Snap freezing (or cook-chill or blast freezing) is the process of rapid cooling of a substance for the purpose of preservation. It is widely used in the culinary and scientific industries.

Scientific use

Snap-freeze is a term often used in scientific papers to describe a process by which a sample is very quickly lowered to temperatures below -70 °C. This is often accomplished by submerging a sample in

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is nitrogen in a liquid state at cryogenics, low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, mobile liquid whose vis ...

. This prevents water from crystallising when it forms ice, and so better preserves the structure of the sample (e.g.

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

, or live cells).{{cite journal , title=Collection, Storage, Retrieval and Distribution of Biological Materials for Research , journal=Cell Preservation Technology , date=1 March 2008 , volume=6 , issue=1 , pages=3–58 , doi=10.1089/cpt.2008.9997

References

Food preservation Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

Scientific use

See also

References