Two-stage cooling method
The two-stage cooling method can be applied to ensure that hot items can be quickly cooled down for refrigeration:
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Food can be cooled down stepwise from 60°C to 20°C within two hours, then from 20°C to 4°C in a refrigerator within two to four hours.
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To speed up cooling, the food can be divided into small portions and placed in shallow covered containers in a well-ventilated area.
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An ice water bath, paired with stirring, can also help speed up cooling, but a thermometer should be used to ensure that the ice water temperature remains at 4°C or below consistently.
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Observing these time limits help prevent food from prolonged exposure to ambient temperature and, therefore, dangerous bacteria growth. |
Blast chilling
Blast chilling is a method of chilling used in large-scale fast-food restaurants, central kitchens, factories, restaurants and hotel kitchens. The goal is to rapidly cool a large amount of freshly cooked food in a short period of time to save manpower and time while shortening the time in which the food is exposed to dangerous temperatures:
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Food can be divided into small portions and placed in shallow containers before being rapidly chilled to 4°C in a blast chiller within 90 minutes.
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When blast chilling is done, place the food in the refrigerator or freezer.
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The starting and ending temperatures, as well as the time of the entire blast chilling process, must be recorded.
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