SUPPLIER ROUNDTABLE: Innovative ovens
Hotelier Middle East asked a selection of suppliers and leading chefs about the latest trends, topics and products to heat up the food and beverage scene when it comes to professional ovens and kitchen design
What are the trends in oven design and what are chefs demanding?
Wilhelm Tittes, Heidi Chef Solutions LLC: Many bakers are now considering heat-recovery systems and energy-efficient bakery ovens which maintain, or in some cases improve, the results of their baked goods. As well as continuous product improvements, developments such as patented Miwe air-control are aimed at reducing energy costs.
James Garton, Beech Ovens: There is an emerging trend towards updating operating systems to make ovens even easier to use.
David Contreras, The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa: Convection steamer ovens are the most versatile for general cooking, however there are still superior products for specific tasks for example, stone pizza ovens, rotative bakery ovens, Jasper charcoal ovens, Beijing Duck ovens and so on.
For combination steamer ovens, I think there will be a preferential brand for most chefs, (for example, Rational) due to their technological features of menu inputting, recipe saving and steam percentage adjustment facilities.
Also, in my opinion, the whole oven chamber temperature balance is very important as it means that all the items on a tray will cook evenly. A great addition, and I’m not sure if it’s on the market already, is an oven that allows for sous-vide cooking on a larger scale.
Lloyd Carter, Jumeirah Restaurants LLC: Chefs are demanding more from their equipment every year and ovens are now expected to understand what the correct level of cooking is for the ingredients the chef is using.
Some chefs are demanding ovens with programmes installed which will deliver crispy skin roasted poultry with a moist succulent inner for example. Manufacturers are spending many hours to perfect cooking programmes.
With multi functions such as steam injection, adjustable fan speeds and quick response temperature control, baking/roasting has never been so easy. Self clean is up there as one of the best innovations from the past two years.
Scott Price, Table 9 at Hilton Dubai Creek: For me personally, it’s about reliability. I’ve always been a big fan of the Rational brand but there are a lot of brands these days that are around that can do so many different things, various temperature settings, steam or combi for example.
Whenever I’ve worked in London, it’s the combi Rational oven that can do everything and won’t break down. I think chefs demand a lot more precision and control. It depends what you’re doing, but temperature control is a priority.
Stephane Buchholzer, The Westin and Le Méridien, Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, Dubai: It all depends on the type of kitchen or restaurant. Chefs are looking for ovens that bring extreme precision and the ability to cook for a long period of time.
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How energy efficient are your ovens?
James Garton, Beech Ovens: Correctly placing the oven door in your Beech stone hearth oven when not in use allows it to retain a great amount of heat, even overnight. This allows the oven to reach the set point within a timely manner making it a relatively efficient appliance. The residual heat from the thermal mass also allows “free” cooking overnight, with no more energy input.
Wilhelm Tittes: Baking loss can be reduced if necessary by adapting the baking programme. In our experience, the baking temperature of the Miwe roll-in e+ can be reduced by up to 20°C while maintaining the same baking results as other rack ovens.
On average, the Miwe roll-in e+ requires 15% less energy than its predecessor. Compared to similar ovens from competitive manufacturers, the energy required by Miwe roll-in e+ is much lower. Also, issues such as heat emission and heat escaping from ovens have very little effect on the room temperature.
How does energy efficiency impact the overall productivity of the oven?
Wilhelm Tittes: Miwe ovens heat up very quickly due to their efficient heating packages and excellent insulation leading to very little downtime in the production process of a bakery.
As an example, at one our biggest customer’s locations, the Miwe ovens heat up from 170°C to 250°C in about five to six minutes. The other ovens on site need double that amount of time. This provides an advantage of approximately 28% increase in the total baking time.
James Garton: When the oven door is correctly plugged overnight a great amount of heat is able to be stored in the thermal mass. As a result, the oven takes approximately one hour to heat up every day making it readily available for use compared to other stone hearth ovens.
How important are aesthetics when it comes to ovens?
