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REFRIGERATION

Food storage

How to store ice cream and frozen desserts

Ice cream is a delicate frozen structure of tiny ice crystals, air bubbles and fat. It is safe as long as it stays frozen, but its quality depends heavily on steady cold. Each time ice cream partly softens and refreezes, small crystals melt and regrow into larger ones, which makes it icy, coarse and shrunken. Storage freezers should hold ice cream at −18 °C or colder, and colder storage, around −20 to −25 °C, protects texture better for longer holding. Scooping cabinets run a little warmer so ice cream can be served, but they are for display and service, not storage.

  • Frozen−18 °C or colder (storage)

Do

  • Check the product temperature on delivery. Reject tubs that are soft, misshapen, or show signs of having melted and refrozen, such as ice crystals inside the lid.
  • Move ice cream into the storage freezer immediately; do not leave cartons on the floor while you unload other stock.
  • Keep storage freezers at −18 °C or colder and transfer tubs to the dipping cabinet only as needed for service.
  • Keep the lid of a chest freezer closed as much as possible, and do not overfill above the load line.
  • Rotate stock by date and keep track of opened tubs.
  • Use clean scoops stored in a dipper well or clean container, not left in the tub.
  • Keep a freezer thermometer in each unit and log temperatures daily.

Avoid

  • Do not refreeze ice cream that has melted; texture is ruined and safety may be compromised.
  • Do not store ice cream in the same freezer as raw meat or seafood.
  • Do not keep ice cream in a glass-top display freezer in direct sunlight.
  • Do not let scoops stand in stagnant water.
  • Do not block the freezer's condenser vents with cartons.

In Indian conditions

Ice cream sales in India peak through the hot months, exactly when freezers work hardest and power cuts are most frequent. A glass-top or hard-top chest freezer in a non-AC shop at 40 °C must be able to hold −18 °C; check that it is rated for high ambient temperatures and that the condenser has space to breathe. Many brands supply branded freezers to retailers; keep them clean and avoid storing other products in them. During power cuts, a full chest freezer kept closed holds temperature for a useful period; avoid opening it. After a long outage, check whether stock has softened before selling it.

General good practice for commercial kitchens and shops. Where your FSSAI licence conditions or food-safety plan set stricter limits, follow those.