GLENVIEW, ILL.—ITW Food Equipment Group announced it will attend the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show (May 18 to 21) at McCormick Place in Chicago. Restaurant and food service professionals who visit booth 4031 can see the latest in kitchen equipment from the group’s premier brands, including Hobart, Baxter, Traulsen, Vulcan and IBEX. Each piece of equipment displays the brands’ innovative approach to improving efficiency in commercial kitchens.
The booth will feature four key focus areas introduced at last year’s show—Kitchen Productivity, Commercial Dishwashing, Leading Innovation and Service and Parts—along with live cooking demonstrations from the Vulcan, Baxter, and IBEX Culinary Team. Visitors will see equipment from the ITW Food Equipment brands in action during these demonstrations throughout the show.
Visitors interested in understanding how equipment from the ITW Food Equipment brands can help address common challenges, such as labor constraints, downtime, sustainability, and more are invited to view showcased products. Representatives from each brand will be available to provide information and answer questions.
Hobart Food Prep Equipment will display its Legacy+ HL600 (60 quart) mixer showcasing simplified cleaning and food safety features of an aluminum planetary and stainless-steel hub cover. Bring this mixer to a complete stop in three seconds with the technology of FastStop. These features will be available on the 60-quart machines later in 2024. Hobart will also feature its new chicken cutting tool for its FP250 and FP350 continuous-feed food processors, which speeds the process of cutting chicken compared to manual cutting. Also on display will be the new Centerline by Hobart CCH34 4-quart, 4-speed combination food processor, designed for cutting, dicing, mixing, and emulsifying jobs ranging from dressings to sauces to toppings. This machine rounds out the Centerline food prep equipment offering, which also includes mixers and slicers.
Hobart Commercial Dishwashers is pleased to showcase its new CL series conveyor type commercial dishwashers, winner of the 2024 Kitchen Innovations (KI) Award from the National Restaurant Association. The CL features Hobart’s exclusive Complete Delime with Booster Guard technology that reduces labor time and effort, and automatically delimes the machine and booster. Also on display will be the new LXnR two level undercounter, with a second level rack that boosts capacity to 48 racks per hour.
Baxter will have its new OV320G mini rack oven on display. The oven features a simple-to-use programmable SmartTouch control for easy operation, along with a Smart error code feature that reduces downtime by providing easy diagnosis of any issues. The OV320G also includes a rotating interior rack for consistent, even results and an integrated hood.
Traulsen will feature the newly redesigned Spec Line refrigerators and freezers with energy efficient variable speed compressors (VSC), environmentally friendly R290 refrigerants, EZ-Clean tray racks and an optional SmartConnect remote monitoring system. The new VSC design further advances Traulsen’s unmatched ability to maintain precise product temperatures, adapting to heavy use periods and more importantly, reducing energy usage during off-peak operation. The StayClear condenser, a standard feature on Traulsen’s spec line upright models is designed to save labor costs by virtually eliminating the need for frequent cleaning of condenser coils. All of this leads the way in efficiency with a dramatic increase in Energy Star models coming this summer.
Vulcan will highlight some of its newest equipment, including the TCM combi oven with the patented ABC interface, which auto-sets humidity to an optimal level based on set temperature for easy cooking and consistent results. It also features exclusive grab-and-go racks for safe, easy access to pans, along with self-cleaning and descaling to reduce labor costs. Vulcan will also show its new VPP Series PreciPan, an intelligent multifunction braising pan that acts as a kettle, griddle, pasta cooker and more by providing multi-zone precision cooking. The new 75-pound QuickFry fryer will also be at the booth. This fryer cooks 13 percent more yield than competitive models and is Energy Star certified to help lower energy consumption. It has a four-step filtration system for easy cleaning that leads to consistent quality food output. See live cooking demos on these pieces and more.
IBEX will showcase its IBEX rapid-cook oven, which uses Radio Frequency (RF) cooking technology for consistent heating, learning, and adapting in real time without any points of measure. The result is combi oven quality at speed oven times without the need for water, a hood or drain—a feature that also simplifies installation. The rapid-cook oven is certified ventless for fatty proteins and gently accelerates the heating process to reduce cooking time by 50 percent or more. IBEX will demo the new 10-inch touch screen during the show.
Hobart Service will have representatives available to discuss how they can help kitchens reduce downtime and costs by implementing service plans and preventive maintenance. Representatives can also discuss how a nationwide installation team can get ITW branded equipment set up and ready to use.
Hobart Genuine Parts is excited to unveil four new additions to its Solutions catalog, a valuable resource showcasing parts kits designed to streamline kitchen operations. A select few of these kits will be on display. Representatives will be available to discuss these and many more exciting solutions that provide in-house maintenance staff with the tools needed to keep restaurants up and running.
