Washing vegetables properly is an important skill to master for everyone, whether you’re in culinary school or an at-home cook. While learning how to clean vegetables doesn’t take much time, it can make a big difference for your meals.
The Importance of Cleaning Vegetables Properly
Properly cleaning and sanitizing fruits and vegetables can reduce your risk of food-borne illnesses such as E. Coli and norovirus. Produce grows in the ground and may pass through many hands before ending up in your kitchen. While cooking can eliminate some bacteria, other germs can persist.
A good clean will reduce your risk of encountering bacteria and germs and help you stay safe. Properly cleaning vegetables and fruits also can remove preservatives or pesticides, insects and debris such as pebbles that you don’t want on your plate.
How to Clean Your Vegetables
Cleaning your fruits and vegetables is a simple process. Follow these steps for clean food:
- Wash your hands: Before and after handling raw produce of any kind, thoroughly wash your hands with soap and warm water. This method ensures you’re not transferring bacteria from your hands to your food.
- Check for damage as you wash: Bruises and cracks on produce can harbor germs. Wash the outside of the fruit or vegetable and then cut away the damaged portion.
- Wash before you cut or peel: Washing first prevents contaminants on your knife or hands from getting into the fruit.
- Use the right force: Run delicate fruits or vegetables under rapid-running, cool water and use your hands and fingers to gently scrub the produce for about 20 seconds. If you have vegetables and fruits with tougher skins, use a vegetable brush to thoroughly scrub the outside of the produce. Cabbage, cauliflower and similar vegetables have outer leaves which you can discard to further reduce any risk. You can use plain water to wash all fruits and vegetables.
- Dry your produce: Drying your produce with a paper towel is another chance to scrub fruits and vegetables and ensure a clean product.
Learn More About Our Products Today
Now that you have all these beautifully washed and healthy vegetables and fruits, what are you going to do with them? San-J has delicious recipes for you to try. Our family company has a range of soups, cooking sauces and other quality products to help you transform your produce into amazing meals. Browse our products today or check out our recipe collection.
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