10 Essential Uses for Commercial Blast Chillers to Maximize Efficiency
Does your commercial kitchen have a blast chiller? If your answer is no, or you’re wondering what a blast chiller is in the first place, prepare to discover a great kitchen tool for maximizing efficiency.
When time and precision count, efficient cooling is your answer. It can help you maintain quality, improve the timing of your kitchen, and keep all foods at safe temperatures for your customers to enjoy.
Built to Chill: What is a Blast Chiller?
A blast chiller is a specialized refrigerator that reduces the temperature of hot foods fast. It’s a little different than a traditional fridge and freezer in that it includes powerful fans and hits very low temperatures fast. It moves hot food through the danger zone and into a safe, cold state in just a few minutes. A flash freezer or commercial blast chiller can be a great way to lower the temperature of food fast.
Safe storage temperatures for food are generally below 40°F, but hot food may emerge from the oven at 160°F or more. Once the food starts to cool, you have a 90-minute window to get it into the 40°F safety zone. The cold air of a blast chiller prevents food contamination.
What’s nice about blast chillers is that while they prevent the growth of bacteria, they also maintain the flavor, texture, and quality of your foods. Blast-chilling can even keep food healthier, as it doesn’t have time to degrade and lose nutrients as it cools down.
In a commercial kitchen, a blast chiller is critical for getting the timing right for your food. You can prep ahead and cool food items into the safety zone quickly. It’s ideal for preservation and for storing cooked foods.
For large-scale operations like catering and food production, a blast chiller is a valuable addition to your kitchen because it allows you to prepare a high volume of food while preserving the quality until it’s ready to serve. If you’ve ever wished you could stop time, a blast chiller offers restaurant owners the next best thing.
If You’re Not First You’re Blast: 10 Applications for Commercial Blast Chillers
How are commercial blast chillers used? Once you review all the versatile ways a blast chiller can boost your kitchen efficiency, you’ll definitely add one to your wish list. It can help you reduce waste, improve food safety, cut strain on your staff, and streamline your food prep.
Here are 10 unbeatable applications for commercial blast chillers.
1. Rapid Cooling of Hot Foods
Cool soups, sauces, and stews quickly with a blast chiller. Often, these types of foods are easy to make in large batches, but it’s essential to preserve the quality and keep the taste fresh so your weekly special can last all week.
A blast chiller prevents bacterial growth, which is especially important in large hot containers of liquid like soups and stews, where sometimes the middle is slow to chill. A blast chiller can cool hot foods down right away with ease.
2. Preserving Freshness of Prepped Ingredients
Every chef knows the importance of mise en place—preparing everything ahead so your kitchen stays organized and efficient. Whether you’re chopping and steaming vegetables preparing cuts of meat or seafood, a blast chiller lets you take care of that prep when you have time and chill food fast.
There’s nothing more frustrating than having to hustle in the middle of a shift because something isn’t fully prepped—except maybe having to pull a special from your menu because it’s not fully prepped. Either way, use an always-be-ready mentality with a blast chiller that maintains freshness and extends the shelf life of your ingredients.
3. Safe Storage of Cooked Meals
Not every dish does well once stored, and a blast chiller might not be the answer for every ingredient. But when it comes to storing cooked meals, a blast chiller can help you minimize waste and maximize the use of cooked dishes for future service.
Once food has been cooked, the cooldown process must be rapid, or you run the risk of spoilage and foodborne illness. When you have only about 90 minutes to get food out of the temperature danger zone, a blast chiller makes a huge difference and ensures your food cools in a safe amount of time.
4. Improving Food Quality and Texture
We’ve all had something “die” in the freezer. Baked goods are especially susceptible to freezer degradation. If bakery items and pastries aren’t frozen quickly, they can become soggy. Slow cooling can ruin the taste and texture (and encourage the formation of ice crystals that cause freezer burn).
Keep your bakery and pastry well-preserved with a quick chiller. You’ll be able to keep that perfect crumb and decadent taste with blast chilling. Your food will taste fresh and delicious—no one has to know it was frozen.
5. Speeding Up the Freeze of Raw Ingredients
Get more out of your meat and seafood purchases by fast-freezing raw ingredients. It’s exciting when a vendor can cut you a great deal on meat, fish, or shellfish, but these items are notoriously tricky to preserve.
Take your raw ingredients from fresh to frozen with a blast chiller. Freezing meats, seafood, and raw ingredients preserves quality and safety and helps you extend the storage time. Keep your seafood specials coming by freezing your ingredients.
6. Efficiently Handling Large Volumes of Food
Caterers and food production facilities may need to handle very large amounts of food. Hospitals, campuses, and other high-production kitchens can all use the help of a blast chiller. Prepare dishes in bulk and freeze them all at once.
A blast chiller ensures consistent, fast cooling and excellent quality control. If you’re feeding big numbers, you need to ensure that everything is ready at service. A blast chiller is the answer to timing it all right and having every dish turn out excellent.
7. Reducing Waste and Spoilage
Food waste is a big concern in terms of both cost and principle. No one likes to throw out food. Without proper preservation, many ingredients can lose their freshness and outlive their optimal window.
Minimize food waste and save money with a blast chiller. You can prep soups, sauces, and sides for later use so you fully use all your backstock. Blast chillers help keep food fresh and yummy, so you don’t throw it (or your money) out with the trash.
8. Enhancing Food Safety Standards
Culinary work is all about food safety. Staying compliant with safety regulations can make or break your operation. One mistake with the refrigeration of items can damage your reputation, stop your traffic, and hamper your future success.
Comply with proper cooling and storage guidelines with a blast chiller. You’ll get food quickly out of the danger zone and into a safe temperature range. The best way to avoid foodborne illness and spoilage is by taking all preventative measures. Fortunately, a blast chiller helps you meet the safety mark.
9. Facilitating Bulk Cooking and Portion Control
Prep ahead and cook laborious dishes well in advance. When you’re in the middle of service, there’s no time to stop and prep or adjust portions. It can slow down your timing, damage your quality, and derail your flow.
Prep and bulk cook items ahead with a blast chiller. Portion dishes so you know exactly what you have and can keep control over your inventory. Don’t disappoint your customers and stress out your kitchen staff with last-minute outages and planning failures. A blast chiller helps you streamline service.
10. Supporting Advanced Menu Items
Gastronomy is an art. There are so many new and exciting ways to experiment with flavors and ingredients, and a blast chiller lets you use advanced techniques to grow your menu to the next level. The rapid cooling process lets you explore and get creative.
Add innovative new dishes to your menu with the help of your blast chiller. Chefs use blast chillers to set ice creams and panna cottas. Quick-marinade by cooling proteins fast. Get really creative with caviar-like spheres, foams, and espumas. Pastry chefs love a blast chiller for tempering chocolate fast to get intricate decorations and a glossy finish.
Freeze Out the Competition with a Blast Chiller from Eleven36
As you can see, a blast chiller opens up a world of possibilities, enhances your kitchen, protects food safety, and reduces waste. There are so many new techniques you can try with a blast chiller, and it’s a surefire way to speed up prep.
If you’re looking for a blast chiller that will fit your kitchen’s needs, look no further than Eleven36. We carry all the equipment for commercial kitchens, including commercial blast chillers.
Evaluate your current cooling solutions and how they work for your kitchen turnout. Investing in a high-quality blast chiller can be a smart way to stretch your food cost budget and ensure that everything is timed just right.At Eleven36, we carry the best brands in the industry. If you need guidance or support in choosing the best commercial blast freezers and chillers for your operation, reach out. We’re happy to help you find the commercial kitchen you can rely on for gourmet results!