A commercial refrigerator is a piece of the important equipment in any food business. Whether it is a cafe, a restaurant or a bakery, you will need to store food and ingredients at cooler temperatures so you can preserve them. Choosing a commercial refrigerator or freezer depends on your needs. There are also a lot of models that you can choose from depending on your preferences. Here are some of the factors that you need to consider when buying one.
Insulation and Cooling
Different models of refrigerators have various levels of cooling and insulation. Solid door types give better insulation since the heat transfer from outside to the inside parts are a bit limited. They also give better cooling so you can store your products at safe temperatures. Solid door refrigerators are great for storing perishable goods like meat since the temperature inside is maintained and well-balanced.
Glassdoor types are not that great in insulation since there is a thin barrier between the inner and outer parts, making heat transfer easier. They are also not that cool compared to solid door types. Glass door refrigerators are not made for storing items that are perishable; they are designed for display purposes instead.
Cleaning
Glassdoor refrigerators need frequent cleaning than solid door ones since the glass part of the refrigerator often gets dirty or smudgy after some time. Smudges and dirt are not that visible in solid door types, so there is less need for wiping the outer surface. However, if your refrigerator is visible to your customers, you need to keep it clean to make it more presentable to look at. Make sure that you include interior when cleaning, especially on glass door types.
Visibility
Solid door refrigerators are great for storage purposes only. It is better to keep them near the kitchen so that you can access it easily. Glass door types are also great for displays. You can use them to store pre-cooked food, store beverages or any product that you want your customers to see. Some find the visibility helpful in the kitchen so the staff can easily find the item that they are looking for even without opening the fridge.
Food that you store
It is important to identify how much of and what products you will be storing. You need to know if it is going to be raw food, cooked food or both. There are different regulations for how you store food and being able to accommodate these rules is important. Also, you need to identify whether you are going to have self-service units in your restaurant. A glass door model behind the counter is a good option for drinks and desserts, while an open-air option is more appealing to a customer serving.
Size
Buying the right kind of cooler is one of the most important things to consider when you are looking for a unit. Your business must have enough space to store all of the required foods, but a lot of kitchens are tight on space, or they have an inconvenient design to house the refrigerator of choice.
If you do not have the area for the cooler that you want, a common solution is to buy multiple smaller units. This can give you additional storage space, and it can often help your kitchen run smoothly. If you have a fry cook and a line cook, having your coolers can make their workflow smoother.
Aside from these factors, you also need to have a local service provider that will be there when you need preventive maintenance and repair like commercial refrigerator service in Phoenix. One way of having a long-lasting unit is to make sure that it is well maintained.