Freezing is an important aspect of food preparation. Freezing is used in homes as well as in food industries. The main point of freezing the food is to preserve it and also prolong its life. There are a lot of methods of freezing the food used by the food industries.
- Contact Freezing
This method is used to freeze products in blocks. In this method, the product is filled in the trays with water and the water is like a freezing medium. This method provides fast freezing but the main problem in this method of freezing is that even if the person only needs a little part of the product, he has to take out the whole block of it.
- Blast Freezing
In this method of freezing, the air is cooled and then it is blasted over the product. The air which is blasted over the product is cool and therefore it removes the heat of the product. The same process is repeated again and again until the product reaches a temperature of -18 degrees Celsius. This is the most economical method of freezing but is very time consuming.
- Brine Freezing
Brine freezing is a very old method of freezing but it is still used in some food industries. In this method, brine which is made up of common salt is filled in a tank and it is cooled with the help of a passing refrigerant. When the product comes in contact with the brine, it makes the product very salty.
- Cryogenic Freezing
This method is the most effective and efficient method of freezing. In this method of freezing, liquid nitrogen is sprayed directly over the product and the temperature of the liquid nitrogen is -90 degree Celsius. The main thing is that the cost of nitrogen is very high as compared to other refrigerants and this is the reason that this method is not commonly used.
All these methods work for different products and are effective for different food items. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages. It depends on the food industry and their requirement on which method of freezing they want to use for their industry. Some of these methods of freezing are really quick while others are slow. They all work at a different pace and get the work done. It ultimately depends on the particular industry that is their requirement.
Summary
Freezing is a very important part of food processing and it cannot be skipped. Industrial freezers can get a lot of work done at once and this is the reason every food industry uses an industrial freezer. When a food item is not frozen properly, it can lead to the food item losing its nutritional value and also it cannot stay for a long time on the shelves hence it is the loss of the industry. So, this is the reason why an industrial freezer is a great investment for the food industries. All the industries use it but the type of industrial freezer they use, depends on their requirements.
