Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] limitations of AC coolers

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Robert Schuler <sunnfarm AT verizon.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] limitations of AC coolers
  • Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:07:50 -0600 (CST)


Paul, you are right, ac cannot remove field heat and true agricultural grade
cooling requires removing field heat right into the core of the produce not
just the surface. If you put a melon with a core temp of 70 degrees in a ac
cool room the surface will feel cold but the the inside of the melon will
still be 70 degrees for days after. At my Coop will use vacuum cooling that
sucks the field heat out of the produce right to the core then the produce
can be held in a cool room. Unfortunately vacuum coolers are a bit costly for
a small farm.
On my farm I do not use any cooling. I tell customers that coolers are just
an excuse to sell old produce. If you want old cooled produce you can go to
the supermarket. People who buy off the farm expect produce to be fresh
picked not days old... Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.

From: Paul Bucciaglia <pbucciaglia AT yahoo.com>
Date: 2007/01/16 Tue PM 12:12:58 CST
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [Market-farming] limitations of AC coolers

  I don't mean to be a wet rag (no pun intended), but I found Air
conditioned coolers to be limited in their usefulness.</div> <div> </div>
<div>They are fine for crops that are best stored between 55F and 65F.  I
have a cooler made from panels ripped from a liquor store--we cut a hole in
the back, mounted an old window AC, and wa-laa you have a good cooler for
crops that like it cool and dry:  tomatos, melons, and eggplant.  We also
store unwashed spuds (short term) in there.</div> <div> </div>
<div>However, this is not a good cooler for greens, lettuce, broccoli,
carrots, etc.  I find these crops store best from 34 to 38F, and trying get a
large mass of warm (even if they are hydrocooled), wet produce down to these
temps, and held there, is a tall order for an AC.  And I'm not even
metnioning the ice-up problems, even though others have found ways to defrost
their frozen-up ACs.  Actually, that fact alone should be a warning buzzer
about this whole idea!   You can find very reasonable coolers from
restarants or grocery stores that are selling out.  A few years ago we put up
a 12X18' cooler on the concrete floor in our barn.  The used panels and
condenser cost $1000 pulled from a local grocery store (with about 60 ft. of
nice roller track thrown in), and a new compressor plus professional wiring
ran about 3 grand as I recall.  I should count labor when putting it up, so
it was all under 5 grand.  When you consider that this should last (at
least!) 10 years, that means refrigertation capital/maintenance costs for my
crops run less than $550  a year, which is less than 0.5% of my annual gross
income from produce sales.   Lots of bang for the buck there, IMOP.  Because
good post harvest handling is so crucial to quality produce, I consider this
cooler an essential investment at a very small annual cost.    Paul Fort
Hill Farm    

Paul Bucciaglia
Fort Hill Farm
Organic Vegetables, Herbs, and Flowers
18 Fort Hill Rd.
New Milford CT 06776
(860) 350-3158
www.forthillfarm.com

_______________________________________________
Market-farming mailing list
Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page