a method is disclosed for producing convenience foods from food units coming from the grower in various sizes . the vegetable or fruit food units of various sizes , are cleaned and handled and frozen in a generally conventional manner , and then are compressed by a high capacity press into a standard predetermined size of frozen block of food product , after which the block is cut by sawing , into generally equal size units which can then be further processed , such as for instance batter coated and cooked , and then packaged by count , prior to shipment .