BLOG: Refrigeration! Its important for rugby club restaurants!
One of the most well know environmental changes we experience in the winter is the dramatic drop in temperatures. At times this falls even below zero, leading to water freezing on road surfaces and precipitation can fall as snow. During winter staying warm is of the utmost importance and people are even wearing electrically heated underwear and jackets to make sure their core body temperature remains at healthy levels! Bearing in mind emergencies, this idea of carrying heat by electric power stored within your clothing is even saving lives! Or for people working outdoors in the tremendously cold winter conditions, these clothing devices provide warmth. Signal men for example on airport runways!
Yet even bearing in mind all of this and how cold can be our nemesis, it is also one of the most sought after things in hot conditions and an industry worth many billions to economies all over the world caters precisely for the provision of cold! Actually freezing items, very often food, or chilling items, because this is actually a way of storing food for much much longer than if the items were not frozen or chilled! The extension of shelflife this produces has been measured scientifically and the results are startling! The results however depend on the temperature of the environment you are in! So if you kept food at home in a dark cupboard or at home on a shelf that receives average light, and then bearing in mind whether it is winter or summer, all have a tremendous impact on the length of time it takes food to go off! Added to that is the type of food… so poultry, fish, meat, fruit, dairy products, all deteriorate at different time intervals.
Here is one example. Butter… Butter is ok to be in a normal home environment on a shelf say in a cupboard and covered for about 2 weeks. However, put that butter in a fridge at normal fridge temperatures and that figure jumps to eight! (Please note we have gained this information from simple searches online from reputable sources, however please carry out your own research which is actually very interesting!)
That is a dramatic difference right! Add into the mix transport. That butter has got to get from the production factory to the freezer and some estimates claim that 12% of food waste occurs during transport, roughly again conduct your own research. Many of us will intuitively understand this, a very many people are actually storing food in their homes. Commercial premises are storing food also, and drinks, and you really have to ask… where would we all be without refrigeration.
The level of sophistication in commercial refrigeration with merchandising options possible, is outstanding. Its always evolving too. The temperature controls are very good and improving. The affordability is a really important aspect of this. Remember, a fridge is potentially using energy 24 hrs per day and companies provide support for this should that refrigeration be compromised! That produces a hefty a bill! Many commercial outlets incorporate very sophisticated technology to even recycle the heat the fridge essentially removes from the enclosed sealed environment of the fridge! Or even from open chilled display cabinets where the retailer has to heat the premises and also at the same time keep the food chilled in an open chilling system! This is fairly complex, we are good at this but its sophisticated technology! Much of it is automated too with systems monitoring the temperature of the chilled or frozen cooler interior and working to keep the temperature constant!
A fascinating area and please do check it out for yourself!
Very best wishes!
The InTouch Rugby Club Restaurant and Technology Editor.
