This year’s NRA show gave hoteliers a chance to rekindle old
flames and make eye contact with hot new arrivals—at least
when it came to ovens, ranges, and commercial cooking
appliances. Here’s a roundup of products seen in Chicago and
new to the market in 2008.
Hobart's new combi ovens accept barcode scans.
COMBI CHAMELEON
Combi ovens are traditionally loaded with cutting-edge cooking
technology. Hobart continues that reputation with its CE6HD and
CE10FD models, which accept barcode scans from food product boxes,
translating them into instant cooking instructions.
“Scan the barcode, and it preheats the oven for that recipe’s time and
temperature. All a person has to do is scan, put the food in, and push start,”
says David Sager, product line manager, cooking, Hobart.
The oven is also Bluetooth capable, so a chef can send recipes and updates
directly from a handheld device to the oven’s database.
RATIONAL is a company with a singular focus on combi ovens, and
this year they’ve introduced new accessories to go with their signature
SelfCooking Center ovens.
There’s an updated CombiGrill grid, which can cook 100 steaks in 11
minutes, and a Teflon-coated Multibaker pan, which can cook multiple
fried eggs in a matter of minutes.
“Through the different accessories we offer, we’re continuously improving
the capabilities of our equipment for customers,” says Vinod Jotwani,
marketing manager, RATIONAL.
RATIONAL’s new CombiGrill grid works with their combi oven lineup.
Cleveland’s new mini focuses on
footprint.
Eloma’s Joker T compact combi
debuted at the NRA Show.
SEEING A SHRINK
Reduced kitchen footprints are another area being addressed
through smaller combi ovens. Cleveland Range answers with “the
mini,” a unit that is approximately 21 inches wide, 30 inches high, and
32 inches deep.
“Footprint is a huge issue for hotels, but if there isn’t room for a
regular-size combi, this is an option, and it holds 12-by-20-inch steam
table pans,” says Peter Schellenbach, chef, Cleveland Range.
Schellenbach says the mini combi is ideal for late-night room service, where
daytime chefs can prepare plated, high-quality entrées, later heated by
overnight staff.
Another company taking smaller footprints seriously is Eloma, with its Joker T
combi oven, which is approximately 21 inches wide, 25 inches high, and 27 inches
deep.
“We had to come up with something that’s small to match those small
kitchens. The Joker T is one third of the size of a regular combi oven, and it auto
cleans,” says Steve Goellner, corporate chef, Eloma.
Goellner adds that the Joker T has an interactive, color-coded
touch screen with red symbolizing moist heat and blue symbolizing dry heat.
Electrolux makes it simpler with its air-o-convect
oven.
Montague’s Crusader is a smaller version of
the company's Excalibur Island Suite.
CUSTOMIZING FOR CUSTOMERS
At Electrolux, the new air-o-convect oven is an answer to customer
demand for a simpler option in the combi oven category. “This is like a
beginner combi oven. We think there’s a market out there for hotels with a basic
menu but without the staff to operate a sophisticated combi oven,” says Scott
Applebee, director of marketing, Electrolux North America.
Some of those basic features include 11 pre-set levels of humidity and 4 push-button cleaning cycles.
Customer feedback also shaped the Excalibur Crusader from Montague,
which is a smaller version of the company’s full-sized Excalibur Island Suite.
“Our customers said they’d love to have an Excalibur, but they didn't
have room or couldn’t afford it. So we shrunk the Excalibur and created the
Crusader,” says Gary Rupp, VP of sales and marketing, the Montague Company.
Just like the original Excalibur, the Crusader is an island suite
that can be operated from both sides. And it’s customizable, with the
option of a pass-through oven, induction cooktop, under-counter
refrigeration, and more.
Jade’s Plancha Broiler produces
100,000 BTUs of heat.
Vulcan’s Rapid Recovery Griddle
features a steel and aluminum plate.
ELITE HEAT Jade Range unveiled its Plancha Broiler, which uses infrared
technology to provide 100,000 BTUs of heat and a separate
direct contact cooking surface on top for searing.
“A chef can prepare steaks in the broiler, for example, and
scallops or fish on top, all within a 36-inch space,” says Ray
Williams, president, Jade Range. The Plancha Broiler also
includes a four-sided trough around the top to catch grease and
make cleaning easier.
At Vulcan, new technology on their Rapid Recovery Griddle
lets heat spread evenly across the entire plate through a brand-new
surface that combines steel on the top and bottom and
aluminum in the center.
“If you measured the hottest to coldest spot on a regular
plate, you’d typically see a 75-to-100-degree difference.
With our plate, it’s about a 12-to-15-degree difference,”
says Tim Welsh, sales and marketing manager, griddle and
broiler unit, Vulcan. Welsh adds that the increased distribution
of heat increases the usable cooking surface by
almost 28 percent.
APW Wyott’s X*Wav EZ SS offers userfriendly
redesigned digital controls.
A FEW TWEAKS
At APW Wyott, their X*Wav EZ SS conveyor oven has
redesigned digital controls and eight pre-set options that
automatically adjust temperature settings.
“It's more user-friendly and quite an improvement from
what we had before. If a hotel is doing a toasted sandwich
program or making mini pizzas, this is a perfect application,”
says Timothy Palmer, regional director, north, APW Wyott.
The oven uses a ceramic heat system that delivers 31 percent
more efficiency than quartz-based ovens, he notes.
Imperial Range updated its Diamond Series with a
sleeker, rounded design around the edges and handles
and streamlined wavy burner grates to sustain stovetop heat.
“The valleys notched along the top of the grate heat
faster and conduct heat through those valleys longer than
flat metal to metal contact,” says Jennie Coon, director of
sales, north, Imperial Range.
The wavy grates are also flush-mounted to the front
ledge of the oven for full use of the top surface area.
BIGGER BROTHER
Monitoring HACCP on a single piece of equipment is enough to keep any culinary staff busy. So what about
multiple units across multiple properties? For that, Alto-Shaam offers the 2008 version of its HACCP Documentation/Kitchen Management software.
“This software allows a corporate chef, for example, to monitor and control their equipment in several locations,
with real-time data coming back to their computer,” says Todd Griffith, VP, sales and marketing, Alto-Shaam.
The software works with Alto-Shaam electronic cook and hold ovens, hot food holding cabinets, combitherm
ovens, and quickchillers.
Michael Costa is industry relations editor for HOTEL F&B.
