5 Tips for Buying Your Walk-In Cooler

Any serious kitchen has a serious walk-in cooler; they are essential to any smoothly running restaurant. Buying your restaurant a walk-in should also be taken seriously but that doesn’t mean it has to be a painful process. With these 5 simple tips, you’ll be able to decide what would work best for you and your restaurant regardless of whether or not you’ve ever purchased one.

1. Do research to figure out how large you need your walk-in to be. If you’re running a small café, you may not need a walk-in that’s bigger than your first apartment. It’s entirely possible that your business requires a more substantial unit. In that case, it is incredibly important to make sure your building can physically handle a larger size. Walk-ins require space outside of the actual unit to accommodate for their compressors. Additionally, if you have a large walk-in, you will absolutely need to make sure your floor can hold its weight without breaking down.

2. Before purchasing your walk-in, decide what you will primarily use it for. A cooler used for beverage cooling will be set up differently from one set up for meat refrigeration. Beyond that, you may decide that you need something even colder like a walk-in freezer, which would not be ideal for holding produce.

3. Measure out space in your restaurant. A walk-in cooler is not an appliance that can be easily moved if you need to switch things around in your restaurant. Once it is placed, plan on keeping it there for a few years. A walk-in should have its allotted space designated to it and only it. The location of your walk-in should be slightly out of the way but still easily accessible to anyone who needs it. To save on energy costs, it makes sense to keep it in a part of your restaurant that is cooler to begin with.

4. If you can’t keep find space inside, make space for your walk-in outside. With the proper installation and shelter, a walk-in can be placed outside of your restaurant. This will require you to check it more often to make sure the elements aren’t doing damage to your walk-in but it is a great solution if space is at a premium.

5. Make sure you have a proper support system to keep your walk-in running well. Your staff needs to know how to store food in the walk-in as well as clean it correctly. You also want to have a restaurant equipment repair service available if problems with your walk-in arise.

A walk-in cooler is a valuable investment for any restaurant, so make sure you have all your questions answered before you commit to purchasing one. If you have any questions, contact an expert at CPS. As it turns out, we happen to know a few!