A high-quality commercial fridge cabinet will improve your business. Every restaurant must have a display fridge in front and a storage under counter fridge or meat fridge in the back.
From large multideck and patisserie fridge cabinets to drinks fridge, meat chillers and under-counter fridges, commercial refrigeration equipment is essential to the running of a restaurant.
Commercial refrigerators are designed to keep temperatures between 33°F and 44°F. In other words, the range falls between 0°C and 7°C. The ability to preserve food at the specified temperature, a compressor ventilation component and stainless steel finishes must represent the qualities of a restaurant fridge equipment.
Choosing the right commercial fridge for your restaurant will make your kitchen run smoothly, as well as providing optimum food safety for your customers.
How to choose the best restaurant refrigeration equipment?
What types of restaurant fridge equipment are on the market?
How to Clean a Commercial Fridge?
How to choose the commercial refrigeration equipment for your restaurant?
Before you commit to purchasing any restaurant refrigeration equipment, you must first determine exactly what types and sizes you need. The size of your restaurant and the type of food you serve are the decisive factors in choosing the right commercial fridge units.
Moreover, refrigerators and freezers have different energy efficiency. A bigger efficiency means better performances and less electricity consumer. An energy efficient restaurant fridge is also better for the environment, having lower greenhouse gas emissions.
You also need to consider your budget. If you have a start-up restaurant, your budget can be smaller. In conclusion, you may not be able to afford an expensive model. Fortunately, there are commercial fridge providers that are selling display fridges and storage fridges at the manufacturer price. And are at the highest standards of quality.
Special considerations
When the kitchen space is small, or you need the space for a large walk-in fridge, so a spacious upright fridge should suffice. If you serve a variety of patisserie items or chilled drinks, you should consider choosing a specialist patisserie display fridge and a drinks fridge cabinet.
If you’re replacing the old cabinet with a new model, you’ll be limited in options by the last unit you had. However, you can search for a cabinet that suits in your space and have a better organized interior.
Don’t forget to correctly estimate the storage capacity you’ll need for the restaurant fridge unit. A great rule of measuring is to try to find something that exceed your storage needs. This serve in avoiding storage space issues in the future.
Moreover, you should consider the shelving and drawer options for the new chiller. Find a fridge that enables you to easy arrange the different types of food needed on a daily basis. Ensure you find a cabinet that have enough interior storage space to avoid cross-contamination.
Consider easy access to your restaurant fridge equipment
Make sure you had measured your restaurant kitchen to perfectly fit you catering equipment. Measure and give consideration also to doors, because you will need to get your new cabinet in the cookery. And most important, your staff will need to open the doors when they access the cooking area.
Think about the best place your new cabinet will stay in your kitchen. This depends on what employees will need the easiest access to the fridge and what type of other cooking equipment will be around it. A commercial fridge must operate in a room ambient temperature under 25°C and 60% relative humidity.
Your brand new chiller shouldn’t interrupt the workflow of your cookery, so make some planning before equipping.
Take care at the condenser position
When achieving a commercial fridge, you must think about the position of the condenser, as it helps regulate the temperature. The condenser can be situated at the top or bottom of refrigerator.
Top-mounted units have a better performance in avoiding the clogging. And more important, they don’t blow hot air into the refrigerator when opened. Also, they grant easier access to food because the doors can be opened to the ground.
Bottom-mounted condenser cabinets are ideal for a easily cleaning and maintenance operation. You’ll frequently find them in bakeries or cooking environments where there is not grilling all the day.
Types of restaurant fridge equipment
With so many options of restaurant refrigeration available, you can choose the right fridge or freezer to best fit your commercial kitchen:
Upright storage fridges & Freezers
- Upright storage fridges & Freezers – with less storage capacity than a walk-in fridge, an upright fridge perfectly suits in most restaurant kitchens. Available in a choice of sizes, upright meat fridge requires less floor space than a walk-in or chest fridge, with the suitability to store all fresh and perishable produce.
- ideal for use in restaurants, which requires the unit to work under high temperatures, whilst providing ample storage capacity. Gastronorm upright chillers are designed to operate to 43ºC ambient, making them suitable for chilling meat.
- depending on the size of your kitchen and housing needs, you can choose a slim line single chiller, or a larger chiller with double doors. All meat fridge upright chillers are eco-friendly, featuring lockable doors. They have also 75mm insulation and a removable unit for ease of servicing. The evaporator fan shuts off automatically when you open the door. Also, the temperature alarm is triggered should the internal level fall below an acceptable, safe level.
Under counter fridge
Under counter fridge – also known as refrigeration drawers, these large capacity chiller cabinets ideal fit in kitchens where space is at a premium. Depending on the size of your kitchen and your chilling needs, choose a two, three or four door under counter chiller cabinet to store seafood, poultry or meat.- under-counter chiller offers all you need for optimal chilled storage conditions in any professional environment.
- each model in the range features a stainless steel interior for longevity and a highly standard of hygiene. Each castors can be locked and unlocked to allow for easy movement around the kitchen.
Glass front fridge
glass door fridge – easy to access and with a with a large storage capacity, a reach-in fridge is the ideal refrigeration equipment for many restaurant kitchens.- suitable for all perishable and chilled produce.
