The Oven That Thinks for the Chef, a Market on the Rise, and London Awards – Week in Review

01 · Technology

The Oven That Knows What It's Baking

Let's start with something that, until recently, sounded like science fiction in baking. The Convotherm maxx pro BAKE combi steamer, equipped with the optional ConvoSense system, can automatically recognize what baked product has been placed inside it and select the appropriate baking program accordingly [1]. The device combines temperature, humidity, and fan intensity control in a single process, which in practice means that the quality of the bake no longer depends solely on the trained eye and experience of the person operating the oven.

This solution matters most where standardization is worth its weight in gold – that is, in foodservice chains operating across multiple locations at once. Instead of training every team from scratch, an operator can rely on technology that "remembers" the recipe better than many an employee would. It's a great example of the broader trend toward kitchen automation and digitalization, a topic that comes up more and more often at trade shows like ProKitchen Expo.

Speaking of investments in modern equipment, it's worth taking a broader, global look at the current state of the foodservice equipment market.