So what temperature is best? It all depends on certain factors, like what type of refrigerator you have, and what kind of stock you wish to store.
Both perishable and semi perishable foods can quickly become contaminated with harmful bacteria at any stage, during production, transport, preparation and sale. This is why it’s so important to keep these items properly refrigerated at the ideal temperature, to slow down the growth of any harmful bacteria, and extend their shelf life.
Commercial refrigerators include upright display fridges, solid door refrigerators, and walk-in coolers. These refrigerators are great for storing large amounts of perishable and semi perishable foods that need to be evenly cooled in an enclosed environment, such as fresh meat, dairy products, beverages, and more.
Commercial fridges are generally set to 2-7 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is set to lower than 2 degrees Celsius, it can cause freezing of dairy products and other delicate perishables. If it’s set any higher than 7 degrees Celsius, the food may quickly begin to spoil, causing you to waste power and lose money on stock. It may also cause customers to complain if their food is mouldy or spoiled in some way, and proper temperature settings may also cause you to incur a hefty fine from health inspectors.
If you’re after a high quality commercial refrigerator with easy to use temperature controls that can display your stock beautifully to customers, check out NovaChill’s range of commercial display refrigerators.
Although refrigerators may slow down the growth of bacteria, they can’t stop bacteria growth entirely. A high quality commercial freezer set to the correct temperature can slow down bacteria growth entirely.
Perfect for storing frozen meat, frozen fruits and vegetables, ice cream, ice and other frozen prepared meals, commercial freezers allow you to store large amounts of semi perishable foods.
Commercial freezers are usually set to at least -17 degrees Celsius. This ensures that food is kept at a low enough temperature to slow down decay, stop harmful bacteria growth, and extend its shelf life for several months. Keep in mind that although a freezer can delay the food’s inevitable decay, the longer a food item is kept frozen, the more flavour is lost.
If a freezer is set to any lower than -17 degrees Celsius, this can result in freezer burn of ice cream and other food products.
Reach-in fridges are perfect for storing certain perishables such as fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, and other semi perishable packaged foods such as cheese, yoghurt, cured meats, and drinks. These items generally don’t need to be inside an enclosed refrigerator, and having them in an open display makes it easy for customers to grab whatever they need.
The fact that these refrigerators are open to the ambient air temperature however makes it more difficult for the refrigerator to cool the products efficiently. For this reason, the open refrigerator must be kept at a cooler temperature of -15 to -23 degrees Celsius.
It’s important to periodically check the temperature of your commercial refrigerators to ensure that the temperature has not been changed. The thermostat is typically near the front door and can easily be checked. You can also also check the internal temperature of the fridge this using a handheld digital thermometer, which staff can do regularly.
Keep in mind that larger refrigerators will take a longer time to adjust to any new change in temperature. Keeping the door open for unnecessarily long periods of time can also affect the internal temperature and cause your refrigerator to work much harder than it needs to, so ensure that all doors seal properly when closed.
If you’ve changed the temperature on your refrigerator, but you notice that food is still spoiling quickly or freezing over, then you may have an issue with your refrigerator and you may need to consult with a professional to get the unit serviced or repaired.
