What is a blast freezer?
Very simply, a blast freezer, or a shock freezer, is just a very cold freezer. These freezers rapidly bring down the temperature of temperature sensitive produce such as foodstuffs or fresh produce, bringing them down to the optimum temperature quickly. They are widely used in the frozen food industry for things like pre-prepared meals, vegetables or fish. A lot of commercial kitchens also use them for frozen food storage.
Why shock freeze?
When you freeze food or other products the water inside crystallises into ice. The longer the freezing process takes, the larger the ice crystals become. Larger ice crystals damage materials by causing things like cell bursting, which affects the quality and flavour of foods. Rapid freezing within a blast freezer causes the crystals formed to be very small, which does less damage and preserves food at a higher quality. Also, once the food is “blast frozen” it can be moved into a normal freezer for longer-term storage as long as this one stays cold enough for the food to stay frozen.
How does blast freezing work?
A lot of blast freezers use blower fans which force cold air across the contents of the freezer in order to rapidly chill it. Others can work in different ways depending on the design. Blast freezers can be equipped with trays which move about in order to position foods, and often include various compartments. An average freezer can normally handle foods at room temperature or even heated as long as the freezer is not over capacity.
Is blast freezing safe?
As well as the integrity, quality and taste of the food, blast freezing also has health and safety benefits. In extreme cold bacteria growth is slowed down. Provided that the food is handled safely and then put into the freezer immediately after preparation, there is a greatly reduced risk of contamination. This benefit to food safety is one of the reasons why blast freezing is very popular in commercial food preparation areas, as it greatly reduces the risk to customers and consumers.
CRS Portable Blast Freezers
Our portable blast freezers are immensely useful for all kinds of applications including food storage, and especially where a static freezer is not an option due to space constraints or planning permission restrictions.
We have freezers available to rent, lease or purchase in a variety of powers and capacities. Get in touch with our cold storage sales team to find out how we can help you with your shock freezer storage today.
