Vacuum cooling is a pre-cooling method in which the product is cooled by evaporating water from inside the product itself. This evaporation results in a loss of energy from the product in the form of heat, which allows for quick cooling, typically within 15-30 minutes for most products.

For products with a high surface area-to-weight ratio, such as leaf lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, compost, sprouts, and flowers, vacuum pre-cooling is the ideal solution. But also other (more compact) products such as beans, broccoli, celery, and corn, and perishable products such as strawberries and blueberries can be pre-cooled quickly and efficiently using vacuum technology.