Commercial refrigeration, explained

Refrigeration does two jobs in a professional kitchen: it keeps food safe, and it keeps service fast. Domestic fridges do neither at volume — they cannot recover temperature when doors open every minute through a busy service. Here is what commercial refrigeration covers, and how to choose.

Cold rooms

For bulk storage, a walk-in cold room is the most efficient cost per litre. Panel-built and modular, they scale to the space and can be split into chilled and frozen sections. Specify these when deliveries are large or infrequent, or when you hold a lot of stock.

Reach-in fridges and freezers

Upright reach-ins are the workhorses on and around the line — fast access, GN-compatible, in one- to four-door sizes. Site them at the point of use so chefs are not walking to the cold room mid-service.

Undercounter and prep counters

Refrigerated counters and saladette/prep counters put cold storage directly under the work surface, with chilled wells for ingredients on top. They save space and steps, and are ideal for cold prep, garnish and assembly stations.

Blast chillers and the cook-chill rule

A blast chiller rapidly drops hot food through the danger zone — typically from +90°C to +3°C in 90 minutes — far faster than a normal fridge can. This is essential for safe cook-chill and batch production, and it is a legal requirement in many settings. If you cook ahead, you need one.

Temperature classes

• Chill — roughly 0 to +5°C, for fresh food and daily stock.
• Freeze — around −18 to −22°C, for frozen storage.
• Blast — rapid pull-down for cook-chill and cook-freeze.

Sizing it right

Size to your delivery cycle and menu, then add head-room — refrigeration that is full to the door cannot circulate air and runs warm. As a starting point, plan bulk storage in a cold room, fast-access stock in reach-ins near the line, and ingredient storage in prep counters where the work happens. We can size the whole cold chain against your covers.

See our refrigeration range, or tell us your menu and covers and we’ll spec the cold chain for you. Building the whole kitchen? Start with planning a commercial kitchen.