F&H reviews the latest in refrigeration and ice making

Refrigeration isn’t a headline-grabbing subject, but chefs can’t prepare food safely without it. To make it easier, the following is a rundown of the top trends, challenges and efficiencies in refrigeration, blast chilling and ice making.

Refrigeration

Geoffrey Morden, executive chef of the Ottawa Convention Centre, is surrounded by refrigeration systems on the job.

In the 13,000-sq.-ft. kitchen, more than 60 per cent of the space is refrigerated (0°C to 4°C) or climate controlled (10°C to 12°C) for prep work. His inventory includes more than a dozen walk-in coolers that range in size from 15x15 to 20x70 feet.

One would expect that translates into a lot of noise and unwanted heat. But that’s not the case, since the majority of the venue’s compressors (80 per cent) are housed in a separate location and connected to the building maintenance system. “It’s not like there’s one on top of each walk-in,” he says. “A big central unit controls them all.”

Having the mechanics centralized means technicians can go “down to the rack” to assess how the units are performing. “The only challenge is if the rack goes, so does your entire refrigeration system,” he says. Just to be extra safe, the staff does a walkaround and manually enters temperatures in a log book twice a day.

“A lot [of operators] are going to more prepackaged refrigeration systems on the rooftop or in a utility room that take care of everything,” confirms Patrick Watt, principal with A Day in Life Foodservice Development consultancy in Saint John, N.B.  “Master-Bilt, for example, has a box with just a light and evaporator coil. Everything else is [centralized].” It’s a reasonable investment, Watt says, explaining that remote refrigeration delivers savings on maintenance and energy costs. “Another big thing is you get rid of the noise and the heat in the kitchen.”

The Ottawa Convention Centre system is out of the box in more ways than one since it was custom designed. “Nothing is off the shelf,” Morden says. “We had certain space requirements and operational needs as well as space limitations with ceiling heights.” Many units are joined by a series of doors and corridors to maintain food safety and make it easier for food handlers. The refrigerators have nested double-hinged swinging doors and sliding glass doors to avoid congestion in the kitchen. And, every door has a window to reduce collisions when swung open; the window also makes it easy to check inventory and staff.

David Zabrowski, director of Engineering for the Food Service Technology Center in San Ramon, Calif., says that while basic refrigeration technology hasn’t changed much, there have been Energy Star updates. “Everyone is trying to squeeze more energy out of their designs. There’s heavy competition between manufacturers like True, Traulsen and Delfield to push consumption lower.”

Blast Chillers

As refrigeration continues to slowly evolve, it’s blast chillers that are commanding attention. “They used to be just for rapidly chilling cooked food for food-safety purposes,” says Watt. “Now American Panel has introduced an auto defrost that allows you to take food through the tempering process [from frozen to refrigerated thaw] at a rapid rate. Hobart and a bunch of others have also introduced quick-thaw units. These features are important as the cost of energy and water consumption goes up, because they reduce demands on main coolers.” Zabrowski notes that Italy’s Irinox is among the manufacturers that have developed multi-function blast-chiller capabilities, including re-therming food to a positive temperature.

The Ottawa Convention Centre’s Morden contends that blast chillers are an “excellent” tool for many reasons. “There’s the food-safety factor,” he says. “It lets you cool hot products quickly in a safe way versus doing it at room temperature or using ice baths. You can also set temperatures and timers and print out receipts to get details on when food was put in, for how long and the temperatures. They’re also tremendous for productivity.”

The only caveat for adoption to date has been price and size, Zabrowski explains. “Like combi-ovens, price has been a barrier. With a cost of $30,000 to $40,000, they’re being looked at by more high-end restaurants. But Piper and American Panel among others have come out with smaller under-the-counter units that are changing things.”

Ice Machines

It’s ice machines that pique the technicians’ interest at the Technology Center. “That’s where we’re really excited about where things are going,” Zabrowski says.

He’s keen on new features such as the move to smart controls. “Manitowoc, Hoshizaki, Scotsman — they’ve all got them. With these, you have the ability to make ice ahead of peak periods when electricity is the most expensive. You can save anywhere from 50 cents to $1 per pound of ice per year by shifting production off-peak.”

The biggest benefit of off-peak production is that the machine is not expelling heat and noise during business hours. “Staff loves that,” adds Zabrowski.

Another innovation is satellite-feed systems. “Follett has designed a solution where you can make the ice in one area and send it by a tube to another,” says A Day in Life’s Watt. “It’s more convenient, because it takes up much less space and makes it easier to get in and clean storage units.”

Gerry Smith, manager of Foodservice, Purchasing and Logistics at Empire Theatres in New Glasgow, N.S., loves satellite-feed systems in a business where demand for ice is constant. The chain is in the process of upgrading and/or installing new Follett Horizon series units that allow ice to be extruded through lines over a distance of up to 70 feet.

“The satellite feed was one of the main attractions when I saw them at the ApEx Show. We started introducing them to our chain right away,” says Smith.

The machine addresses a number of challenges at Empire. “Our ice machines are typically in the prep areas where space is at a premium and there are a lot of other heat-producing or energy-using appliances.”

The Horizon systems produce one-third less ambient heat into the room compared to a standard “cuber,” he says. “They’re remarkably energy efficient and 100 per cent of the water going into the machine is used to produce ice.”

Tubular-shaped cubes are made in the unit that can be mounted on a wall bracket close to the ceiling or under a cabinet. It’s most common to mount it in a different room from the ice bin altogether. “In several theatres, it’s in the projection booth on the next floor above the foodservice area,” Smith says.

In newer sites, Smith has been investing in Ice·DevIce Bins, which raise bins off the floor so staff can run carts with 25-lb. ice totes and fill them through a chute. Depending on the theatre’s needs, costs for ice machines range from $5,000 to $6,700, with large capacity bins running up to $3,900.

While a quality traditional cuber in a busy location has a 12-year lifespan, Smith expects the newer units to last 14 to 16 years at a comparable price.

For Smith, the most important factor to consider when making an ice machine investment is service and maintenance. “That’s half the battle,” he says. “It’s easy to buy something and know the benefits, but when you drop it on site, unless you have qualified people to install it — who know how to optimize the benefits and who can provide the backup service — you’re dead in the water. There’s no point putting in a new technology if people in the field can’t run and install it properly. You have to do your due diligence.”      

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