Foster XR20 Blast Chiller 20kg 5 Grid

The Foster XR20 is a self-contained blast chiller designed to bring cooked food from +70°C down to +3°C within 90 minutes, keeping the chilling process within recognised food safety guidelines. Rated for 20kg loads across five grids per cycle, it is built to sit within a structured cook-chill workflow rather than serve as an occasional-use unit, and the controls reflect that operational purpose.

In regular service, the XR20 performs consistently across a varied range of produce. The microprocessor offers both soft and hard chill programmes — soft chill for delicate preparations such as set creams, custards and mousse-based dishes, and hard chill for dense proteins, bulk stocks and batch-cooked preparations. Selecting the appropriate programme reduces spoilage risk and gives production teams repeatable results night after night. The unit also logs cycle data, which supports due diligence records without requiring separate manual documentation — a practical advantage in any kitchen operating under HACCP obligations.

From a day-to-day operations perspective, several aspects of the design reduce friction in the kitchen routine:

• Smooth interior with no exposed fixings, reducing cleaning time after service
• Stainless steel construction throughout, meeting expected food-safe hygiene standards
• Standard shelf spacing accepts GN trays and grids without adjustment
• Hydrocarbon refrigerant, widely supported by UK refrigeration engineers
• Cycle logging via microprocessor to assist HACCP and due diligence compliance

As a self-contained unit with an integral condenser, installation is less involved than remote-condensing alternatives. That said, ventilation in the surrounding area does matter. Positioning the unit in a confined or poorly ventilated space will reduce chilling performance over time and place additional load on components. Electrical supply requirements should be verified against the technical datasheet before installation is planned. The unit's footprint makes it workable in kitchens where space is limited but a reliable blast chiller remains operationally necessary.

The XR20 is well suited to restaurants, hotel kitchens, care homes, school catering operations and contract caterers running moderate batch volumes as part of a regular cook-chill cycle. It is less well suited to very high-throughput sites where larger loads or more frequent cycles are the norm — for those operations, a higher-capacity unit is likely the more appropriate choice.

If you would like to talk through whether the XR20 is the right fit for your kitchen's output and workflow, the team is happy to help you work that out before you commit.