Types of Commercial Refrigerators & Their Usage

Planning to start a business in the food industry then you should be aware that refrigerators are an integral part of the commercial food business. Cooling or freezing, refrigeration is so vital for the food industry, especially in the commercial kitchen.

Commercial Refrigeration Equipment comes in a wide range of types and sizes. It is essential for the business owners who are involved in a food outlet, restaurant, or quick-service restaurant to know about the details of basic refrigeration types available in today’s market.

This blog will elaborate on the basic types of commercial refrigeration units you can find in the market along with their usages.

List of Common Refrigerators Types You Can Find in Market

Selecting the right type of refrigerators according to the space of your commercial kitchen with proper ventilation will make things easier for you to cater to your client’s needs and preferences. Take a look over the types of available refrigerators you can incorporate in your commercial kitchen.

1. Walk-in Refrigerators & Freezers

Walk-in refrigerators and freezers are often referred to as a refrigerated storage room that provides large space to store bulk items. It is the optimal option for restaurants with large traffic. This kind of storage room allows users to set up a commercial shelving operation which increases the static refrigeration efficiency.

Usage: Mostly used by large-scale restaurants & hotels to store a high amount of ingredients, meat, poultry and so on.

2. Display Refrigerators

These kinds of refrigerators are specially designed to highlight the food items/beverages which are stored inside. Display refrigerators are great pieces of equipment for food outlets to provide self-serve or take-out.

Usage: Mostly used in bakeries, grocery stores, food outlets for storing packed foods, beverages, parcel foods, cakes and so.

3. Undercounter Refrigerators

Restaurants looking for refrigerators to store small ingredients for preparing foods or storing plating can prefer this type. This under-counter refrigerator comes in small size mostly used to store seafood items by the restaurants. Chefs often place this refrigerator unit next to or installed directly to the cooling line or nearby the grill. This type of refrigerator unit saves a lot of space and acts as a compact merchandiser.

Usage: Mostly used by taverns, offices, bars, break rooms for storing packaged snack foods, cooking ingredients, and chilling soft beverages.

4. Restaurant Bar Refrigerators

Bar refrigerators are used to chill everything kept inside. Generally, restaurants offering drinks prefer to buy this refrigerator for cooling wine, soda, beer and so on. Usually, these bar refrigerators have multiple sections, mostly 3 to 4 where users can store items separately. Bar refrigerators that come in stainless steel finishes cost more when compared with black vinyl units.

Usage: Highly used in Taverns, bars, cafes, lounges for cooling wine, beer, soda, and normal water bottle

5. Refrigerated Prep Table

These kinds of refrigerators come on the basis of specific standards or preparation areas demanded by the restaurants. In general, commercial kitchen or food businesses demand such prep tables for preparing pizzas and sandwiches/salad. The cold storage which comes as an attachment with this prep table is for keeping the ingredients fresh.

Usage: Cooking Pizzas, Salads, sandwiches, storing toppings, sauces and so.

Door Options of Commercial Refrigerators

Commercial refrigerators come with a variety of door options, picking the right one plays a vital role in handling refrigerators effectively in your kitchen. Here are the lists of door options you can have on your commercial refrigerator.

• Solid Doors: Solid doors lack visibility of the items which are stored in refrigerators. However, they are very good at maintaining temperature and high energy efficiency. These types of doors come with insulation and help refrigerators to maintain appropriate temperature even users open the door often to see what items are stored inside.
• Glass Doors: Glass doors provide clear visibility of the products/items which are stored inside the refrigerators. This limits the door opening to check the items kept inside. However, they lack insulation, and owing to the time which the door is kept open will raise the temperature inside.
• Sliding Doors: Sliding doors can be opened one side at a time but still it’s very handy for merchants having lesser space and high traffic. These sliding doors are typically made up of glass which results in clear visibility of inner items and also possesses the same pros and cons as glass doors.
• Swinging Doors: Swinging doors suits well for a spacious area where the doors open outwards up to 180 degrees. Because of the large opening, swinging doors provide you with additional storage and easy access. This kind of door comes with the option of stay-open at a 90 – 120 degree position.

Bottom Line

Well, the above-mentioned commercial refrigerators and the door option it has will guide you to pick the right for your food business. However, it is important to engage with a legitimate kitchen equipment supplier to avail high-quality commercial refrigerators for your business to experience its full benefits.