Blast chiller and pastry: interview with Carlo Pavesi

Carlo Pavesi, a Milan-based pastry chef with twenty years of experience in the sector, stands out for his dedication to producing high-quality pastry products. Managing several thousand items each year, he maintains high standards without compromising between quantity and quality: "For me, quantity and quality go hand in hand".

His secret lies in the meticulous use of carefully selected ingredients and in his exclusive recipe for artisanal sourdough starter.

Pavesi showcased his talent by reaching the finals of the 2020 Panettone World Championship, and his creations are also available at La Rinascente in Milan.

In this interview, he shares how the use of the blast chiller has revolutionised his approach to production, optimising processes while preserving the outstanding quality of his pastry products.

Tell us about your experience

My professional experience spans both pastry and restaurant work: I have worked in restaurants, hotels, catering and production areas, both sweet and savoury. I have had a 360-degree experience in the field of food service and hospitality.

Did you learn to work in a certain way and use equipment effectively thanks to the help of someone, or is it the result of your own experience?

I have always used a blast chiller, considering it an important piece of equipment both in food preparation and production. At the beginning, it was simply a matter of understanding the regulations and complying with them: the aim was to ensure healthy products. It was simply a rule that was passed on to you, which immediately made you understand the importance of preserving the quality of processed foods.

Over time and with experience, I understood the essential role of the blast chiller in optimising labour times as well. Working with different businesses, in particular with large companies, gave me the opportunity to refine my way of working and using equipment.

These experiences also allowed me to fully understand the importance of each processing phase, having complete control over all processes.

How and when did you start your business?

Ho aperto la mia attività, Cadò, a dicembre 2019, in pochi metri quadrati.
I opened my business, Cadò, in December 2019, in just a few square metres. There were only two of us: myself and one assistant. The largest workbench was 1.80m long and, actually, it was also the only one.
In the first month of opening, which was precisely December, during the Christmas period, I produced 600 panettoni.

A great result, but unfortunately it was followed by two and a half months of closure due to the COVID-19 emergency.
I never lost my determination. I was allowed to go to the kitchen and I believed in my business, taking the opportunity to continue training my assistant. We never stopped, we kept researching and developing products.
With summer 2020 came the first orders. In addition to panettone and colomba, we started producing cakes and single-serve desserts. I still remember that in July 2020 our record was 80 single-serve desserts in a month. In the following years, we went on to produce and deliver around 23-24,000 in a single year.

Did the blast chiller help you? How did you start using it and how do you use it now?

When I started, I had a small blast chiller, of a completely different size. It was proportionate to the workload. As orders increased, my needs in terms of equipment also changed. I gradually upgraded the kitchen to ensure a production cycle that could keep up with demand.
The blast chiller allows me to preserve the quality of the ingredients and speed up processes, while maintaining or increasing quality, because we can "lock in" the characteristics of the processed element at a specific moment.
For example, if we take a very fresh dairy product, with excellent aromas, and "lock" it at that point of the process, partially blocking oxidation and fermentation, we preserve its freshness. In the products created, once regenerated at a positive temperature, those same characteristics are fully retained.

With a blast chiller, it is not just about maintaining quality, but it is also about increasing it and optimising the production processes, because we have full control over processing times and therefore over our production capacity.

It is thanks to this that we have gone from producing 80 items to an average of about 2000 per month.

"If it were up to me, I would make it mandatory for everyone to use a blast chiller, not just for storage".