Blast Chiller & Blast Freezer Suppliers

Blast chillers give commercial kitchens hard and soft chilling options customisable to suit the type of food and its cooling/freezing requirements. 

While a normal fridge or freezer evaporates moisture to chill or freeze, a blast chiller forms microcrystals on food. Blast chilled items can then be stored for up to 5 days, even longer for shock frozen items.

• Soft chilling rice, vegetables and bakery items
• Hard chilling meats and other dense foods
• Shock freezing frozen pizzas, cooked meals and food shipments

Many blast chillers come with two chilling compartments, a great option for cooling two different food items at the same time. Two compartments also save power if only half the unit is being chilled.

Unfortunately not. In most cases, food chilled or shock frozen in a blast chiller is immediately removed and stored in a standard refrigerator or freezer. While that might not seem ideal on first impression, all produce undergoing this process of blast chiller to fridge or freezer will have a significantly longer shelf life than produce chilled or frozen by standard methods.

• Under-counter unit. An excellent unit for kitchens with countertop production. The under-counter unit doesn’t take up usable space as it fits under a worktable.
• Countertop unit. A good option if workspace isn’t an issue, countertop units are ideal for chilled desserts and small-to-medium volumes.
• Reach-in unit. At the large end of the scale, reach-in blast chillers are suited to hotels, institutions and large restaurants/cafes and come with permanent racks.
• Roll-in unit. A step up from the reach-in unit, this blast chiller has a mobile racking system capable of stacking more than 90 kg of food.

• How much food do you process at once? From 13 kg to 590 kg, blast freezers can process small or vast quantities of food at once. Assessing likely volumes to be blast chilled each time will go a long way towards determining the best unit.
• Many units can hold about 40 large food pans or up to 10 sheet pans, but some can’t. How big will the containers used for blast chilling be? Make sure they fit in your preferred unit.
• How big is your kitchen? Like any fridge, blast chillers take up valuable space, especially as they need extra room for ventilation. Under-counter units are the best option for smaller kitchens, but may not be sufficient if processing large volumes daily. 
• Does your chiller need to be flexible? Any unit with a single cooling compartment can be restrictive, so decide if two separate cooling sections would provide more convenience and versatility.
• What will your maximum chilling volume be? Make sure the chiller size you choose is larger than this to ensure that all prepared food can be chilled at once to avoid health and safety issues.

The cheapest, most basic blast chillers are around $3,000  and the most featured and sophisticated units are more than $72,000. A perfectly decent unit will cost about $16,000.

Like any fridge, blast chillers have seals that can become cracked and reduce efficiency, exhausts and air intakes that suffer from obstructed airflow, and surfaces that will set spills solid and harbour bacteria if not kept clean.

As with any commercial appliance tasked with the critical role of food storage, a blast chiller must be kept in pristine condition. That means maintaining a strict upkeep regime. 

Here are some ongoing blast chiller maintenance tips.

• Use water and detergent to wipe down the blast chiller after each use
• Remove spills immediately before they solidify
• Check the condenser coils are clean and free of condensation
• Check all door seals and replace if cracked or otherwise damaged
• Clean all door seals regularly with warm, soapy water
• Keep the exhaust and air intake free of any obstructions