What is the difference between freezing and deep freezing?

Freezing is an important process used in the preservation of food. Nowadays, what with many people bulk buying shopping, freezing is crucial, as without it, food would go off very quickly – even with refrigerators, there’s only so long that food will keep. In order to preserve food in this way, there are two methods that can be used: freezing and deep freezing…but what is the difference between the two? We’ve created a handy guide to clear this question up for you.

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What is freezing?

It seems like an obvious question, but it’s important to know so you can easily differentiate between the two. Freezing is the process of slowly decreasing the temperature of food (over 24 hours) to -18 degrees. This technique is generally used by most people when putting away their shopping, and it causes the water in the food to transform into large ice crystals.

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So what is deep freezing?

This is an industrial technique used by commercial businesses, whereby the food is frozen quickly (between a few minutes and an hour). This is done by exposing the food to temperatures between -30 degrees and -50 degrees until the inside of the food itself once again reaches -18 degrees. With this technique, rather than creating large ice crystals, it creates smaller, finer crystals within the food. This may seem like a minute difference, but it’s actually very important.

What are the benefits of deep freezing?

When freezing food regularly, the large crystals can perforate the edges of the food’s cell walls. This, along with the reactions of the food’s enzymes can cause the food’s textures and flavours to be altered, often losing some of the initial flavour. You’ll see restaurants boasting about using only fresh foods and this is why – as when freezing food, ultimately some of the quality is lost.

Check out display freezer ranges at https://www.fridgefreezerdirect.co.uk/glass-door-refrigeration/single-glass-door-freezers – there are also deep freezer units available here you can browse. It is important to consider the practical aspects of buying a new freezer, such as storage capacity and energy efficiency. All this information is available on the website above.

When deep freezing, it’s crucial to check the freezing capacity on the data sheet of the food provided, to ensure it doesn’t get too cold and ruin the food altogether.