potatoes

Tale of the Tater

How Tech Ticks

Tale of the Tater

by Richard Lovegrove

Photos by Jim Stroup

The recipe for Virginia Tech's regular appearance atop Princeton Review's list of best campus food (No. 1 in 2015, 2010, and 2008) most certainly includes the universal appeal of french fries.

The Southgate Food Processing Center—a little-known but key ingredient in the success of the university's dining program—prepares hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and then distributes the food to the campus's nine dining centers, a just-in-time approach that not only enhances freshness, consistency, and taste, but also saves money. For instance, potatoes bound for Burger 37 in Squires Student Center are a study in efficiency.

1

Workers roll in pallets of 60-count boxes of 1-pound Idaho potatoes. Various dining venues on campus use spuds grown at Kentland Farm, but the varieties raised there are too small for Burger 37's massive fries.

2

Up to 300 pounds of potatoes at a time are poured into the 90-gallon Altair washer. Despite the fact that the tubers arrive already scrubbed, they spend 10-15 minutes luxuriating in an antimicrobial vegetable wash.

3

One by one, the potatoes are sliced on a special cutter for Burger 37 fries, demonstrated by Paul Fonner, the pre-prep supervisor. And there's no waste—the skin stays on. "When we say 'hand-cut,' they're hand-cut," said Michael Corbin, operations manager of pre-prep and the bake shop at Southgate Food Processing Center.

4

After the cut spuds are washed again to remove starch, they're packed 75 pounds to a batch into barrels and covered with water. Until the barrels are trucked over to Burger 37, they are stored in the cooler. As long as the fries are completely immersed, they can last three days in the barrels.

5

At Burger 37, the fries are blanched and then quickly chilled. They are fried at a low temperature to take out some more starch, cooled for 15 minutes, and then fried at a high temperature to blister the skin and give them a golden color.

Without the work done at Southgate, Squires Food Production Manager Michael Vanidestine estimates that he'd have to double his staff and buy $50,000 to $60,000 more in equipment—at Burger 37 alone. And the restaurant would also need more space.

Who knew efficiency could taste so good?

The Southgate Food Processing Center preps a variety of items for Burger 37 and other campus eateries. In 2014-15, Southgate sliced up:

veggies

277,550 lbs. of potatoes

147,021 lbs. of tomatoes

81,000 lbs. of onions

Without the work done at Southgate, Squires Food Production Manager Michael Vanidestine estimates that he'd have to double his staff and buy $50,000 to $60,000 more in equipment—at Burger 37 alone. And the restaurant would also need more space.

Who knew efficiency could taste so good?

The Southgate Food Processing Center preps a variety of items for Burger 37 and other campus eateries. In 2014-15, Southgate sliced up:

veggies

277,550 lbs. of potatoes

147,021 lbs. of tomatoes

81,000 lbs. of onions

Without the work done at Southgate, Squires Food Production Manager Michael Vanidestine estimates that he'd have to double his staff and buy $50,000 to $60,000 more in equipment—at Burger 37 alone. And the restaurant would also need more space.

Who knew efficiency could taste so good?

The Southgate Food Processing Center preps a variety of items for Burger 37 and other campus eateries. In 2014-15, Southgate sliced up:

veggies

277,550 lbs. of potatoes

147,021 lbs. of tomatoes

81,000 lbs. of onions

Some of the produce used in campus dining halls comes directly from Virginia Tech's own Kentland Farm.

Around the Drillfield
Features Winter 2015-16