Why not just cool food in a regular refrigerator?

A standard refrigerator is built to hold cold food, not to remove heat from a large hot batch. Loading it with hot food cools the food slowly and warms everything else inside. Canadian food safety codes and many provincial rules set time limits for cooling cooked food, and a blast chiller helps a kitchen meet them. Check the limits that apply with your local public health unit.

What is the difference between blast chilling and shock freezing?

Blast chilling brings food down to refrigerator temperature for storage in a refrigerator. Shock freezing, sometimes called blast freezing, continues well below freezing so the food can be kept frozen. Faster freezing forms smaller ice crystals, which many kitchens find protects the texture of pastry, seafood and cooked dishes.

Does a blast chiller replace a freezer or reach-in?

It does not. A blast chiller works in cycles to bring food down quickly, then the food moves to a refrigerator or freezer for storage, freeing the chiller for the next batch. Kitchens size their storage separately and treat the chiller as a production tool between cooking and storage.

How much do commercial blast chillers cost?

List prices on Norpex range from $2,785.97 to $149,240 CAD, with a median of $19,089.34 across 62 priced models; prices are list prices before tax and shipping.

What types of commercial blast chillers do you carry?

Norpex lists these types of commercial blast chillers, with the number of models of each: reach-in (8) and countertop (4).

Which brands of commercial blast chillers do you carry?

Norpex lists 62 commercial blast chillers. The brands with the most models listed are Afinox with 27, Gemm with 16, Eurodib with 9, Trento with 5 and Omcan with 4.

Do you ship commercial blast chillers across Canada?

Norpex ships to delivery addresses across Canada. Equipment ships from distributor warehouses, so dispatch timing depends on the supplier and the destination. For items that can be bought online, shipping is calculated at checkout from live carrier rates for the delivery address and confirmed before payment. There is no automatic free-shipping or flat-rate offer.

Commercial Blast Chillers in Canada

Blast chillers pull cooked food down to refrigeration temperature far faster than a reach-in, using high-velocity cold air, with a food probe on most models to track the core temperature, and many models also shock-freeze. Caterers, institutional kitchens, bakeries and restaurants that cook ahead use them to cool large batches safely, protect quality and plan production for later service. Reach-in models take pans or trays; larger roll-in units accept whole racks.

About commercial blast chillers

Before you buy

Size the chiller by the load you cool at once, in pans or trays and by weight, rather than by cabinet volume, since manufacturers rate capacity per cycle.
Check whether it offers both chilling and freezing cycles, and whether soft and hard chill modes are available for delicate foods.
Look for a core temperature probe and, if your food safety plan calls for records, cycle logging or a way to export the data.
Plan for the heat the chiller gives off during a cycle, and ask whether larger models can use a remote condenser to keep that heat out of the kitchen.
Measure the spacing between tray slides against the depth of your hotel pans, because the slide pitch limits how deep a pan fits.

Common questions

Why not just cool food in a regular refrigerator?: A standard refrigerator is built to hold cold food, not to remove heat from a large hot batch. Loading it with hot food cools the food slowly and warms everything else inside. Canadian food safety codes and many provincial rules set time limits for cooling cooked food, and a blast chiller helps a kitchen meet them. Check the limits that apply with your local public health unit.
What is the difference between blast chilling and shock freezing?: Blast chilling brings food down to refrigerator temperature for storage in a refrigerator. Shock freezing, sometimes called blast freezing, continues well below freezing so the food can be kept frozen. Faster freezing forms smaller ice crystals, which many kitchens find protects the texture of pastry, seafood and cooked dishes.
Does a blast chiller replace a freezer or reach-in?: It does not. A blast chiller works in cycles to bring food down quickly, then the food moves to a refrigerator or freezer for storage, freeing the chiller for the next batch. Kitchens size their storage separately and treat the chiller as a production tool between cooking and storage.
How much do commercial blast chillers cost?: List prices on Norpex range from $2,785.97 to $149,240 CAD, with a median of $19,089.34 across 62 priced models; prices are list prices before tax and shipping.
What types of commercial blast chillers do you carry?: Norpex lists these types of commercial blast chillers, with the number of models of each: reach-in (8) and countertop (4).
Which brands of commercial blast chillers do you carry?: Norpex lists 62 commercial blast chillers. The brands with the most models listed are Afinox with 27, Gemm with 16, Eurodib with 9, Trento with 5 and Omcan with 4.
Do you ship commercial blast chillers across Canada?: Norpex ships to delivery addresses across Canada. Equipment ships from distributor warehouses, so dispatch timing depends on the supplier and the destination. For items that can be bought online, shipping is calculated at checkout from live carrier rates for the delivery address and confirmed before payment. There is no automatic free-shipping or flat-rate offer.

Guides

Explainer

What Is a Blast Chiller? Cook-Chill, Capacity and Roll-In vs Reach-In

7 min read · Updated September 25, 2026

Trento 24″ Countertop Blast Chiller with 3-Tray Capacity – 46671

Eurodib BCB 10US Commercial Blast Chiller – 230V

Afinox – INFINITY Start 10 Blast Chiller & Freezer – Start10

Gemm ECOBLAST-620 10 Pan Full Size Reach In Blast Chiller

Afinox – INFINITY Start 40 Roll-In Blast Chiller & Freezer – Start40

Afinox – INFINITY Start 20 Roll-In Blast Chiller & Freezer – Start20

25“ Countertop Blast Chiller 3 x GN 1/2 Pan Capacity – 110 V, 1 Phase

GEMM – Blast Chiller w/ 10 Trays & R290 Refrigerant – BCB10USN

Afinox Infinity Start 40 Compact Roll-In Blast Chiller Freezer

Trento 32″ Floor Blast Chiller with 10-Tray Capacity – 48704

COLDZONE – BLF40 BLAST CHILLER 5 TRAY

Afinox – INFINITY 15 All-In-One Blast Chiller & Freezer – AIO15

Afinox – INFINITY Start 60 Roll-In Blast Chiller & Freezer – Start60

Afinox – INFINITY 5 All-In-One Blast Chiller & Freezer – AIO5

30“ Countertop Blast Chiller 5 x GN 1/1 Pan Capacity – 110 V, 1 Phase

GEMM – Blast Chiller w/ 10 Trays & R290 Refrigerant – BCT10USN

Afinox – INFINITY 10 All-In-One Blast Chiller & Freezer – AIO10

Eurodib – EcoBlast 276 L Blast Chiller – ECO620

Eurodib – EcoBlast 620 Blast Chiller w/ 10 Trays – RGSECOBLAST620

Afinox – INFINITY Start 120 Roll-In Blast Chiller & Freezer – Start120

GEMM – Blast Chiller w/ 15 Trays & R290 Refrigerant – BCB15USN

Gemm – Blast Chiller for Trolleys | Freezer

Gemm ECOBLAST-320 5 Pan Full Size Reach In Blast Chiller

Afinox – INFINITY Start 15 Blast Chiller & Freezer – Start15