Blast Chiller
A specialised appliance designed to cool food quickly through the Danger Zone to below 3°C within 90 minutes.
While not legally mandatory for all, it is essential for businesses doing "Cook-Chill" (batch cooking). Cooling large pots of stew or gravy at ambient room temperature is dangerous and is a common reason for audit failures.
Frequently Asked Questions
You should calibrate the probe annually as part of your equipment maintenance, but you must verify it periodically (e.g., monthly) using boiling water (100°C) and melting ice (0°C). If the blast chiller's internal probe is inaccurate, you may be recording false cooling times, leading to unsafe food. Always cross-check the machine's reading with your own calibrated handheld probe.
No, this is a major food safety violation known as "ambient cooling." Leaving food to cool uncontrollably allows it to linger in the Danger Zone (5°C–63°C) where bacteria like Clostridium perfringens multiply rapidly. EHOs specifically look for evidence of ambient cooling during inspections. If you cannot demonstrate a controlled cooling method (like using a blast chiller or ice baths with logs), you will face enforcement action.
While I.S. 340:2007 does not explicitly state you must own a machine called a "blast chiller," it does legally mandate that you cool food from 63°C to 5°C within 90 minutes. If you are batch cooking large volumes (e.g., 20 litres of soup or stew), achieving this cooling rate in a standard fridge or ambient room is physically impossible and dangerous. Therefore, for any "Cook-Chill" operation, a blast chiller is effectively a compliance requirement to avoid bacterial growth and potential Closure Orders.