Whether it’s a colossal walk-in refrigerator or a tiny cooler, refrigeration systems are a crucial component of a restaurant. It is therefore important to select the appropriate type of refrigeration for your business that will help safeguard an efficiently run kitchen.
As with choosing the best cutlery, commercial warewashers or catering suppliers, there are numerous factors to consider when making your choice, including the amount of space in your business to accommodate your refrigeration, the frequency of deliveries (daily deliveries means you won’t need much refrigeration space), delivery schedule of your food providers and the type of food your business provides. For example, if your food offerings are based on frozen selections, then you’ll require adequate freezer space.
Click here for further information about why selecting the most suitable refrigeration is important. Once you are aware of your business’s needs, you are ready to select refrigeration from the the different types below.
Walk-in Cooler
These can vary greatly in size and are great at storing larger perishable items such as boxes of produce and blocks of cheese. Be aware that walk-in coolers require food-grade storage shelves and for floors and walls to be covered.
Reach-in Cooler
These are predominately located in the restaurant’s kitchen or bar. Reach-in coolers usually consist of two or three doors, with staff reaching in for items, and work best away from the heat of the cooking line to maintain the correct holding temperature.
Refrigeration Drawers
These are more commonly known as fish-drawers and are under-counter refrigerators that store fish, poultry and meat. Their design means they can be fitted directly into the cooking line – perfect for compact restaurant kitchens..
Restaurant Freezers
These are similar to coolers as they can be walk-ins or reach-ins and store all frozen items except for ice. Businesses should invest in an ice-machine instead, such as the ones found at.
Restaurant Bar Refrigeration
Bar refrigeration devices are often referred to as low boys (coolers found near the ground) or high boys (those that are approximately waist level). These coolers can be used to store a range of bottled and canned beverages, including bar mixers, bottled beers and white and rosé wine. Beer kegs are kept in separate types of refrigeration such as in kegerators or walk-in refrigerators.
