Restaurant Freezer

For those of you who might be troubleshooting a restaurant freezer, our Freezer Repair page has some tips that might help you.

If you're in the process of selecting a restaurant freezer, talk to the equipment manufacturer about exactly what products you plan to use it for, and what temperatures you want to keep those products at.

They'll be happy to help you select the most efficient freezer possible for your purpose.

Please keep in mind that the majority of reach-in type freezers are designed to be loaded with product that is already frozen, to cool those products to about 0° F, and hold them at 0° until they're used.

If you put a lot of warm product in a freezer, don't be surprised if the product that was already in the freezer warms up a little bit.

With most products you probably won't notice this, but if you have ice cream in your restaurant freezer and it warms up more than a couple of degrees, it could start melting, so keep this possibility in mind.

If you'll be serving ice cream, use a well-type ice cream freezer; the type with the opening on the top.

In my experience these consistently and reliably keep ice cream cold and hard, and sometimes even have to be adjusted so the ice cream isn't too hard.

A hot-water tap & sink can heat the scoop for efficient serving.

If you absolutely have to display your ice cream in a freezer with doors on the side, talk to your ice cream distributor, and your equipment distributor, about getting a freezer designed with the capacity to hold the ice cream at the optimum temperature.

If you will be quick-freezing or quick-cooling fresh-cooked food on a regular basis, the best equipment to use is a blast freezer.

They're designed to cool your fresh-cooked food at the optimum speed to maintain the moisture, flavor, and freshness your customers are expecting.

To keep your restaurant freezer running at top efficiency, keep it on a regular maintenance schedule, and inspect it every week.

If the gaskets tear, replace them.

Make sure the evaporator and condenser fans run.

Make sure the condenser coil (and filter, if installed) is clean, and make sure that nothing is blocking air flow through the condenser coil.

Make sure that no other refrigeration equipment, and no cooking equipment, is venting heat into the condenser coil.

Make sure that the area where the freezer is installed is at or below the design ambient temperature for the unit.

Pick the right restaurant freezer for the job you expect it to do, install it in a well ventilated area and maintain it regularly; and you should get years of efficient, trouble-free service from it.

I hope this page has helped, and please, feel free to contact us with any specific HVAC questions you might have, including questions about refrigeration on Guam, and air conditioning on Guam.