3 Reasons Why Every Commercial Kitchen Should Use the Cook and Chill Process

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Owning or working in a commercial kitchen can be very rewarding, especially if you’re working with the latest cooking techniques and equipment to make each dish truly amazing. Whether you’re running a small corner café or a bigger, mainstream restaurant, the goal should always be to streamline as many processes as possible to provide superior quality meals.

Fortunately, this goal becomes considerably easier when you invest in cook chill systems and adopt this popular food process. What is the cook-chill food method? This post not only answers that question but also highlights why it should be adopted in every commercial kitchen, no matter how big or small.

Defining the Cook-Chill Food Process

Whether you prefer to call it the cook-chill process or the cook and chill method doesn’t change how effective this process is for kitchens of all sizes. Essentially, this process can be defined as an innovative food preparation technique that focuses on cooking and storing bulk quantities of food. In short, you use specialised equipment to boil food and then instantly cool it down without freezing it.

The cook-chill method can be used to create a wide range of food types in advance, which reduces the overall time spent doing the usual ingredient preps. Dishes that are excellent for this process include the following:

• Pasta (all types)
• Casseroles
• Gravies, marinades, and sauces
• Soups
• Stews

Types of equipment used in the cook-chill process vary, depending on what the chef prefers using. However, the more general appliances used include the following:

• Mixing ingredients: Mixer kettles
• Cooking: Combi ovens or pressure steamers
• Rapid cooling and storage: Blast chillers

During the cook-chill process, food is fully cooked and then immediately placed in a blast chiller to rapidly chill the food to below 5 degrees. Cook-chill meals can then be stored safely for up to five days before needing to be reheated for food service.

An Effective and Efficient Cooking Method

A key factor that makes the cook-chill process a popular choice for all types of kitchens is that it can be adapted to accommodate just about every dish. Our team of kitchen aficionados has compiled a list of the top reasons why this process is crucial.

1.     Makes Your Kitchen More Efficient

If there’s one thing that everyone in the hospitality industry can agree on, it’s that their kitchens are chaotic just before and during a food service. An outsider may even think the whole process is downright disorganized.

No matter how structured you think your kitchen is, most can always do with a bit of tweaking to make them more effective. The cook-chill method allows your staff to prepare and cook food in advance. There’s no need to leave everything until right before the food service starts. 

2.     Reduces Overall Food Wastage

In a busy kitchen, wasted food equals lost money. Using a cooking method that involves preparing food in advance means your team can use ingredients while they’re still fresh. Being able to rapidly cool the cooked food means it won’t spoil, develop freezer burn, or become contaminated.  The cook-chill method ensures that your food is always safe to eat and less likely to develop food-borne illness when it’s left standing out in the hot kitchen.

3.     Food has a Longer Shelf Life

Food storage is about more than putting cooked items in an airtight container. This is especially the case in the Australian climate, where the kitchen is already hot before you’ve switched the first oven on.

You may think that freezing is a solution, but it’s crucial to remember that freezing can seriously affect the flavour and texture of the food. This happens when ice crystals cause the food to develop freezer burn. Upon reheating, this excess ice melts into the food, making it soggy and even flavourless.

Opting for a flash freezer, or blast chiller as it’s also called, cools the food without freezing it. This process allows you to keep your food stored for longer without the risk of breaching any food safety standards.

Being able to store your food for longer means it becomes much easier to plan your menu and schedule food prep times. Common menu items such as salads, soups, mashed potatoes, desserts, and sauces can easily be made a few days before and stored until needed. Rapid cooling doesn’t affect the quality of food, and it will taste as fresh as the day it was made.

Final Thoughts

Adopting the cook-chill method is one of the more effective ways to make food prep and storage more effective in your busy commercial kitchen. The process is as simple as using quality cookers to fully cook food, and the second step involves rapidly cooling everything until it’s needed.

Some key advantages to look forward to include reducing food wastage and safely extending the shelf life of your food. Preparing food in advance also frees up staff to be more productive and organised. Kitchens of all sizes can benefit from this quick and easy process!