In catering, the choice of refrigeration is not just about buying a bigger fridge or a more powerful freezer. To safely preserve food, avoid waste, and work under good conditions during service, it is essential to choose equipment suited to your activity. Refrigerated cabinets, cold preparation tables, salad bars, blast chillers... We propose to review the most useful refrigeration equipment to secure your goods and maintain a reliable cold chain on a daily basis.
The cold chain is one of the pillars of food hygiene. As soon as a perishable item rises in temperature for too long, microorganisms can multiply more quickly. This is why cold storage is not just a matter of comfort at work, but a public health safety measure.
In France, collective foodborne illnesses remain a very concrete issue. The most recent available figures show that a single year recorded nearly 2,000 reported incidents, affecting over 16,000 people. In a restaurant, a temperature deviation, poorly managed cooling, or disorganized storage can quickly turn into a real problem... and not just for the establishment's image.
We must also consider the economic aspect. Food waste is costly for professionals, in terms of discarded products, lost time, and organization. Data published by ADEME in 2024 shows volumes that are far from trivial in commercial catering. In other words, proper preservation not only helps comply with regulations, but also aids in reducing losses and better managing purchases.
In this context, good refrigeration equipment plays a dual role:
it protects the most fragile items, such as meats, fish, dairy products, or homemade preparations,it streamlines the team's work during setup and service.
Before choosing equipment, it is important to distinguish between two main categories of preservation.
Positive cold refers to refrigerated storage without freezing the food. In practice, this often involves a temperature range between 0 °C and 4 °C for the most sensitive products. This is the domain of fresh products, daily preparations, opened ingredients, and a good part of the mise en place. Be careful, not all products have exactly the same regulatory limit. Some are more demanding than others; for example, minced meat must be stored at a lower temperature.
Negative cold, on the other hand, is used to maintain frozen or deep-frozen foods. The reference temperature is -18 °C. This type of storage concerns frozen products, safety stocks, or ingredients used less frequently. In a professional kitchen, it does not replace positive cold; it complements it.
Therefore, one must think in terms of usage. A brewery, snack bar, or traditional restaurant does not only need a "fridge"; they need several cold zones adapted to product rotation:
a daily storage area for fresh products,a service or preparation area to have ingredients on hand,a freezing area for frozen goods and reserves.
Note: if the establishment works with cold link or produces preparations that need to be cooled quickly, the issue goes beyond simple storage. It is then necessary to be able to bring down the temperature quickly, which requires specific equipment.
The first piece of equipment that comes to mind is the refrigerated cabinet. It is often the foundation of storage in the kitchen. It comes in a positive version for fresh products and a negative version for frozen items. Its main advantage is its capacity. It is the appliance that absorbs most of the volume, especially in restaurants, catering, or collective kitchens.
The refrigerated table is different. It is not only used for storage but also for working. Its top surface serves as a preparation area, and its cold compartment keeps frequently used ingredients within reach. It is a good choice for cold stations, desserts, snacks, small teams, and all kitchens where every action counts during peak times.
The refrigerated salad bar is particularly useful for establishments that handle a lot of toppings, raw vegetables, ready-to-assemble ingredients, or toppings. It can be found in sandwich shops, pizzerias, salad bars, snack bars, and sometimes in brasserie kitchens. It allows for quick access to the bins, minimizing unnecessary handling.
There are also refrigerated display cases and presentation equipment, which are more suited for sales or service. In some cases, they serve both to preserve and to showcase the products. Finally, the cooling cell becomes very interesting when there is a need to ensure rapid cooling after cooking, especially for homemade preparations, advance productions, or certain catering organizations.
In summary, each piece of equipment serves a specific function:
the cabinet for storage,the refrigerated table for preparing and storing at the station,the salad bar for quick assembly,the cooling cell for fast cooling and securing refrigeration.