- the fridge should be situated away from the heat of restaurant ovens.
- mainly found in shops that wants to maximise presentation of cold goods.
- the multideck fridge encourage impulse “grab and go” purchases in a restaurant, too.
- configurations permit to hold fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, and general purpose goods
- it can be tailored to meet all display demands.
Drinks fridge
upright display fridge or drinks fridge represent a great element of any bar, pub, and restaurant. Also they can ensure that your business will really boost the profit.- bar fridge displays, commonly named back bar coolers or simply bottle coolers, represent a great way to display chilled drinks, and other bottled beverages. Designed to fit nearly behind the bar, drinks chillers allow you to easily access the bottles. And that, even when other colleagues are working around you.
- drinks coolers present, store and chill drinks in a highly attractively way. They also maintaining optimum chilled conditions and all within an elegant frame.
- beer fridge entice customers to buy more drinks while they’re relaxing in your restaurant.
Serve over displays
- serve over cabinets perfectly suit in restaurants and catering environments that serve directly to customers. Moreover, they performs a fantastic role in directly displaying fresh food to your clients.
- serving counters have double glazed windows all-around to make products more visible. Consequently, they help to increase the sells of goods attractively displayed directly in front of customers.
- serve displays have features like fan-assist and represent a combination of high-quality construction and durability.
- Counter display chillers better suit in patisseries, cake shops, with features like the top-quality components, double glazed glasses and powerful chiller. But they are great in restaurants, too. The compressor with built-in controls provides ventilated refrigeration at each shelf level to maintain an even temperature throughout.
Chest freezer
chest freezer – perfect suitable for presenting and housing food, patisserie and ice cream freezer solutions. A sliding door freezer can store perishable products for months or even years. And this, with little loss in nutrition, flavor or change in appearance.- ice cream freezer – especially designed to stand the test of time, even in the busiest of restaurants and bars. These freezers combine the important features of securing frozen stock in perfect conditions and creating additional food presentation areas.
How to Clean a Commercial Fridge?
In time, we remain with miscellaneous products in stock that are past their expiration date. Consequently, all of these will take up space and may increase bacteria diseases. In restaurant environments that depend on cleanliness, we need more then ever to respect the food safety.
The ideal moment for cleaning your fridge is before you receive a new stock of food. And that’s because your fridge should be almost empty.
So, here are a few steps to clean a commercial fridge:
1. Unplug the refrigeration unit
You need to eliminate the possibility of electrocution. So, the first thing you must do is to unplug the fridge or freezer. It’s a simple step, but this can save your life.
2. Empty all the shelves
Consequently you need to remove all of the items from your fridge or freezer. Make sure that you remove the containers, not just move them in the other side of your chiller. If you have remaining food and you want to save it, move it to another refrigerator. Also, you can use as well, small coolers like the bar fridge for temporary storage.
3. Junk all expired and musty food
Perishable goods can get lost in the products mix by being pushed to the back of the chiller. Moreover if it’s a large refrigerator. Don’t let there anything that seems to be spoiled. The risk of food poisoning becomes a certitude and it’s not worth it. Opened cans and jars are other products that need to be throw away. Any other goods you haven’t used for months and you don’t plan to use them in the future should also be junked.
4. Cleanse the interior of the Refrigerator or Freezer
Clean all the interior of your commercial fridge using a sponge and warm soapy water. Scrub every part of the fridge and remove the mess with a microfiber sponge. When all the interior is clean, rinse with clean water.
5. Disinfect with a disinfectant
Germs and mold can accumulate over time and this can get our customers sick. So we must disinfect surfaces with a sanitizer. Assure that you are using a food-safe disinfectant, so be able to put items back into the fridge.
6. Vacuum the Condenser and Coils
The refrigeration condenser and coils drag in the remaining dust from the floor and can clog the air intake. As a result, your fridge will need to use more energy to take in air and keep your interior on the correct temperature. So, you need to clean them regularly. Start by removing the protective grill from the bottom or the top (in some cases) of your unit. Brush the coils and the fan unit and then vacuum them. Reinstall the clean grill.
7. Clean surroundings, underneath and on the top of the refrigerator or freezer
First of all, clean the top of the unit. Then, you need to keep clean the surroundings area of your refrigeration units. In addition, entirely clean the floor under, and around the fridge or freezer. When commercial fridge have castors, ensure to pull cabinet away from the wall to reach everywhere behind and beneath them.
8. Restock shelves and food
Once you cleaned the commercial fridge, it’s time to mount back the shelves, the food and then to plug it. Make sure you’re using proper food placement procedures. It means that ready-to-eat foods, like produce, butter, and condiments need to stay on the top shelf. Then, any seafood, followed by whole cuts of raw meat should be stocked on the next shelf. Below the raw meat must have the ground meat in individual containers. Raw poultry must be stocked on the bottom shelf. This order prevents any leaks from mixing and contaminating the other food.
Whether new or pre-owned, Eco-Fridge commercial refrigeration equipment is the ideal choice for your restaurant. If you are unsure which restaurant fridge is right for your needs, simply get in touch and our team of experts will be happy to advise you. You can reach us at 01280 811 411 or email us at sales@eco-fridge.co.uk.
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