Commercial Upright Fridges

In contrast with a domestic model, the materials and design of commercial upright fridges were made for constant opening and closing. They’re typically stainless steel, come with high-quality insulation, powerful cooling and typically have fan-forced and static cooling to ensure there’s a consistent temperature within. Your staff will be able to quickly access whatever they need inside whenever they’re prepping food, close the door, carry on with work and all your produce and ingredients will still maintain their quality and freshness.

Depending on your menu, what kind of chilled stock you need to keep on hand, and how fast your turnover is, the answer to what kind of refrigeration you need can vary. Generally, smaller cafes will find that something ranging between 130 - 200 litres of space is enough. If you’re running a larger operation with a high number of seats, or fast turnover, having a spacious fridge that offers anywhere up to 1500 litres of space may be needed.

You’ll need to account for the amount of space you have in order to fit a fridge, but also ensure you don’t get something too small that results in it being overpacked, as this can result in uneven chilling and risk food not being held at the proper temperature. If you’re unsure which size and model is best for your commercial kitchen, feel free to contact the team at REO and we can help you with a personal recommendation.

Fan-forced cooling is essential when you have a fridge that’s regularly in use. It pushes warm air out, while funnelling cool air throughout the interior to hold temperature evenly from top to bottom. By having active airflow, rather than static cooling alone, you’ll get less variance of the internal temperature, which is especially important when doors are opened frequently, because it accelerates temperature recovery and reduces the risk of fluctuations that can compromise the quality of your food and ingredients.

Keeping operational costs down without compromising quality is a key focus for any commercial kitchen, and there are a number of factors that contribute to keeping your utility costs down. Looking for a commercial upright fridge with modern refrigerants like R290 can help, along with efficient compressors, fan-forced models that operate only when needed, and looking for smart features like automatic defrosting are all helpful.

Stainless steel has a lot of benefits when it comes to hygiene in a commercial kitchen. It’s easier to clean and less likely to harbour bacteria when compared to plastic. Stainless steel is also hard-wearing and resilient, meaning it can handle the everyday knocks that occur during those busy service hours. You can rearrange the shelving according to your needs and cleaning the interior of the fridge is simple, owing to the fact that stainless steel is corrosion resistant and won’t easily warp or get scratched when you’re doing a deep fridge clean.

Yes, absolutely. Depending on the chilled storage needs you have, you could combine an upright fridge with something like a pizza prep fridge. For example, you can store raw ingredients in the upright model, then transfer the prepared ingredients to the underbench refrigerator and use the benchtop as a workstation in your prep zone. The benefit of having a heavy duty upright fridge is that it can store far more bulk, while still being discrete enough that it won’t impact the flow of your kitchen.

While this depends on how long the doors have been open and how often you’re opening and closing it generally, the temperature fluctuation is typically very minimal, ranging no more than a degree or two. While this can vary depending on the model, refrigerant used and type of cooling system your fridge has, it’s unlikely that you’ll have any issues with perishable goods having a significant enough variation in cooling, even during a busy service period. If you are noticing the digital display is showing a significant variation, you may need to check the fan, ensure it’s got adequate airflow and if that doesn’t solve the problem, you may need to book in for a service.

When your menu is changing and evolving, the stock you need to keep on hand will as well. Having shelving that can be adjusted, rearranged, and removed according to what you need to keep in your upright fridge is an incredibly useful feature. Whether you’re storing drinks, large pots, trays, or produce, being able to adjust things in a way that matches your service and menu style is essential when you’re choosing the right fridge for your kitchen.

The range of upright commercial fridges spans from shorter, single door options, all the way up to full height triple-door models. If you’re looking to upgrade, and you’ve found you’re not getting the space you need from a single door, or your turnover has increased and you need more stock on hand, a double door fridge may be a good choice.

They’re generally wider than single door models, but won’t encroach on the aisle in your kitchen, giving you more space without compromising your workflow. They’re also invaluable in the sense that they can help to reduce cold air loss by limiting access to only one half of the fridge at a time, making it easier to maintain consistent temperatures and reducing energy usage in busy kitchens with frequent access.