Chest freezers for the Food Industry

Running a restaurant is tied with keeping your promise to your consumers that you can serve anything that’s listed on the menu. You surely don’t want to disappoint your patrons by offering something you can’t serve. Logically, restaurants stock up on their essential ingredients and they use large chest freezer to help them on preserving the quality of their stocks.

A chest freezer is one of the essential equipment for any food business. However, purchasing one is no joke. A chest freezer will usually cost more than other electronic appliances in your kitchen like blender, stove or microwave. The best way to be sure about your investment is to look for qualities that can assure you that your freezer will function properly. Consider these questions:

1. What kind of business do you have? If your main menu consists of beverages and not full meals, then it’s best for you to just go for smaller units of chest freezers instead of large ones. Some food establishments also have a unique claim of not cooking frozen meats. If your business has the same claim then you should still buy a chest freezer but go for a smaller one too because you will only need to store less in the storage.
2. Consider the capacity. If you are just starting up on your business, then a small chest freezer will be more than enough for you. A large one will not help you much if you don’t have to store a lot of things in it. On the other hand, if you are already operating on a large scale, you may already want to upgrade your choice to a larger chest freezer which can store your essential ingredients and more.
3. How much space do you have? The space that you can allot for the equipment should also be considered. The good thing about chest freezers is that it has lesser headroom compared to the upright ones making them even more suitable for areas with low ceilings. However, do not commit the mistake of miscalculating the size of your unit against the size of your space. Imagine a large chest freezer placed in a skimpy room. Doesn’t look appropriate, right?
4. Is the freezer efficient? The main purpose of choosing a chest freezer over upright models is the efficiency that you can utilise for using one. When looking for the best freezer for your business, choose the ones with a good energy rating. 

Chest freezer is the popular choice for the entrepreneurs because aside from being cheaper than the upright ones, chest freezers can hold oddly-shaped items unlike upright ones. However, before purchasing any kind of model, you should consider first the challenge of organising a chest freezer because the main problem that you will encounter when you already have the unit is the organisation of the stocks inside it. But still, there’s no question about the benefits that one can take advantage of with chest freezers. A chest freezer is truly an investment in a business that’s why proper care should be taken with this equipment.

Can I Freeze These?

Freezing foods really help us a lot not only in saving time but also in preserving food quality beyond its normal shelf life. Having a spacious chest freezer makes us feel that we can stock up on anything that’s on sale in the supermarket and use them later when we need it. However, we must remember that unfortunately, not all foods can be frozen successfully. There are certain types of foods that undergo changes in texture when frozen. It is true that most foods can be frozen but not all foods have the same freezer life and some dishes will not freeze well as the others.

THE FOLLOWING SHOULD STAY OUT OF THE FREEZER:

1. Eggs in their shell. Eggs may not be able to withstand the temperature of the freezer and may cause its water content to expand. This will lead to cracking of it shell that may cause any type of bacteria to come in. Eggs can pose a serious health threat if frozen.
2. Certain vegetables. Celery, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, marrows, radishes, watercress, etc -- or basically fresh and water-rich vegetables. These vegetables are water-based and they freeze easily. However, they form ice crystals that melt during thawing. After thawing, these vegetables become soggy and limp; the crispness will not be present in them anymore. However, if you really need to freeze these vegetables, it is advised to blanche the vegetables first. Unblanched veggies that are stored directly in the freezer will lose their crispness and fresh flavour. Veggies that lost their crispness can still be cooked for soups.
3. Cheese. Soft kinds of cheese such as cottage cheese, ricotta cheese and cream cheese will lose their fluffy texture when the water in them returns to room temperature. On the other hand, hard types of cheese will turn crumbly. Crumbly cheese is okay for grating, though. But not for slicing.
4. Food emulsions. Food emulsions are usually a mixture of two or more type of liquids. The best examples of this are mayonnaise and cream. Emulsified foods may develop large ice crystals that puncture the cell walls when frozen.
5. Egg-based sauces. Egg itself cannot be frozen so it’s very logical that egg-based sauces cannot be frozen as well. Mayonnaise and hollandaise tend to separate during the freezing and thawing processes. The separation results to a product that looks a little weird for cooking.
6. Fillings. The best examples of fillings are cream and custards. Leftover fillings don’t freeze well. The fillings tend to look watery and weepy when thawed which can ruin the looks and consistency of a perfectly good recipe.
7. Potatoes. Potatoes when frozen look mushy. This is good though, but what’s not good is that the appearance of the potato changes. Potatoes darken when frozen. Furthermore, mashed and boiled potatoes seem to turn runny after being thawed while cubed potatoes become grainy in texture.

Freezing works because it slows down the presence of enzymes and other microorganisms that causes the foods to decay. However, we should always remember that not all foods can be frozen. The goal to make preparation easier while keeping goods safe should always be in the top of our priority list.