OPERATIONS
Refrigeration in Food Service I
n food service industry refrigeration is one of the most important commercial equipments. Choosing the right refrigeration products is essential for establishments to ensure not only to have quality storage options but preserve food too. It is essential that the equipment models one select are energy efficient, long-lasting, and a perfect fit for the establishment where it has to be used. There is an extensive range of restaurant refrigeration equipment including, chest freezers, blast chillers, food prep tables, drop-in units, chest refrigerators, reach in refrigeration, walk-in coolers and freezers, reach-in wine refrigeration, worktop and under counter refrigeration, and more. Refrigerators have drastically positive impact on the food service departments of the hotel industry, restaurants, pubs and other catering establishments. Practically, food service departments these days cannot do without a refrigerator. It is used to store food and also preserve food. The industry can now save a lot of money from the food that would have been disposed of to the
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garbage, thanks to refrigeration solutions. Nutritionists also recommend that eating healthy foods improves our lives and enable us to live longer. A refrigerator offers the ease and convenience of getting food by helping in lengthening perishable foods’ lifespan and still retaining their nutritious contents, which is otherwise impossible. It also helps in preserving beverages; making beverages cool every time the customers require good service. We all know that a cool desert is soothing. Low temperatures also inhibit bacterial growth hence preventing food decay. The new makes of refrigerators not only preserve food, but they are also costeffective, and consume less power. Let us take a look at some of the refrigeration solutions. Refrigerator Refrigerator is one of the most commonly used appliances for storing food and beverages. The working principle of a refrigerator is based on refrigeration and evaporation, wherein heat is drawn out from the objects and transferred to the
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surrounding atmosphere. A refrigerator cannot cool below -10 degree Fahrenheit. Low refrigerator temperature may slow down the growth of microorganisms, but it may not be effective enough to kill pathogenic or spoilage causing microorganisms. For optimum preservation, maintain the temperature between 34 degree and 40 degree Fahrenheit. Freezer Freezer is another commonly used domestic and industrial kitchen appliance that works on the same principle as a refrigerator. However, in freezers, an evaporating or a cooling gas is used to evaporate heat from the object. In addition, a freezer-only unit can store food at temperatures as low as -34 degree Fahrenheit, whereas the minimum temperature that can be achieved in a refrigerator can’t go lower than -10 degree Fahrenheit. Most food remains in good quality, if the freezer temperature is set between -10 degree and -20 degree Fahrenheit. Chiller A Chiller is used to cool food quickly at
June-July ’22
