If you own a commercial refrigerator, it is not just for storing food; you need to try and do everything you can to improve the functionality of your kitchen. If you are buying a commercial refrigerator for your kitchen, you must check to ensure that it has some features That is a lot easier if you know Let’s delve deeper into each of these hidden features and see how they work to improve the functionality and efficiency of commercial refrigerators.
1. Smart Temperature Control
If you are interested in preventing food spoilage and ensuring health compliance in your kitchen, there is a way to do so without any additional effort on your part: get a commercial fridge with a smart temperature control system.
Without going into too much engineering, the role of the smart control system is to automatically monitor, maintain, and adjust temperatures within the refrigerator, ensuring that the cooling is not only effective but also consistent. The advantages of having such a system are numerous.
Let’s go through some of them:
- You can set and adjust temperature ranges to suit specific products stored in the same refrigerator. This allows you to store more items in your refrigerator, each at its own ideal temperature.
- The system notifies you if the temperatures fluctuate too much or move out of the safe range. There is little or no risk of items going bad.
- These and many more advantages explain why a smart temperature control system is one of the most practical and useful features for your commercial refrigerator.
2. Adjustable Shelving and Configurations
Adjustable shelving a must-have feature in a commercial refrigerator, especially if you have several items of different sizes and shapes to store in your refrigerator. When the shelves are adjustable or removable, you can move them around and rearrange the whole interior of the refrigerator to accommodate different types of food containers, from large trays to small items.
This customization option means you get flexible storage, and you can maximize space for different types of inventories.
- Some commercial refrigerator models even offer shelves that tilt or pull out, meaning you can reach items at the back without having to reorganize the entire unit.
If you are interested in storing items in an easy and efficient manner, then you have to look out for the adjustable shelves function.
3. Energy-Efficient Components
When a commercial refrigerator has high-efficiency components such as compressors, LED lighting, and improved insulation, it is more cost effective for you because these components work together to minimize energy usage. Here’s a breakdown of how these items work together.
- The compressor is “variable-speed”, meaning it does not run at full power all the time. When there are not many items in the refrigerator, it slows down the its performance to match the lesser demand and speeds up only when there are several items to cool.
- LED lighting is better in a commercial refrigerator because it consumes less electricity than traditional bulbs and generates minimal heat, reducing the cooling load on the compressor.
- High-grade insulation is more effective at keeping the cold air in, reducing the compressor's workload.
4. Automatic Defrost Systems
If you are concerned about ice buildup, the most effective measure is to get a commercial fridge with an automatic defrost system. Ice buildup can be a big problem because it not only impairs your refrigerator's cooling performance but also reduces its overall storage capacity.
- An automatic defrost system handles both problems by periodically warming the evaporator coils, and causing them to melt ice without affecting the food temperature.
- The good thing about this system is that it can also detect frost buildup and launch into operation automatically.
This is another stress-free function that ensures consistent cooling performance and eliminates the need for your staff to keep defrosting the fridge manually.
5. Built-in alarms and Alerts
In a high-turnover commercial kitchen where fridge doors are frequently opened and closed, it is very important that the commercial refrigerator has built-in alarms and alerts. The role of a built-in alarm is to provide alerts if the temperature in the refrigerator goes outside the safe range, or if the door remains open for too long.
In a commercial kitchen, this can be a cost saving feature given that there is likely to be a large volume of food that risks getting spoiled. The system immediately notifying staff of issues, either through audible alarms or, in some advanced models, through alerts sent directly to phones or computers.
6. Enhanced Door Seals
Door gaskets or seals are another important feature for a commercial fridge. They create a tight closure to keep cold air from leaking out, which ensures efficient cooling and reduces energy costs.
It would be ideal if the gaskets on the freezer are reinforced or multi-layered, the kinds that resist wear and tear.
High-quality seals also prevent moisture buildup, which can lead to mold, and they reduce strain on the compressor since cold air is retained more effectively.
7. Interior and Exterior Finishes for Easy Cleaning
Health and sanitation are crucial in a commercial kitchen, and having a commercial refrigerator with components that are easy to clean make the job easier for everybody. Ideally, you want a commercial refrigerator with components made of stainless steel: it resists rust and scratches and is easy to sanitize.
Having this feature can be particularly valuable for food safety in a busy commercial kitchen where cleaning time is often limited.
8. Even Airflow Systems
With a fully stocked refrigerator, airflow can sometimes be blocked, leading to warm spots and uneven cooling. Multi-fan systems or directed airflow channels circulate air more evenly across all shelves, maintaining a consistent temperature throughout. This helps prevent some items from freezing while others spoil, improving overall food quality and reducing waste.
Recommended Commercial Fridges
Most of these amazing features cannot be attached or installed to any ordinary commercial fridge as an afterthought. This is why you have to find a good commercial refrigerator brand when you buy a refrigerator for your kitchen. Fortunately, Wilprep’s kitchen has the perfect reach-in refrigerators for your commercial kitchen. Every model from Wilprep comes with most (if not all) of these amazing features. Here are some recommendations:
Wilpreps Commercial Solid Door Reach-In Freezer
This small-size refrigerator from Wilprep measures 27 inches, has a door, and offers a total volume of 18.7 cu. ft. It is perfect for storing meat, seafood, desserts, and more frozen foods for your business. Here are some of its features
- It offers efficient temperature control within a temperature range of 11-14°F.
- The Cubigel compressor and copper evaporator work together to ensure fast, even cooling and optimal temperature levels.
- The shelves are customize: it comes with 5 adjustable shelves, with each capable of holding up to 88 lb.
- It has an auto-defrost design to prevent frost or ice buildup. The smart door automatically closes when opened to 90° or when opened past 90°
- With double-layered tempered glass doors and a stainless-steel body, cleaning is easy and hassle-free.
- It is certified for safety and quality by ETL, ETL Sanitation, and DOE. And the product has been tested by Intertek t, met the applicable requirements of Energy Star and CEC. Energy Star.
For bigger options of the same refrigerator (same features) but with more capacity, you can check out the Commercial Solid Door Reach-In Freezer (54 inches, two doors, 42.2 cu. ft capacity, 10 adjustable shelves) or the Commercial Display Refrigerator ( 78.1 inches, three doors,72 cu. ft capacity, 12 adjustable shelves).
Wilpreps Kitchen also offers a wide variety of commercial refrigerators, ranging from Display refrigerators to Open-air Merchandisers to Prep Tables, worktop Refrigerators, and freezers. All of them embody amazing features that allow you to be productive and efficient in your commercial kitchen.
