Blast Freezer

Industrial Refrigeration Pvt. Ltd. (IRL) offers Blast Freezer systems to the food industry.

Blast chilling is a method of cooling food quickly to a low temperature that is relatively safe from bacterial growth. Bacteria multiply fastest between +8 °C (46 °F) and +68 °C (154 °F). By reducing the temperature of cooked food from +70 °C (158 °F) to +3 °C (37 °F) or below within 90 minutes, the food is rendered safe for storage and later consumption. This method of preserving food is commonly used in food catering and, recently, in the preparation of 'instant' foods, as it ensures the safety and quality of the food product.

A blast freezer may also be known as a shock freezer. Such freezers are intended to rapidly bring the temperature of foods down, freezing them extremely quickly. These specialized freezers are used in the frozen food industry for everything from ice cream to television dinners and they are also utilized in some commercial kitchens for specialty tasks.

When food is frozen, the water inside it crystallizes. If freezing takes place at relatively warm temperatures, the ice crystals which form will be large. In a blast freezer, the extremely cold temperature promotes very rapid freezing, which creates small ice crystals. The smaller the crystals, the less damage to the food, as large crystals can rupture cells. Once the food has been frozen in a blast freezer, it can be moved to a more conventional freezer for storage, as long as the freezer stays cold enough to keep the food frozen.

Applications :

Freezing into blocks is an effective economical method of preserving, handling transporting and storing perishable products. Some use cases for Blast Freezers are:

• Preserve pre-cooked meals in supermarkets
• Food preservation in commercial kitchens, restaurants, hospitality establishments
• In the Meats & Seafood industry, such as in abbatoirs (slaughterhouses) and fisheries, to freeze, preserve and transport fish, shellfish, red meat and poultry over long distances
• In the pharmaceuticals industry where medicine needs to be stored at very low temperatures, and when pharmaceutical products are transported
• In agriculture, especially when produce - fruits, vegetables, grains, millets, etc have long transportation or storage times. Also, blast freezers help preserve fruits and vegetables well beyond their season of production, thereby making produce available for longer periods of time during the year 

Advantages :

• A small footprint machine.
• Utilizes maximum product capacity in height.
• Designed to freeze a wide range of product thickness.
• Batch loading of product in trays, cartons & frames.
• Air Contact freezing.
• Capacity from 500 kg to 10000 kg.