Blast Chillers from American Panel

Commercial kitchens and restaurants may benefit from the addition of a Blast Chiller. What is a Blast Chiller and how does it work? Simply put, it takes hot food and rapidly makes it cold: bringing 160°F down to 32° within 90 minutes. Similarly, Shock Freezing takes hot food and freezes it as quickly as possible, going from 160°F to 0° in 4 hours. There are many benefits to having equipment capable of extending the quality and shelf life of ingredients and prepared foods.

Food Safety

Blast chilling gets food through the danger zone, when bacteria is most likely to form, as fast as possible. When cooling large quantities of food, portions of the product may linger in this temperature danger zone. In a Blast Chiller, the environment is controlled and allows for ample air movement, bringing the product down to safe temperatures quickly.

Food Quality

With blast chilling, the quality of the food is maintained, especially with shock freezing as compared to traditional freezing. Since the food is rapidly frozen, large ice crystals, which can destroy the texture, taste, and quality of the food product, do not have a chance to form. As a result, the food maintains its freshness for much longer.

Wider Menu – Time Saving

Give your customers more menu choices without sacrificing time or increasing labor costs. Batch cooking can be done ahead of time with full staff a few times a week, then held and warmed up to serve as needed.

Extended Shelf Life

With restaurant attendance down, convenience store markets are growing in popularity. Some of their best-selling items are Grab and Go options, such as sandwiches and salads. A blast chiller is a great way to extend the shelf life of these products for an extra 3-5 days, while preserving their quality.

Less Waste

A blast chiller can greatly decrease the amount of food waste, as food stays fresher for longer. It also makes it easy to remove food from hot wells and quickly bring it down to cold storage temperature, allowing it to be safely preserved and reused.

Smarter Food Purchasing

With the ability to quickly freeze food while maintaining its quality for 2-3 months, you can buy product in bulk while it is in-season, and then affordably offer “out of season” menu items to customers.

Which Blast Chiller is Best for You?

If you’re thinking of purchasing a Blast Chiller for your operation, consider the following questions  to determine what unit fits your needs.

• What type of product do you need to chill?
• What are the time requirements? The product, the product weight, and the time will indicate your BTU requirements.
• What type of vessels are used to transport the product? Pans, sheet pans, carts, racks, etc.

Styles of Blast Chillers

Standard Blast Chiller (Unibody)

Cord and plug operation, available in reach-in and roll-in styles

Modular Blast Chiller

Assembled in pieces like walk-ins, built on site, offered in single, double, and triple depth units

Integrated Blast Chiller

Add a modular chiller to the walk-in design, usually in the corner

If you are interested in learning more about Blast Chillers and how you can take advantage of fast cooling or freezing, give our experienced designers a call today!