Simple, Consistent, Efficient Food Preparation No Matter What Size the Kitchen

It doesn’t matter if you run one restaurant or a chain of grocery stores, the cook-chill process significantly reduces labor costs and food costs, while maintaining the consistency your customers expect.

What Is the Cook Chill Process?

Cook-Chill is the process of preparing measured batches of food by cooking them to safe temperatures, placing them into a Food Safe Retherm pouch or vacuum bag, sealing with a bag sealer or vacuum sealer, then chilling rapidly to a safe temperature, and storing under controlled conditions until ready to serve. Food prepping procedures are greatly enhanced when the cook-chill process is utilized by extending shelf life, avoiding bacterial growth, ensuring consistency, quality, and efficiency in every batch.  

What Are the Benefits of the Cook Chill Process?

• Consistency in Quality: By preparing in bulk and using precise processes and temperature controls, businesses can ensure each batch meets their high standards of flavor and texture.  

• Extended Shelf Life: When followed correctly, the cook chill process can extend the shelf-life of prepared foods. This helps reduce food waste and ultimately saves on operational costs.

• Improved Safety: Sealing food after cooking then chilling rapidly to a safe temperature reduces the time food spends in danger-zone temperatures. This greatly reduces the risk of bacterial growth. 

• Versatility: Cook Chill can be applied to a variety of food products such as beef, pork, frozen fish, condiments, fruits and vegetables, soups, sauces, and stocks. 

• Efficiency: Preparing foods in bulk combined with proper storage techniques streamline production, cut down on labor costs, and drive efficiencies at scale.

Steps in the Cook Chill Process

• Cooking: Food is fully cooked in bulk to precise temperatures.

• Packaging: The cooked food is portioned into food grade retherm pouches or vacuum bags and sealed.

• Chilling: The sealed food is rapidly chilled using an ice bath, blast chiller or specialized chill tanks to prevent bacterial growth. 

• Storage: The chilled food is stored under refrigeration in a controlled environment to extend shelf life and ensure consistency.

• Reheating: When needed, food is reheated to safe serving temperature using water baths at precise temperatures, ovens, or steam kettles.  
  

VacMaster has a wide range of vacuum packaging solutions that can be used for the Cook Chill technique. Some of the most common items that take advantage of this food preparation method are soups, sauces, and stocks. The VacMaster BS116 Bag Sealer along with VacMaster retherm bags and ring stand bag holder are the perfect combo for streamlining this process for these types of food products.  

The cook-chill process is a game-changer for foodservice operations looking to optimize efficiency, enhance food safety, and maintain high-quality standards. With the right equipment, like VacMaster's packaging solutions, businesses can streamline preparation, reduce costs, and deliver consistent, great-tasting meals every time.