Short answer
A blast chiller is built to pull heat out of freshly cooked food fast, using high-velocity cold air, so food passes through the temperature danger zone, 4°C to 60°C, quickly. A regular refrigerator or freezer is built to hold food that is already cold; loading it with hot food warms everything inside and cools the hot food slowly.
Kitchens that cook ahead in batches, such as soups, sauces, braises and cooked rice, use blast chillers to cool food before storage. Most food safety plans set time limits for cooling hot food, so ask your local public health unit what applies to you.
Many models both chill and blast freeze. They are rated by the weight of food they can bring down in a cycle and by how many pans they hold: reach-in models suit most restaurants, and roll-in models take a full rack for high-volume production.
A blast chiller does not replace storage refrigeration. Once food is chilled, it moves to a refrigerator or freezer to be held.
Updated · By Norpex