Williams Refrigeration - Blast Chillers

What is Cook-chill?

Cook-chill can enhance food safety, reduce stress in the kitchen, improve productivity and deliver better quality meals. It’s the answer to many of the challenges facing todays foodservice operator – from staff shortages to food safety. Any meal can be prepared, cooked, chilled and refrigerated, with little or no loss of quality, nutritional value, texture or flavour, and without altering its appearance, thanks to cook-chill technology.

What is Cook-Chill?

Cook-chill is a simple, controlled system of advanced food preparation designed to provide more flexibility in foodservice. The technique involves the full cooking of food, followed by very rapid chilling and then refrigerated storage, at carefully controlled temperatures, for up to five days. The food must be regenerated (reheated) before service.

Who uses cook-chill systems?

Thousands of establishments throughout the whole spectrum of the catering industry use cook-chill systems. For example, anyone who has eaten at a top restaurant or hotel, at a banquet or on an aeroplane is likely to have eaten a cook-chill meal. The systems are also used by many institutional caterers such as hospitals, universities and in the armed forces. Ready meals are created by food manufacturers with cook-chill systems.

Will my business benefit from Cook-Chill?

With the advances in modern technology, notably the development of compact blast chillers, no catering operation is too small (or large) to adopt a cook-chill system. If your business is serving hot meals then you will almost certainly benefit from one.

Why use blast chillers/blast freezers?

The main feature of blast chillers or blast freezers is the ability to rapidly reduce the temperature of hot foods down to safe storage temperatures of +3°C for chilled food and -18°C for frozen. Williams Blast Chillers help to take the risk of contaminated food out of your operation and make it easier for caterers to comply with Food Safety and Temperature Control Legislation. Not to mention the benefits afforded by cost savings and increased efficiency!

Avoiding the risks of food poisoning

Food poisoning can be incredibly dangerous, particularly to vulnerable groups such as the very young and the elderly. Failure to maintain proper hygiene standards can lead to litigation and prosecution. As bacteria can divide into two every 20 minutes even a small amount can quickly become dangerous without correct treatment. Williams blast chillers rapidly chill food through the danger zone – between 63 and 5°C – where bacteria grows fastest, ensuring the safety of any food processed with it.

How quickly will I recover my investment?

Introducing a cook-chill system will instantly begin to reduce your businesses overheads. It will help to lower labour costs and reduce waste while maximising efficiency and increasing your turnover. All these factors will help to recover your investment quickly.

The Cook-Chill Benefits

Suitable for any foodservice operation

Blast Chilling can be used to improve any foodservice operation regardless of size or requirements.

Improved kitchen efficiency

Cook-chill gives caterers the ability to organise daily tasks more efficiently. For example, prime cooking can be done during quieter times, leaving more time to handle busier periods as well as providing a safer, more controlled working environment.

Effective resource management

As well as allowing more efficient use of labour and equipment, cook-chill means you can take advantage of economies of scale by buying ingredients in larger quantities. It also allows one kitchen to prepare meals for several establishments.

Improvement in service

More food can be prepared in advance, meaning caterers have more time to finesse the presentation of dishes and improve customer experience.

Flexibility in service

As all the dishes only need simple regeneration before they are served, caterers can offer a wide variety of meals, even when the number of customers fluctuates throughout the day.

Menu extension

The flexibility of cook-chill allows you to prepare a greater selection of dishes, giving customers more choice without compromising on quality. By preparing meals in advance you can afford more time, which helps to reduce product loss and waste due to mistakes.

Reduced food wastage and improved portion control

Cook-chill allows you to control portion size precisely, and as only the meals ordered need to be regenerated this means little or no food is wasted.

Increased profitability

All of this helps to make your operation more efficient, meaning you’re able to cope with larger numbers of customers, at shorter notice. This means increased turnover, and higher profits.

Opportunity for expansion

If your business turnover is currently limited by the number of meals you are able to prepare conventionally, cook-chill is a great way to increase capacity without necessarily needing to expand your kitchen or employ more staff.

Guarantee of food safety and HACCP guidelines

With a well-managed cook-chill system, meals stored will remain in perfect condition until they are ready to be prepared and served. Williams blast chillers and freezers automatically record all operational data, making it easy to maintain HACCP records.