Refurbished Under Bench Freezers

You can, and it is common, but it is the hardest place in the kitchen to ask a freezer to work. The cabinet has to shed heat into air that is already hot from the equipment around it, while holding a much bigger temperature difference than a fridge does. It will run longer and work harder than the same cabinet in a store room.

What makes it work is clearance and a clean condenser, plus some separation from the direct radiant heat of a grill or a fryer. The product page states the clearance the maker asks for. If the only spot available is immediately beside an open flame, put a chilled cabinet there and the freezer further along the line.

Follow the product. Anything that gets pulled from frozen through a service — portioned proteins, chips, pastry, ice cream — justifies a freezer in the line. Anything that comes out chilled belongs in a fridge, and chilled cabinets are cheaper to buy and cheaper to run.

A lot of lines end up with a fridge at the prep end and a freezer at the fryer end, which is usually the right answer. Where there is only room for one cabinet, make it the fridge and keep the frozen stock in a refurbished upright freezer behind the line, because walking for frozen product costs less than running a freezer in the worst spot in the kitchen.

Moisture gets in and freezes out on the coldest surface it can find. The usual sources are a door that is open too long or too often, a worn gasket letting kitchen air leak in continuously, and warm or wet product being loaded straight in. In a kitchen line, all three happen more than they do anywhere else.

Check the gasket first: close the door on a sheet of paper and pull, and if it slides out freely the seal has gone flat. Then look at whether the cabinet defrosts automatically — the product page says — and whether the drain for the defrost water is clear. Ice building in the same spot every time usually points at a specific leak rather than at the machine.

A sound cabinet will, as long as air can get across the condenser and the doors shut properly. A freezer in a hot kitchen simply spends more of its time running, which shows up on the power bill rather than in the food — right up until the point where the condenser is blocked or the gaskets have gone, at which point it shows up in both.

Watch the first day. A cabinet that pulls down steadily and then starts cycling off is fine, and usually wants nothing more than fresh gaskets and a clean. One that runs continuously and never reaches temperature needs a refrigeration technician before you put stock in it. Load it with product that is already frozen, not fresh.

Gaskets, hinges, drawer runners if it has drawers, and the drain. Freezer gaskets take more punishment than fridge gaskets because they frost, get knocked and get pulled, so expect to replace a set. Drawer runners in a freezer are the other wear point and they are worth operating by hand before you accept the unit.

Then check the top. These cabinets are worked on, and the top is 304 stainless steel, the food-safety grade used in Australian kitchens. Light scratching is cosmetic, but a dent that holds water is worth knowing about. Ask us what was replaced during the refurbishment rather than what was looked at.

Only where the product page says the unit is built for it. A cabinet made for an indoor kitchen put into a food truck, a marquee or an open-sided service area is working in uncontrolled air, with vibration and often with unstable power, and none of that is what it was designed for.

If the setup is mobile, ask us before you order so we can tell you whether the unit is suitable and what the practical limits are. For an outdoor bar or a service area, a cabinet rated for higher ambient temperatures is the thing to look for, and refurbished commercial bar fridges include some options worth comparing.