Food thawing cabinet and related methods

A food thawing apparatus, comprising:

• a cabinet structure defining a thawing chamber accessible by at least one door;
• a plurality of air movers and associated air flow structure configured for causing air flow through the thawing chamber such that multiple air flow circuits are set up within the cabinet structure;
• wherein the cabinet structure defines a vertically extending flow section alongside the thawing chamber;
• a refrigeration system including a condenser section and an evaporator section;
• wherein the multiple air flow circuits include:
• a first air flow circuit that runs through the flow section, into and through the thawing chamber, into and through the evaporator section and back to the flow section;
• and
• a second air flow circuit from the flow section, through a first set of the plurality of shelves and back to the flow section, without passing through the evaporator section.

A method of thawing food product, comprising:

• utilizing a thawing apparatus with a thawing chamber that includes a plurality of shelves supporting food product, a vertically extending air flow section alongside the thawing chamber and a refrigeration system including an evaporator section;
• driving air flow so as to achieve:
• a first air flow circuit that runs through the flow section, into and through the thawing chamber, into and through the evaporator section and back to the flow section;
• a further air flow circuit from the flow section, through at least some of the plurality of shelves and back to the flow section, without passing through the evaporator section.