What is pre-chilling?
Pre-chilling, in this case, literally means to crust freeze a product quickly prior to further freezing or processing. Typically this is done using a cryogenic freezer upstream of a spiral freezer. The pre-chilling step enhances product quality, improves yield and may increase production levels.

Product benefits
Product quality is enhanced because flavor and moisture are quickly sealed in rather than being lost through dripping or water evaporation, as often occurs during a traditional freezing process. Marinated meats retain more liquid and hot products keep their moisture – your profits don’t go up in steam. Pre-chilling is especially useful when processing high-value or delicate products like:

• Cooked, raw and marinated poultry
• IQF seafood
• Red meat—cooked, raw or marinated
• IQF fruit

Or with products that are:
• Yield sensitive
• Hot or steam cooked
• Difficult to handle
• Extremely wet
• Going to be sliced
• Breaded

Operations benefits
In addition to the product quality gains, using pre-chill improves overall operations by lowering costs by reducing yield losses. Production is increased and sanitation is improved—less product is left on belts for later clean up which improves profits.

Cryogenic pre-chilling combined with the mechanical freezing process lets users capture the benefits of both systems. Pre-chill units have a small footprint and relatively low capital costs, so they are easily incorporated into existing floor plans.

Get an idea of the synergy of cooling economics through cryogenic and mechanical freezing, using our online pre-chill calculator. Or for a customized assessment of your operation call 1-800-PRAXAIR and talk to one of our cold temperature experts.