Currently I make about 18 varieties of 50 gram bars plus another 25 varieties of bon-bons. My volume on bars has increased now to about 200 per day, peaking at 400 day every now and then. I have problems with my workflow in regards to cooling.

Most of my bars are made with a "sandwich" (caramel, fruit, honey, etc), so the molds are cast with a thin layer, cooled, sandwich deposited, and capped off. Currently I trott out of my chocolate room 10 feet way to the hot kitchen with a tray of 4 molds(24 cavities) and place in the fridge, when I return with the next tray, I remove the first.

Cooling tunnels would be nice, but I do not have space for that. My chocolate room measures 8' x 8', but if I get another client, I will tear out one wall and "annex" the office, giving me roughly 8' x14'. Upright or vertical cooling seems like the best way for me to go at the moment.

I could get a cheap single door upright fridge to put into the chocolate room. But I have lots of questions:

-What temp should the fridge run at? This is assuming the fridge is dedicated for chocolate only--no storage of any products.

-Will running the fridge raise the temp of my room significantly?

-What are some other options?

updated by @edward-j: 04/11/25 09:27:36