Cabinet promises faster, safer defrosting
4th June 2025
UK: Williams Refrigeration has introduced a new thaw cabinet that is said to deliver faster, safer defrosting of bulk foods.
Thawing frozen food in commercial kitchens can be an issue, especially if it’s in bulk. Some chefs take it out of the freezer and put it in a fridge or coldroom. This is safe but it’s slow, sometimes taking days to defrost. Others run the frozen food under cold water. This is acceptable, but not suitable for large amounts of food. Apart from wasting water, staff need to monitor it constantly to ensure it doesn’t rise too high in temperature.
The ThawSafe cabinet is said to be faster than the fridge and brings a new level of food safety to a range of cooking processes including cook-chill and cook-freeze.
The re-engineered cabinet prevents the growth of bacteria by ensuring that the food’s surface temperature is never allowed to rise above 5°C.
Four fans within the cabinet ensure efficient airflow and consistent temperature from top to bottom. In the initial phase, the air temperature may be as high as 9°C, to kick start the process, but critically the food’s surface temperature never creeps into the bacteria danger zone above 5°C. At the end of the process, the cabinet automatically switches to chilled storage mode.
The new cabinet has an intuitive touchscreen controller with a simple to operate icon based menu. There are four programmes, three of which are preset for 75kg of food, 35kg and low weight loads. A fourth can be customised for thawing to the operator’s needs. Once thawing is complete, an audible alarm sounds to signal the end of the cycle.
The Williams ThawSafe is a one door cabinet with 75kg capacity, over double that of its predecessor, in a smaller footprint.
The cabinet features a new look with an easy to clean full length integral door handle and comes equipped with eight GN2x1 shelves.
Installation is described as simple, with its dimensions of 727mm wide x 941mm deep x 1960mm high allowing it to fit through a standard doorway.
It is fitted with a standard waste drain at the base of the unit, allowing it to be connected to the main drain.
