Chest freezers come in all sizes and when they act as commercial catering equipment for a food processing or retailing business such as a restaurant, there is always going to be a trade-off in term of usability and cost. Walk-in freezers are often the best option for catering companies, but where there is no room and budget is a factor, can chest freezers perform just as well?
Chest Freezer Pros
Obviously, a chest freezer is versatile in that it can be located almost anywhere and moved at any point in the future with little or no cost. The storage capacity of a chest freezer is more than adequate for many small enterprises and compartmented units allow you to rotate stock easily. You can add additional freezers when you need to and remove them when you have no use for them. If one chest freezer breaks, you can usually make do with another until the broken freezeris working again or the manufacturer replaces the unit.
Chest freezers are now frost free, so you no longer need to schedule defrosting and they are much more energy efficient than past with some commercial catering equipment operating as efficiently or better than domestic appliances. When your freezer is out of warranty, you have an option to sell your equipment on the second hand market and recoup your some of your costs.
Walk-in Freezer Pros
A walk-in freezer is not as efficient as a chest freezer purely because the area that is temperature controlled is far greater. However, walk-in freezers provide many more options for a business that wants to buy in bulk when the price of stock is low and they provide far better access for staff who, need to access frozen goods regularly. It is rare to see a walk-in freezer as part of a commercial catering equipment checklist, but businesses that serve commercial caterers often need to store far more frozen produce than is easily fitted in chest freezers.
Although the running costs of a freezer room are far greater than the cost per hour of a chest freezer, the practicality of a frozen food storage room far outweigh the benefits of using chest freezers. If your business has potential to expand, the reliance of chest freezers could significantly hold your back when compared to the extra capacity achievable using a freezer room.
Which should I Buy?
This is only determinable following an adequate Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) following guidelines from the Food Standards Agency FSA. Each business will have its own needs and potential hazards created by the room, staff and service provided. If you are uncertain, review the free literature from the FSA.
Your business can save money by using a top rated chest freezer. If you are not sure which is best for you, speak to a professional supplier of equipment to the catering trade online.
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