Futuretech: Coming eventually to a kitchen near you

Equipment manufacturers: Want to wow the culinary world with your latest creation? Bring us the culinary equivalent of the iPod. That’s the challenge Ron DeSantis, project director of Culinary Institute of America Consulting, is putting to equipment providers.

“Chefs are looking for flexible, easy-to-clean, easy-to-use equipment with a small footprint,” DeSantis said. “We’ve found that about 60 percent of the chefs we surveyed use less than 10 percent of the computer-aided features they already have.”

DeSantis discussed a recent CIA survey of food service professionals from all segments of the industry. The survey revealed a number of products that chefs are hungry for. Some of these pieces are already on the market, others are on the way and some aren’t in the pipeline — but they should be. And many are on the NRA Show floor.

On the market

• Large surface, zoned induction cooktops. These flat-top cooktops let chefs use up to 16 pans at a time – or narrow the cooking area to support a single pan. Check out an example from Electrolux at the Kitchen Innovations Pavilion (pictured above).
• The Anti-Griddle. “We’re seeing some very creative uses for this,” DeSantis said of the PolyScience product, a 2006 Kitchen Innovations award winner. “It was originally used for pastry, but now we’re seeing people freeze sauce reductions into specific shapes, so the sauce gently melts onto food in a really attractive way.” See the Anti-Griddle at Booth 9445.

On the way

• High-speed panini press. This machine uses direct heat, microwave and infrared cooking technologies to toast bread and cook sandwich fillings in as little as 90 seconds.
• Advanced high-pressure processing equipment. Large scale (as in room size) versions of this exist, but that’s not tremendously practical for most venues. The machine uses water to subject packages to extremely high pressure. Because the pressure comes all at once, the integrity of the food is maintained, but the pressure is so intense that microbes are killed instantly.

Where's this stuff?

• Reconfigurable range top. Chefs asked for a range top that could handle large pots in a banquet setting, then be easily converted to work with small pots for more intimate dining.
• Small capacity dishwashers. Instead of schlepping frequently used cooking equipment to the washing station, chefs want a small dishwasher that’s fast enough to put on the line.

Find more innovative products at the Kitchen Innovations Pavilion, and check out all the cutting-edge equipment on the show floor.