What to Look For When Shopping for a New Commercial Refrigeration Unit

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Your refrigerator is a very important part of any commercial kitchen, and may even be part of your sales floor if you run a convenience store or restaurant. Note a few features you might encounter when in the market for a new unit, so you know you get the right type and don't overlook any details you need.

1. Side fans for open display models

Very often the display refrigerators you have will not have a door or covering, so that it's more welcoming and inviting for potential customers to shop. If so, you will want to consider ones with side fans; these should blow cool air into the unit and then also reverse cycle to remove warm and increase air circulation over your items. This will keep things cooler than a refrigeration unit that just cools items by cooling the bottom shelf.

2. Prep refrigerators

If you have a small kitchen or prep food for customers at the time of purchase, you want to ensure you get a prep refrigerator. This is one that has a slight counter or lip in front of the refrigerated area itself. This can allow you to prep food in one spot without walking it to another counter space or allow you to prep food for customers in just one spot.

A worktop refrigerator is similar but instead of having a lip or counter in front of the unit, the entire top of the refrigerator doubles as a workspace. The one drawback to this unit is that, while it has a larger workspace, you also need to bend and reach down to the refrigerator for items, rather than reaching in front of you as you would with a prep refrigerator.

3. Dual temperature refrigerators

For a cooling unit that holds various items, including frozen foods, shop for a dual temperature refrigerator. One side may be a freezer unit or another refrigerated unit. You can then keep items at exact temperatures in the same unit; vegetables won't freeze up from being too cold but soda and other such items can stay as cool as necessary.

Dual temperature units can also have a prep space or workspace on the top, which can also make prepping food for customers on the spot much easier. You won't need to leave the unit so often for foods stored in a freezer or other unit when you opt for a dual temperature unit, making food prep faster and more efficient.


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