Do you know the differences between freezing and deep-freezing? How do these two techniques work and affect food?
Reaching a negative core temperature to preserve food is an essential element of any food operating business. These two freezing procedures help you achieve just that, but in different ways. With freezing, the temperature is decreased slowly, usually up to 24 hours. Deep freezing does the same in a much quicker time frame – typically, within an hour.
Here we explore the advantages and disadvantages of these two preservation techniques.
Freezing
This is the traditional method to preserve food for extended periods. Every individual with a normal fridge performs this operation at home on a regular basis. The process is simple – the temperature of the product is reduced once into the freezer. It can take up to 24 hours for the core of the product to reach the -18ºC needed to preserve it.
During this process, the water contained in the products is transformed into big ice crystals. The size of these can have a huge impact on the food, making it lose its freshness, and losing vitamins and other essential qualities. The edges of the crystals can perforate the food cell wall, and products tend to dry out when frozen under this method.
Deep-freezing
With this technique, foods are quickly brought to a temperature between -30º C to -50º C until the product core reaches -18º C. This is a precise process used on fresh products and allows you to store safely, for a long period, nutritional characteristics of the food, especially fish and vegetables.
During the deep-freezing process, the water contained in the cells is finely crystallised, which ensures that dietary fibres are not broken, keeping the flavour and nutritional properties of the product.
The equipment used must be adapted and checked before deep freezing. It is necessary to be aware of the freezing capacity on the datasheet of your unit to make sure everything is performed correctly and, therefore avoid unwanted consequences like food poisoning.
Deep-freezing: the ideal solution for businesses
There are a few procedures that need to be carried out carefully to achieve the best results with this technique. However, using a deep-freeze freezer helps you keep your standards when serving and selling food. Products don’t lose their freshness, smell, texture or vitamins, allowing you to plan more efficiently without having to waste or miss out on quality.
At CRS, we have a vast range of deep-freeze freezer units to suit your needs. If you are looking for a solution, our cold store experts can point you in the right direction and help you find the deep-freezing solution most adequate to your business.
