No big news to pass on this week, so I thought I’d write about the thing I get asked about most in the yard: how to keep a chiller holding 0 to 5°C right through a long round when the back doors are opening at every drop. The van does most of the work, but the habits of whoever is driving it make a real difference by the last delivery.
Start the night before or first thing in the morning. A chiller unit is built to hold temperature, not to pull a warm load down, so get the box cold and empty before anything goes in. If you have electric standby, plug in overnight and the van is already at temperature when you load. Then load meat that is already chilled from your own fridge or cold room, never product that has just come off the block or out of the oven.
Loading order matters more than most people think. Put the last drop in first and the first drop by the doors, so you are not standing with the doors open rooting about for a tray at the back. Leave a gap around the evaporator so the cold air can move, and keep hanging meat on the rails off the floor so air gets underneath and round it.
Every time the doors open, warm air falls in and cold air falls out, and the unit has to work to get back to temperature. The trick is short door time, not fewer drops. Know what you are taking before you open up, carry it in one go, and shut the door behind you while you are inside the shop rather than leaving it swinging on the kerb.
Keep a cheap probe thermometer in the cab and check the box at a couple of points on the round, not just at the depot. If it is creeping up by mid-round, that tells you something: the door seals, a door left open too long, or a load that went in too warm. Catch it on the round and you can do something about it; find out at the end and the day’s stock is on the line.
None of this is complicated, but it is the difference between a van that holds 0 to 5°C to the last drop and one that is fine at ten o’clock and struggling by two. If your van is not holding as it used to, or your rounds have got longer and you want to talk about standby or a bigger unit, I’m happy to talk it through.
Quick checklist
- Pre-cool the empty box before loading, on standby overnight if you have it.
- Load only meat already chilled from your cold room.
- Last drop in first, first drop nearest the doors.
- Leave air space round the evaporator; keep hanging meat off the floor.
- Probe the box mid-round, not just at the depot.
If your current van is struggling by the last drop, here are three chillers that suit a butcher’s round, all converted and checked before delivery:
- 2022 Ford Transit Custom Trend L2H1 Refrigerated Chiller Van: £24,995 +VAT
- 2024 74 Reg Renault Trafic Blue Dci 2.0 Ll30 Advance L2 H1 Refrigerated Chiller Van: £25,495 +VAT
- 2026 Maxus Deliver 9 L3H2 Refrigerated Chiller Van: £31,495 +VAT
See all our fridge vans for butchers
Call us on 01444 245555 to talk it through.
