much all the surface bacteria/fungi that cause decay so leafy green last 4 to 5 weeks if kept refrigerated.

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Comments (8)

carb
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks boulderbelt!

I am growing the little variety of bok choy. Can you ball park the time it might take me to dunk it?

Also in your experience, did the vinegar leave a smell or change the feel of the produce?

If I were to sell it to a retailer, must i still refrigerate it overnight before bringing my produce to them or can i just dunk them, dry then bag them in plastic bags into crates will do?
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randy41_1
9 years ago
i would harvest the boc choi in the morning and only dunk it if its dirty and then just to clean it then refrigerate to maintain quality. shake the water out. i never use vinegar or salt to rinse veggies.
boulderbelt
9 years ago
The sale/vinegar rinse does a lot to keep things in great shape for weeks.

Yes you must refrigerate right after hydrocooling or the stuff will start losing quality ASAP and will continue at a rapid rate even if refrigerated 24 hours later. I would think the store would require that you refrigerate as all other produce will come in clean and cold.
carb
Original Author
9 years ago
@randy may i ask why i should cold wash the bok choy if its only dirty? Does it lessen the quality?

@boulder lets say im left with a choice of either hydrocooling or not washing the produce before delivery, what would be better of the two?
randy41_1
9 years ago
you hydrocool to remove field heat. if you harvest in the morning there is little field heat to remove.
carb
Original Author
9 years ago
after i hydrocool, i then shake water off, then seal them in plastic bag and into the fride?
albertine
9 years ago
I am hydrocooling, then bagging, but all my kale and collards start yellowing after less than a week in the bag on display in the local grocery store. The cooler is pretty cold. Could I be getting longer life on them? No sign of rot, just yellowing. Maybe more time in the fridge first?

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