Stephane Buchholzer: For me, it’s extremely important because a chef will spend a significant amount of time there and for a show kitchen, the aesthetic has to be part of the restaurant and fit it.
Scott Price: I think it’s important but I wouldn’t say it’s 100%.
For us, you have to take it into consideration as a lot of people want to come and look into your kitchen and see what’s going on so you need it to look clean and smart.
You wouldn’t sacrifice style for reliability, well I wouldn’t anyway!
We have an open kitchen so it is very important that it is always looking clean and tidy. Lloyd Carter: There are many brands of oven in the market which look great but perform below par. It has to be efficient, reliable and easy to clean. Having shelf holding brackets and light fittings which cannot be moved makes cleaning difficult.
David Contreras: Aesthetics are crucial, due to the fact that most of the restaurants nowadays have open kitchens and the ovens are very visual pieces of equipment; the lighting inside, the smooth and sleek design, solid colors, and ease of cleaning are very important as guests love to see ‘what’s cooking’.
Wilhelm Tittes: The aesthetics and ergonomics are very important. Our baking stations are the most compact in the market and one of our ovens, the Miwe gusto, had been awarded for its extremely harmonious appearance with the ‘iF design award’ from the International Forum Design in Hanover, Germany. Our ovens are hygienic and cleaning friendly thanks to the rounded baking chambers and smooth surfaces.
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How much of a chef’s time do your products free up?
James Garton: The largest Beech stone hearth ovens can cook up to 120 pizzas (12 inches) in one hour. Being able to cook so quickly means that chefs can focus on the preparation of other dishes as well as cope better with high demand.
When it comes to gas versus electric ovens, what do you think are the pros and cons of each?
James Garton: Gas ovens provide a great visual for diners and also allow chefs to burn wood for extra flavour. The only downside is that they are not able to be legally installed in all locations due to building regulations.
Fortunately, the Beech electric stone hearth oven complies with these regulations making them suitable for chefs who want stone hearth oven quality but are in locations where gas ovens are prohibited or ventilation is an issue.
Wilhelm Tittes: The ovens supplied by Miwe will have the same baking results regardless of the means of heating, whether that’s gas, diesel or electric. Such preferences are usually made by the customer depending on factors such as availability and cost.
How can chefs source spare parts and what do you offer in service, support, maintenance and cleaning?
Wilhelm Tittes: We keep a stock of critical spare parts in Dubai. If the parts are not available in Dubai, we dispatch the parts from Miwe Germany and within two to four working days, the parts are delivered to the customer.
Our standard offer for service, support and maintenance includes the product or products, one year spare parts warranty, delivery and installation, and training and commissioning. We are also now offering preventive maintenance.
James Garton: The Beech Ovens Australia office is able to supply spare parts required for all oven models anywhere in the world. No matter where you are located, you will receive your spare parts in a matter of days.
In addition, we have an extensive ‘After-Sales Service Programme’. Our technicians are available to install and commission ovens as well as assist with troubleshooting issues.
When it comes to cleaning, grease build-up in the spigot is very important as failing to do so can create a fire risk. Beech Ovens has ensured that the spigot can be easily accessed and cleaned on all ovens to avoid unnecessary incidents. Otherwise, the only cleaning required is a periodical sweep-up of ash and debris from the floor.
How price competitive are you?
James Garton: Beech Ovens is positioned to provide a high-quality product at the standard industry prices. If a client approaches us with a quote from a competitor we will always do our very best to match that price so that they can enjoy a stone hearth oven without compromising on the quality.
Chefs are focusing on authentic cuisine. What type of speciality ovens are they demanding for this and what is the most popular?
James Garton: Many Middle Eastern and Indian chefs request tandoors from Beech Ovens. The most popular model is the gas-fired barrel tandoor. Beech tandoors are also available in round and square shapes.
