Walk-in is the shortened or slang term for the “walk-in refrigerator” in commercial restaurant kitchens. This is not to be confused with the term walk-in as used in the front of the house. These are simply refrigerated spaces that are so large you can walk into them. Like a large refrigerated walk-in closet, they have shelves on either side and are used for the extended storage of bulk food items such as large boxes of vegetables or fruit, or the shorter-term storage of batch-prepared foods.
Modern walk-in cooler units come in many different sizes to suit the space available and storage needs of both small and large restaurants. They are often called coolers by restaurant staff.
Walk-in units are are built from insulated wall panels. An entire unit does not have to be transported to a restaurant to be placed inside the kitchen. If this were true, it could be impossible to get the unit inside the kitchen or other dedicated area. Instead, the wall panels can be snapped together on-site. Although walk-ins do come in smaller and larger sizes, even the smallest of them require a great deal of space, which most small kitchens cannot afford to give up.
However, walk-in refrigerators can also be placed outside and fitted with a weather cap over the top. Many restaurants have their walk-ins just out back, and some even have a hole cut in the back wall so that the staff can enter the walk-in from the kitchen without having to go outside.
Walk-ins are meant to be accessible with wheeled carts for carrying heavy items and boxes in and out, so a ramp must be fitted at the entrance to the fridge.
Just because walk-ins are so large, that doesn’t mean everything can be stored in them together. Some larger restaurants will have more than one. For example, a steakhouse that dry-ages large cuts of beef will need a very large walk-in for just this purpose, to provide the space needed and to allow the beef to age at the proper temperature and humidity. As well, strong-smelling foods, such as stinky cheese, should not be stored with vegetables, as the vegetables may pick up the odors.
Walk-in refrigerator image © Sebastian Czapnik
