The 41st edition of Host Milano, the international fair dedicated to the world of catering and hospitality, has recently ended. During the event the big players in the sector presented innovations of great interest, showing the latest solutions designed to make modern catering more efficient, sustainable and functional.
The news concern the three sectors of the Horeca world – hotels, restaurants and coffee bars – for which, every year, research and development professionals design equipment aimed at speeding up and simplifying work, with great regard also to cost savings and environmental sustainability.
From these premises, in almost all categories, products were conceived with three elements in common: multi-functionality, saving of resources and raw materials and digitalisation, factors that can really make a difference in the daily work of all operators in the sector.

The glasswasher with steam reduction
UG425 is the new SMEG professional glasswasher that, thanks to the maximized loading height (315 mm), allows to wash both large cups and long stem glasses for fine wines. It is also equipped with a new and patented filter system, with efficiency increased up to 40%. Moreover, SMEG research laboratories have developed the new S.H.R.+ System, which allows an effective steam reduction at each washing cycle. The result is the absence of steam at the opening of the door and the improvement of the work environment.
Key word: optimization
As the people working in the Horeca sector know, the greatest difficulty in this job is the rationalization of work, limiting waste. End customers, in fact, are often numerous and very demanding and it is necessary to be perfectly organized in order to respect the time table obtaining final professional results, without making too many mistakes and saving as much as possible resources and raw materials. A challenge that can only be faced with reliable, precise and efficient appliances.
For this reason, most of the solutions offered on the market are very versatile, so as to allow a different use of them in any occasion or to choose the perfect configurations for one’s own needs.

Professional appliances such as blast chillers are very good examples of products that can be totally customized, with solutions that cool or keep food hot or that perform both functions and many others. The most advanced blast chillers offer a wide choices of specific modes for the gourmet kitchen, for pastry and bakery or for the preparation of ice cream. Operators can choose only certain available functions or purchase the top of the range, able to respond to all the most common needs, from cooling to slow cooking, up to drying.

Fully customisable blast chiller
Irinox has launched MultiFresh® Next, a new fully customisable eco-propane blast chiller that offers five configurations: Gourmet cooking, that can manage the temperatures from -35°C to +85°C. In allows pre-set chilling, freezing cycles, low-temperature cooking, followed by chilling, freezing or keeping hot; Pastry & Bakery with available proofing cycles including direct, scheduled or retarder. An absolute first offered by the Irinox blast chiller is the humidity control option; Ice Cream, that in addition to ice-cream freezing cycles, offers pasteurization and drying. MultiFresh® Next is also available in the Excellence version, with over 11 functions included or Essential one, the basic version that offers all key blast-chiller functions.
Preparation in the foreground
In a professional kitchen there are numerous preliminary operations to cooking and they must be carried out with precision and speed so as not to preclude the final result of the recipe. A functional appliance for many of the food preparation activities is the grater which, in the professional versions, is able to chop many different ingredients quickly and in various sizes, from bread to cheese to dried fruit. It is therefore ideal for catering, pastry or bakery.
The quality models are very solid, easy to disassemble and clean and suitable for intensive use.
The same characteristics must also be present in other specific types of food preparation appliances, such as meat grinders, tomato squeezers and fresh pasta making machines, now increasingly full of functions that ensure precision, choice between different operating modes and simplicity of use.
The need to speed up the operations of food preparation, in order to obtain high-level final results, gave life to some very functional and advanced appliances that deserve a special mention, such as the ultrasound machine for the meat and vegetables maturation: a tool that greatly accelerates the time required to soften the meat and let the vegetables ripen, a solution that also brings great benefits in the rational use of raw materials and their storage.
In this regard, it is always useful to make use of vacuum storage, a method now used both in professional and domestic environments, thanks to the offer of increasingly practical and sophisticated systems.

A multifunctional grater
The Maxi Vip 8G/S is an electric grater by R.G.V. with professional stainless steel drum, ideal for grating cheese, bread, dried fruit and chocolate. Available in different colors, it is equipped with stainless steel basin, intuitive switch button, security micro switch, which allows the grater to work only when the lever is down and practical mechanism to remove the drum, dishwasher safe.

A multifunctional grater
The Maxi Vip 8G/S is an electric grater by R.G.V. with professional stainless steel drum, ideal for grating cheese, bread, dried fruit and chocolate. Available in different colors, it is equipped with stainless steel basin, intuitive switch button, security micro switch, which allows the grater to work only when the lever is down and practical mechanism to remove the drum, dishwasher safe.