To compare the formats of refrigeration equipment, one must start from the reality on the ground. The right choice depends less on a theoretical catalog than on the number of covers, the pace of service, the available space, and the type of production.
In a bar, café, or small snack, a refrigerated table or a salad bar is often sufficient for fast-moving products, complemented by a positive cabinet for stock. The goal is to avoid back-and-forth trips and have essential ingredients in the right place.
In a traditional restaurant or a brasserie, a real combination is generally required: a positive cabinet for fresh products, negative equipment for frozen goods, and at least one refrigerated table at the preparation station. The frequency of door openings becomes an important criterion here. A kitchen that continuously opens an undersized unit eventually loses thermal stability.
In a community setting, with a caterer, or in a high-volume structure, capacity becomes a priority. One must think in terms of usable square meters, number of levels, GN compatibility, staff circulation, and robustness. A cabinet advertised as 600 or 700 liters does not have the same value depending on its interior layout, the number of shelves, and the actually usable space.
The good selection criteria are generally as follows:
usable volume and not just the advertised volume,type of cooling - positive or negative,
number of doors and ease of access,compatibility with GN containers,ease of cleaning,space required for ventilation and door opening,robustness of seals, hinges, and shelves.
It is also important to keep a little margin. A unit chosen too tightly can quickly become overloaded. Moreover, overly dense storage hinders the circulation of cold air and can create temperature discrepancies.
The first mistake is choosing equipment that is too small. It may seem economical at first, but in practice, the device quickly becomes overloaded. Products are cramped, air circulation is reduced, doors remain open longer, and teams resort to makeshift solutions.
The second common mistake is mixing uses. A storage cabinet does not replace a refrigerated table at the workstation, and a preparation table is not designed to hold all the stock for the week. When equipment is diverted from its intended function, comfort and safety are compromised.
It is also important to avoid letting preparations meant for storage cool at room temperature for too long. In some organizations, particularly in cold chain logistics, rapid temperature reduction is a critical point. Again, a cooling cell is not a luxury; it meets a real health need.
Other classic mistakes include:
leaving doors open for too long,sticking bins to the walls or overloading shelves,not clearly separating raw products from ready-to-serve preparations,forgetting temperature readings,neglecting door seals, condensate drainage, or ventilation.
These are often small details, but it is precisely these details that, when added together, weaken the cold chain.
Good equipment is not enough if its use is approximate. To store safely, it is essential to combine the equipment with simple and regular habits. The establishment's HACCP plan is specifically designed to frame this.
The first reflex is to check temperatures. One should not rely solely on external displays, especially after a significant loading or during peak service. Recordings help identify a deviation before it becomes a problem. In very active kitchens, it is even a real management tool.
The second point is maintenance. A dirty appliance does not function as well. Dirty seals do not close properly, ventilation gets clogged with dust, condensates drain poorly... and the machine works harder. Daily cleaning of surfaces, visual checks of seals, and more thorough periodic maintenance are far from being a waste of time.
Finally, one must consider the organization of storage. In a refrigerated area, products should be placed logically, with the most fragile or urgent items positioned where they can be checked more easily. Stock rotation, labeling, and separation between raw products, preparations, and ready-to-serve goods remain fundamental practices.
Between refrigeration, freezing, and blast freezing, the words may sound similar but they do not refer to the same thing. Refrigeration allows for the preservation at positive cold, freezing involves lowering a product to a negative temperature to keep it longer, while blast freezing is a much faster industrial process. In professional kitchens, it's better to use the correct terms to avoid confusion.
Ultimately, choosing the right cooling equipment comes down to a simple question: what does your establishment really need to store, prepare, and serve without temperature fluctuations? By considering your volumes, daily tasks, and organization, you can more easily avoid poor purchases. At the same time, you will ensure the quality of the products served to customers.
Author Audrey on 17 February 2023
Materials and Consumables : Computer equipment and consumables
Author Audrey on 10 March 2022
Materials and Consumables : Computer equipment and consumables