Ventless Cooking Guide

High-quality food offerings have the ability to both enhance your customer experience and expand revenue streams. With a ventless hood system in the kitchen, operators can easily introduce hot food items with minimal labor and space requirements. In this guide, you’ll learn how the latest compact, ventless and waterless foodservice equipment can boost your profits and offer a greater return on investment.

WHAT IS VENTLESS COOKING EQUIPMENT?

A traditional kitchen hood costs approximately $2,000 per linear foot to install and even more to operate every day. Versatile, ventless equipment solutions put money back into your pocket. All you need is a power hookup to achieve a plug-and-play food program.

Alto-Shaam offers waterless and ventless oven options that allow you to maximize your space, your way. Our multifunctional equipment can be operated outside of a traditional ventilation hood, while providing the highest food quality and consistency in the smallest spaces.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VENTLESS EQUIPMENT?

Low-Temperature Applications

For low-temperature, slow-and-low cooking applications, the latest Cook & Hold Ovens provide the highest food quality and consistency. Within each low-temperature oven, radiant Halo Heat® technology evenly surrounds food without the use of extremely hot elements, added humidity or fans that typically degrade food quality. Operators can utilize labor-free, overnight cooking and holding to reallocate labor and equipment where needed.

A Cook & Hold oven can be placed anywhere, without the need for an oven hood or outside ventilation. Its waterless design means that no plumbing, drains, filtration or associated maintenance are required, further reducing installation and operating costs. These ovens cost less than $2 per day to operate.

Multi-Cook Applications

Vector® H Series multi-cook ovens are ideal for operators looking to achieve unmatched volume and variety of food in a ventless space. These countertop ovens provide up to four independent cooking chambers in a single unit, allowing you to cook different food items simultaneously at the ideal temperature, fan speed and cook time.

Converge® multi-cook ovens are another ventless option ideal for compact spaces. These ovens bring the flexibility of a multi-cook oven, the power of Structured Air Technology™, and the versatility of combi cooking for endless cooking possibilities. Similar to Vector, the Converge provides up to three independent chambers in a single unit which allows you to cook simultaneously without any flavor transfer. Further maximize space by placing on a stand or stack with a holding cabinet, warming drawer or additional multi-cook oven.

The secret to more food in the smallest, commercial ventless hood footprint is Structured Air Technology™. This high-velocity, vertical airflow allows you to achieve a number of cooking applications at the highest quality and consistency, from air frying to baking to roasting, and more.

Combi Applications

The latest Prodigi™ combination ovens maximize space and savings by operating outside of a traditional vent hood. These high-performance ovens do the work of a convection oven, kettle, steamer, fryer, smoker and more. Ventech™ and Ventech™ PLUS Type 1 hoods with condensation technology condense steam while capturing and removing grease-laden air, vapors and lingering smoke. Its zero clearance design saves valuable space, allowing for it to be placed next to any piece of equipment anywhere on the line.

REDUCE LABOR AND OPTIMIZE WORKFLOWS

The latest ventless equipment not only solves space challenges, but Vector and Converge multi-cook ovens, Cook & Hold Ovens, and the latest Prodigi combi ovens are intuitive to use and programmable with Alto-Shaam’s most advanced control yet. Saving time and reducing labor costs, managers can push and pull recipes from their ovens seamlessly using the ChefLinc™ cloud-based remote oven management system. Programmable recipes guide the cooking process for staff to ensure your food comes out the exact same way, no matter who is operating the oven. Managers can also incorporate images and categorize recipes for easy identification on the staff level to improve efficiency and workflows. Additionally, ChefLinc provides data-driven insights that allow you to manage your menus, ovens, and business from anywhere, anytime.

COMPLETE COMMERCIAL COOKING EQUIPMENT SYSTEMS

In addition to ventless cooking equipment, operators can complete their food program with holding and chilling equipment solutions that are compact and waterless.

Holding Solutions

Compact holding solutions streamline labor and food production by allowing operators to cook batches of food in advance and hold for extended times at the highest quality. Alto-Shaam offers a range of hot holding equipment to support your ventless food program, including heated shelf warmers, hot food wells and heated holding cabinets.

Alto-Shaam’s range of heated display and holding solutions utilize gentle Halo Heat technology to evenly maintain warmth and retain moisture and flavor. No ventilation, plumbing or drainage is required. Holding can be stacked with other pieces of equipment — further supporting a better to-go experience while boosting impulse sales and minimizing food waste.

Chilling Solutions

Operators can significantly reduce food waste and increase revenue with rapid chilling equipment. QuickChiller™ blast chillers are designed to safely, rapidly and uniformly chill cooked food for second chance sales, further supporting a ventless food program that boosts profits. Alto-Shaam provides compact, under-the-counter QuickChillers that are easy to install.

To learn more about introducing a ventless food program, watch our on-demand webinar. Alto-Shaam is ready to support your foodservice goals and needs. Receive custom, personalized support by contacting one of our experts today.