Loose ice on a plate turns into water and a slippery floor in the preparation area, and because the same ice hides the label, the closure and cracks in the shell, it makes the pre-loading check harder. Managing it is two jobs: inspecting the plate in a defined area and finding where the moisture comes from.
Do not remove ice by impact, with sharp tools or with hot water, because the shell can be damaged. Take off the loose ice and water in the defined area and confirm that the label reads and that there is no leakage or crack at the closure, seam or shell. If there is leakage, an opened closure or a crack, removing the ice does not repair the plate; segregate it. A clean exterior also means the plate is ready only if it is fully frozen, since GEBHARDT eutectic plate fill must be completely frozen and solidified before use.
| Observation | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Ice builds up in one rack zone | door seal, air passages, wet loads entering that zone |
| Plates enter the freezer wet | drying and waiting before entry |
| Ice grows when the door stays open | door opening time and count |
Scraping ice only before use does not stop it coming back, and the preparation flow will not settle until the moisture source is found. One icy plate does not show that the freezer is faulty, while recurrence in the same zone is a pattern worth investigating.
On the freezing side, the GEBHARDT eutectic plate table states that the freezing temperature must be at least 5 °C below the melting point, that an air gap must stay between the plates, and that freezing time ranges from 8 to 24 hours depending on the cooling technology; for a plate with a melting point of -3 °C it recommends -8 °C or colder. GEBHARDT freezing racks provide the air gap (technical paper). If a plate waited outside the freezer during de-icing, make sure it has frozen again before loading.
