Maintaining food freshness is crucial when operating a food business. Usually, businesses use mechanical refrigeration or cryogenic refrigeration to preserve food products. Mechanical refrigeration relies on circulating chemical refrigerants to lower temperatures. Cryogenic refrigeration, on the other hand, uses liquid gas, which comes into direct contact with food for cooling. The latter is a powerful refrigeration technique with several advantages for food businesses.
What Are the Benefits of Cryogenic Refrigeration?
1. Higher Efficiency in Freezing
Mechanical refrigeration gradually lowers the temperature to achieve full freezing. Even in the most efficient systems, it takes hours or even days to freeze a product completely. The mechanical properties of liquid gas, for example, liquid nitrogen allow complete freezing of food products within minutes of exposure. Also, liquid nitrogen has a lower freezing temperature, which enables quick cooling without clumping up the food parts. With a continuous supply of liquid gas through a Demaco cooling system, businesses can freeze multiple products within smaller periods, thus increasing their overall productivity.
2. Better Food Quality
One significant disadvantage of mechanical refrigeration is the continuous dehydration of food as it’s blasted with dry, cold air. The loss of moisture dries out food and affects its taste and cooking properties. Also, the water in food products tends to clump up and cause non-uniform freezing. Products such as vegetables and fruits lose their shape and texture and often become soggy after returning to room temperature.
Cryogenic freezing preserves food quality by reducing the time it takes to freeze a product thus minimizing moisture loss through dehydration. The rapid freezing forms an ice cover over the food product, preventing clumping up of the water content, and moisture loss. The result is higher quality frozen food. Lastly, quick freezing reduces the time bacteria act on the food, thus ensuring freshness.
3. Less Floor Space Requirements
Cryogenic equipment occupies less space, which means businesses need less square footage to set up. Once the food product is immersed in the refrigerant, it can be moved to storage or transported for sale. Mechanical refrigerators occupy more space because each food product has to stay in the freezing compartment for a while.
4. Precision and Control
Cryogenic systems allow precision. Operators can control pressure, temperature, and period of exposure, allowing for consistency in each frozen product. Mechanical freezers vary in temperature and exposure, especially if a door is opened frequently, affecting the quality of the end product.
5. Why Food Businesses Should Choose Cryogenic Freezing?
By choosing cryogenic refrigeration, businesses can increase productivity, reduce space requirements, and preserve food freshness.
