By Carla Landi

 

The National Restaurant Association released the Industry forecast for 2016 and they announced the 2016 Kitchen Innovation winners. New menu trends and technology are promising an exciting year in the restaurant industry. The kitchen equipment innovative award winners are providing foodservice professionals with exciting new opportunities and solutions for their operations.

 

Here are some highlights from our favorite innovation award winners:

The Blodgett Hoodini

Blodgett came up with a self-contained ventless hood for the Blodgett Mini Combi 6 and 10 Pan Ovens. In other words, these ovens can now be placed just about anywhere. This innovative closed, recirculating system removes steam, smoke and fumes. Recently featured in Kitchen Biz.

Champion Ventless Conveyor Warewasher with Heat Recovery

Champion is not a stranger to the Kitchen Innovation Awards. Their new ventless conveyor with heat recovery collects 100% of the operating exhaust energy and vapor with a combination of a mounted heat pump and a variable speed fan. The fully absorbed vapor and exhaust is used to heat the wash and final rinse water.

Duke Modular Production Center

Duke’s new Production center is perfect for your prep station. It features advanced ergonomics in a small footprint. Duke’s KOOL refrigeration system holds temps and exceeds NSF7 ambient kitchen temperature requirements. Patented Tri-Channel design and multiple cold wall construction provides even cooing across the entire unit.

Manitowoc Foodservice Merry Chef ikon e2s

Manitowoc brings Merry Chef to the innovation award winner pavilion with their ikon e2s. Offers best in class: speed, heat up and cool down times, energy efficiency, noise level, clean ability, and cavity to footprint ratio. Cutting edge technology brings all the best features and benefits in a high-speed convection/microwave. All this power comes in a small footprint.

Star Manufacturing’s Rolling Tortilla Warmer

Star's innovative heated drum and radiant elements warm tortillas to a target temperature of 160°F in seconds. Uses standard 120V power at less than 12-amp draw. Perfect for operations serving menu items requiring a high volume of tortillas, flat bread, and pitas. Versatile for all applications including front-of-the-house, kiosks, and food trucks. No hood is required.

Vulcan ABC7 Combi Oven Steamer

Vulcan’s ABC7 provides combi cooking with intuitive controls that automatically select humidity levels based on operator temperature selection. This combi delivers consistent, high quality results without the need for elaborate programming or extensive training. Recently featured in Kitchen Biz.

Vulcan Low Water Energy Steamer

The first Energy Star qualified a la carte, generator-based convection steamer. Vulcan’s LWE combines the performance of a steam generator with 90% less water consumption and 50% less energy of a standard generator steamer. The control of excess steam production results in reduced water and electric usage. This innovation winner saves big money for operators. Recently featured in Kitchen Biz.