A blast freezer, also called a shock freezer, is a certain kind of freezer. This freezer is made to lower the temperature of whatever is being stored quickly. Blast freezing is a method that is often used in industrial kitchens and the frozen food industry to preserve fresh fruit, ice cream, ready-made meals, fish, or vegetables. Food that has been blast frozen keeps its taste, texture, and overall quality longer than food that has been frozen in other ways.
How do the blast freezers work?
When food is frozen, the water in it turns into ice crystals. The longer it takes for the food to freeze, the bigger the ice crystals become. These bigger crystals could damage materials by causing cells to burst, which would cause the cells of preserved food to break. Most of the time, this lowers the quality and flavor of the food by changing its taste and texture. Blast freezing, on the other hand, makes very small crystals that protect the food from damage and keep its quality for a longer time. When the food in a blast freezer is completely frozen, it can be moved to a regular freezer, which can be kept for a longer time.
Blower fans are often used in blast freezers to cool down the food inside quickly. These fans move cold air around the freezer to keep the food cool. They usually have several different spaces for freezing food, and they may have trays that can be moved around to hold the food. Blast freezers can usually handle items either at room temperature or cooked, as long as the capacity isn’t exceeded.
How cold is a blast freezer? How long does to freeze?
The air in blast freezers is kept at -30°C to -40°C, much lower than the normal temperature of 0°C that is kept in most freezers. Due to the much lower temperature, food may only take three hours to freeze in a blast freezer instead of six to twelve hours in a regular freezer.
What are the benefits of using the use of a blast freezer?
• When food is kept fresh by blast freezing, it keeps its nutritional value, flavor, texture, and color in the same way.
• During blast freezing, ice skin forms on the surface of the food. This ice skin protects the food from damage and drying out, so it keeps its original look.
• Using blast freezing to keep food safe ensures that it is free of harmful microorganisms and can be eaten by people.
• When food is blast frozen, both the way it looks and how it tastes is kept.
• There is less contamination because blast freezers have different rooms for storing different things.
• Blast freezing can be useful for chefs because it lets them keep large amounts of food, which is great for keeping leftovers and reducing food waste. Blast freezing can also help reduce how much energy is needed to make meals.
