Hotels & Banqueting
Refrigeration for catering and event food
An Indian caterer can cook for fifty guests on a Tuesday and two thousand at a wedding on Sunday. Food is prepared in a base kitchen, transported to a venue, and served over hours, often outdoors in summer heat or monsoon humidity, frequently on generator power. Refrigeration has to absorb huge swings in volume, hold raw stock for big menus, cool cooked food safely before it is transported, and keep desserts, salads, drinks and dairy cold at the venue. The risk is not just quality: large batches of cooked rice, gravies, raita and desserts held at the wrong temperature are a common cause of food poisoning at functions.
What the equipment has to cope with
- Volume swings from small orders to large weddings, so storage must handle peaks without sitting idle and costly the rest of the time.
- Large batches of cooked food must be cooled quickly before refrigeration, which is hard in a hot base kitchen.
- Food travels to venues in vans and is held for hours, often in tents or halls with poor cooling.
- Venues may rely on generators with unstable voltage, which stresses any refrigeration taken on site.
- Desserts such as rasmalai, kheer and ice cream must stay cold at buffet counters through long events.
Typical temperatures
| Raw meat and fish for large menus | +1 to +4 °C |
|---|---|
| Cooled cooked gravies and rice | +2 to +5 °C |
| Raita, salads and chutneys | +2 to +5 °C |
| Rasmalai, kheer and milk sweets | +2 to +5 °C |
| Paneer and dairy stock | +2 to +5 °C |
| Ice cream and frozen desserts | −18 °C or colder |
| Bottled drinks for events | +3 to +8 °C |
Equipment
What to buy, and why.
Caterers usually equip the base kitchen with several upright reach-ins, ideally three-section units with half doors, for raw meat, dairy and paneer, vegetables and cooked food. Chest freezers hold frozen meat, seafood and ice cream for events. For big functions, stock is staged in the reach-ins the day before, cooked food is cooled in shallow trays before going into the cabinets, and everything travels in insulated containers. At venues with stable power, glass-door coolers hold bottled drinks and chilled desserts near the buffet. Caterers with frequent large events often add a walk-in cold room at the base kitchen for bulk produce and dairy.
- +2 to +8 °CReach-in RefrigeratorBulk storage in the base kitchen for raw meat, paneer, dairy, vegetables and cooled cooked food before dispatch.Set-up guide
- −18 to −60 °CDeep FreezerFrozen stock of meat, seafood, frozen vegetables and ice cream for events.Set-up guide
- +2 to +10 °CGlass Door Refrigerator / Visi CoolerDrinks and dessert cooler at venues and in the base kitchen, holding bottled drinks, rasmalai and packed desserts.Set-up guide
Questions
- How should caterers cool large batches of cooked food?
- Divide it into shallow trays or smaller containers so it cools quickly, stir gravies, and avoid putting large hot pots straight into a refrigerator. The aim is to move food through the warm temperature range as fast as possible. Once it is cool enough to handle, refrigerate it covered at or below about +5 °C.
- Can refrigerators be taken to event venues?
- Yes, but treat them gently. Transport uprights upright, let them stand for a few hours after moving before switching on as the manufacturer advises, and use a stable power supply with voltage protection, especially on generator power. Pre-chill stock at the base kitchen so the unit only has to hold temperature, not pull it down.
- How much refrigeration does a catering business need?
- Plan for your typical large event rather than the rare maximum. Work out how much raw stock, cooked food and dessert must be held cold the night before, then size reach-ins and freezers to that, with some headroom. For occasional giant events, staged deliveries and insulated containers are often more practical than permanent extra equipment.
Before you buy
All guides- Commercial Refrigerator Buying Guide (India)9 min read
- Reach-in vs Undercounter Refrigerator: Which to Choose6 min read
- Commercial Refrigerator Maintenance Checklist6 min read
- Types of Commercial Refrigerators Explained6 min read
- Reach-in Refrigerator Guide for Hot Indian Kitchens6 min read
- Reach-in Freezer Guide for Commercial Kitchens5 min read
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