Commercial Blast Chillers

Blast chillers and blast freezers come with a variety of benefits that render them essential tools in any commercial kitchen.

Efficiency

The major benefit of using blast chillers is they are specifically designed to make hot food cold quickly while standard commercial refrigeration is designed to keep cold food cold. This in turn leads to preserving the nutrients present in food since, the longer fresh produce stays at room temperature, the more their nutritional value disappears.

Improved Food Safety

An important feature of commercial blast chillers is maintaining food freshness over time by reducing the opportunity for bacterial growth. When the temperature ranges between 5°C and 60°C, most bacteria will grow at a rapid pace. Blast chillers are designed to bring down the core temperature of food from around 90°C or more down to 3°C or less in about 90 minutes whereas most traditional cooling methods would require a few hours to do so. This means that in traditional cooling methods, food spends more time in the temperature range where bacteria will grow rapidly. 

Therefore, using blast chillers ensures compliance with HACCP guidelines by reducing the rate of bacteria growth and therefore maintaining food hygiene and safety 

Better Shelf Life

By reducing the rate at which bacteria grows as a result of food temperature, commercial blast freezers and commercial blast freezers lead to a much longer shelf life for food products to be used which leads to less waste and better bottom line.

Reduced Food Waste and Costs

Studies have shown that restaurants and other foodservice businesses in Australia end up throwing away at least 40 percent of food purchased for stock as a result of limited shelf life.

An advantage to using blast chillers and commercial freezers which makes them an integral part of any kitchen is reducing food waste and saving on costs by allowing for significantly longer food preservation. As a result, this allows for saving on costs by buying produce and ingredients in bulk and pre-preparing larger batches of food with a comfort in knowing that the food will remain fresh without compromising on food quality.

Important things to consider when selecting a commercial freezer or blast chiller

There are a number of key factors to consider when trying to decide on the most suitable blast chiller for your business: space, capacity, and chilling speed.

1. Space: One of the biggest determining factors an owner considers when choosing a piece of equipment for their establishment is the amount of space that equipment will take up. Over the years, newer models of blast chillers have been getting smaller and smaller which makes them a good option when trying to save space in a kitchen, particularly when having a large walk-in freezer is not an option. Furthermore, commercial upright freezers will help you maximize the space you use in a busy commercial kitchen with restricted space but higher ceilings.
2. Capacity: It is important to consider the quantity of food and the speed at which your establishment would need to rapidly freeze it when picking out a commercial blast freezer. This applies not only across days but also across shifts within the same day. This can also be dependent on the weight (kg) of the food to be chilled and how many trays they require. Commercial freezers are designed for regular use in busy food service environments and offer high quality storage solutions for your establishment.
3. Chilling Speed: The rate at which temperature drops differs between blast chillers. It’s necessary to check the wattage of the product before making your choice. Will it be able to get the food cold enough at the desired speed?