The Beginning of a New Era – RATIONAL introduces a new product category: the RATIONAL iHexagon delivers the highest food quality in the shortest possible time
RATIONAL is starting the new year with a World Premiere: With the new iHexagon, the world market leader has succeeded in coordinating steam, hot air and microwave technology so intelligently that the highest food quality is possible in the shortest possible time, evenly across all racks in the 6-1/1 unit. After introducing the combi-steamer and the iVario, this marks the third instance in the company’s history where it has pioneered a new product category.
At the end of February, Markus Paschmann, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at RATIONAL, presented the iHexagon in an online keynote speech together with RATIONAL experts from Research & Development and the project team. The focus of the presentation was on the core element of the new model: iClimateBoost. The cooking assistant intelligently adjusts steam, convection and microwave heat to the respective food. This allows operators to produce the highest food quality in the shortest possible time.
Markus Paschmann says: “With the iHexagon, we are the first on the market to succeed in combining hot air, steam and microwave heat in the cooking cabinet so intelligently that the energy is distributed evenly across all six racks.” This means that the user achieves consistently excellent results across all levels and can even simultaneously cook various types of food. Despite our culinary expertise in the market, achieving this milestone presented a formidable challenge for us.” We weren’t satisfied with the quality of the food at the beginning,” Paschmann continues. But the product developers quickly found the solution: The microwave has been set against the most powerful heating power that RATIONAL has ever developed. This has restored the balance of power. Together with the fresh steam, the two types of energy are intelligently controlled to produce succulent food with the desired browning and rich roasted flavours. “It fills me with pride to present such a technical masterpiece and launch it on the market. With the iHexagon, we are demonstrating that we recognise our customers’ challenges and are responding to them with innovations,” explains the CEO.
The iHexagon is aimed in particular at customers whose business concept is focussed equally on quality and speed. The iHexagon is capable of generating substantial quantities, it is ideal for preparing meals for large gatherings or catering events, such as buffets. Secondly, thanks to its speed, it is able to quickly serve fresh food or heat up snacks in just a few seconds, even during rush hour. This translates to an end of queues and a boost in sales instead.
The iHexagon is of particular interest for kitchens that are geared towards standardised dishes and processes. This is where ConnectedCooking, RATIONAL’s digital kitchen management system, really comes into its own. MyDisplay, for example, which shows the most important functions individually on the display, can be set up via ConnectedCooking and distributed to all cooking systems, enables operation at the touch of a button and makes life easier, especially in kitchens with lower skilled staff.
The concept of the iHexagon is rounded off by autonomous cleaning with iCareSystem AutoDose. Cleaner and care cartridges are integrated into the cooking system and therefore securely contained. There is no contact with chemicals, and incorrect dosing is prevented. Instead, you’ll experience enhanced workplace safety and reduced costs.
All in all, it makes the iHexagon an intelligent specialist for certain applications; RATIONAL continues to see the iCombi and iVario as the primary solution for all other professional kitchens. For this reason, the company has also decided to employ product and application specialists for sales who can provide expert advice and identify whether the iHexagon is the right choice.
The iHexagon is now available in Germany, the UK and the USA, with other countries to follow gradually.
Markus Paschmann sums up the market launch as follows: “With the iHexagon, we have created a new, intelligent product category with performance features that are unique on the market. We are already speaking of a New Era.” Detailed information is available at rational-online.com, where you can also watch the keynote speech again.
