Freezing food very rapidly with intensely cold, fast-moving air so it reaches a frozen state quickly and keeps its quality.
Fast freezing forms smaller ice crystals, which protects texture and quality. Slow freezing forms large crystals that damage the food's structure.
No. Freezing stops most bacteria multiplying but does not reliably kill them. They can become active again once the food thaws, so hygienic handling before and after still matters.
It is better to cool cooked food correctly first. Freezing should preserve already-safe food rather than being used to rescue food that was cooled too slowly.
Blast chilling cools food to fridge temperature around 5 degrees C, while blast freezing takes it well below zero to a frozen state for longer storage.
Yes. Date-mark and label frozen food so it can be rotated and used in order, and so you know how long it has been in frozen storage.