Wilhelm Tittes: In 2010, the most popular oven offered by Heidi Chef Solutions LLC was the Miwe Condo deck oven due to its excellent baking results. The oven is appreciated in bakeries, branch outlets, pastry shops, catering companies and nowadays even in Arabic bakeries. The product has a modular construction, a wide variety of sizes and it can be adapted to the respective capacity specification.
How much emphasis do you place on ‘green’ energy saving products when it comes to your requirements?
David Contreras: This is as important as the aesthetics for two reasons; through energy saving, we can reduce emissions and have a better place for our little ones. In addition, there are profit-related reasons as less energy consumption means reduced electricity or gas bills.
Stephane Buchholzer: It’s very important in terms of cost saving and it has to be productive for the business. There are products out there that are energy saving but also produce the same quality results.
Lloyd Carter: Kitchen equipment manufacturers seem to be concentrating a lot of their time and efforts on environmentally-friendly designs. Efficiency and heat holding are key to any chef when cooking so for equipment to be made more efficient is of benefit to both the chef and the planet.
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Getting to know you: Hotelier's Expert Panel
Wilhelm Tittes, Heidi Chef Solutions LLC
Wilhelm Tittes is the equipment divisional manager at Heidi Chef Solutions.
Set up in 2003, the company offers a quality range of products from its Austrian and Swiss companies, with the aim of supporting chefs in their many different culinary requirements.
James Garton, Beech Ovens
Sales manager and corporate chef James Garton joined Beech Ovens in 2007. The team built its first wood-fired pizza oven in 1989 and now has many well-known clients including leading kitchen designers, restaurateurs, chefs, luxury hotels, casinos, and cruise ships.
Lloyd Carter, Jumeirah Restaurants
As executive development chef, Lloyd Carter looks after recipe and menu development of restaurant brands such as The Noodle House, Urbano, Rivington Grill and The Ivy. Jumeirah Restaurants is the franchise arm of Jumeirah Group and its mission is to set up and license innovative restaurants worldwide.
Stephane Buchholzer, complex executive chef, The Westin and Le Meridien, Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, Dubai
As complex executive chef, Stephane Buchholzer oversees these two Dubai-based properties from a culinary perspective. With as many as 21 outlets between the two neighbouring hotels, Stephane’s experience is invaluable when it comes to the smooth-running of this large operation.
Scott Price, Table 9 at Hilton Dubai Creek
This award-winning chef — Price was sister title Caterer Middle East’s Hotel Chef of the Year in 2011 — launched Table 9 with Nick Alvis at Hilton Dubai Creek. Open for dinner, every dish is made in-house to offer an elegant menu in a relaxed setting.
David Contreras,
The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa
David Contreras joins The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa as executive chef, bringing with him a melting pot of international culinary experience from his native Argentina, as well as Mexico and Algeria. The hotel opened in November 2011 and features six outlets, including Moroccan restaurant Agadir, contemporary eatery Lemon & Lime, and Fairways, which recently launched brunch.
Future trends of the industry
- More focus will be put on custom cooking equipment in the future. Extravagant eye-catching centre-pieces will become a must-have.
- Network integrated kitchen and bakery equipment will be a future trend. The technology already exists and is being implemented by a few manufacturers including Miwe, which even has an online monitoring system for its refrigeration systems.
- The ‘green’ trend will continue for 2012 with a number of energy-saving options available.
- A trend is emerging towards updating operating systems to make ovens even easier to use. Beech Ovens has recently begun to design a brand new touch screen system for all stone hearth oven models, making them easier to use and to assist in resolving trouble shooting issues. This will be available in the second half of 2012.
- There is a lot of emphasis on flame visuals, for example, eye-catching gas burners and viewing windows. There is also a movement back to charcoal/wood burning appliances of the past.
Top 'Green' Products
“Our top energy-saving ‘green’ products are our energy efficient ovens as well as our energy-recovery systems.”
Wilhelm Tittes, Heidi Chef Solutions
“The Beech electric stone hearth oven emits far fewer emissions than all other models making them the perfect choice for those seeking ‘greener’ options.”
James Garton, Beech Ovens