New proposals to speed up the times in the kitchen
SonicAger is the new ultrasound machine for maturation of meat and vegetables. It is an innovation by Besser Vacuum, which presented three solutions of new generation at Host 2019. SonicAger allows to soften all cuts of meat and bring the vegetables to an accelerated maturation. Only one hour of use corresponds to around 30 days of traditional maturation. TheProbe is instead a wireless core probe, designed for the sous vide world, which allows to control the temperature of food, without having to hole the bag. Thanks to a long-life battery it works for more than 3 years without the need for recharging.The third news by Besser Vacuum shows the company great attention to the environment: it is ReLife, the 100% recyclable bags that can be thrown into the plastic container.

Vacuum machine ideal with envelopes, rolls and containers
The S250 Premium series of the Sico Kitchenware® range of Bisva has powerful pump and transformer which ensure speed and professional-level performance. The welding is double. The use is made easy by the patented magnetic closure system, which minimizes the intervention of the user. It is possible to use envelopes, rolls and containers. Five finishes, here is black glitter chrome.
Increasingly smart and eco-friendly cooking
Increasing attention is being given to energy savings, which is an important element for cost control in the professional field. The proposals in the cooking area, both with regard to the ovens and the hobs, aim to cut energy consumption while offering high performance and numerous possibilities to customize any products. The ovens differ for the typical needs of gourmet cuisine on the one hand and for those peculiar to pastry on the other. As in the smart home, even the professional sector increasingly offers connected devices, which allow functions to be activated remotely, control the progress of cooking but also consumption. In the cooking sector design is another characteristic standing out, especially in the structuring and organization of the different modules that compose the kitchen, which must always be more practical and ergonomic and, once again, customized according to the specific needs of users and spaces.

Customizable and high-tech ovens
Moretti Forni presents the restyled line of serieS. The advanced oven for static baking with an extremely low consumption and high attention to energy saving becomes completely customizable: more than 4 million combinations in order to personalize the oven according to customer’s needs, from constructive material to accessories choice to create a professional tailor-maid device for every professional. Another interesting proposal by Moretti Forni is Proven, the oven also ideal for domestic use, that reaches a maximum temperature of 400°C with the normal domestic 3Kw supply and it is suitable to bake at home, in pizzeria, in a pastry lab or in a bakery.,

Smart and versatile solutions for cooking
Tap is a Tecnoinox oven, a professional combination available in different capacity versions, from 5 to 20 trays and made in the gastronomy variants (with and without boiler) and pastry. Through its digital touchscreen interface it helps the chef to manage the work in the kitchen in a more functional and efficient way. The main plusses of the product include: Cookbook, the electronic cookbook; the Multifood technology, which allows to cook different foods simultaneously, the Smartwash programs, which offers five types of washing, and Smartheat, which optimizes the energy use. Finally, Climafix Tap also offers remarkable performance in steam management.
Mosaico is instead a new concept of modular island kitchen, always born from the know-how of Tecnoinox: a professional, flexible and compact line, original declination of reduced depth modules (45 x 40 cm instead of 70 or 90 x 40 cm).

Tecnoinox Mosaico

Elegant and practical solution for food display
Cube by Emainox is the new line dedicated to the world of food display and distribution. The range consists of refrigerated, heated, neutral elements and a rich variety of accessories. It is available in modular solutions with a depth of 750 mm that can be easily joined side-by-side in line or placed as islands according to the customer’s needs. Some new details of this line are the refrigerated drawers with telescopic guides, the new concept of dry heated bain-marie with ventilation, the possibility to place gantries with central or frontal support and the wide range of finishing and materials for the frontal and lateral panelling.

https://www.yankodesign.com/2019/10/24/the-foldable-dehumidifier-has-a-bellow-shaped-water-tank-that-expands-as-it-fills-up/

Counterfeit products and components continue to be an alarming problem in any country. Sometimes, the product is not total counterfeit but only some of its parts, making further more difficult understand that the model is not totally genuine.
Of course this case is not less dangerous than the others, as it recently shows the seizure of more than 5,200 counterfeit refrigerator water filters by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport. The North American home appliances association, AHAM immediately underlined that this is a stark reminder that serious health and safety risks can lurk in even routine household purchases.
“Given that filters typically filter 400 gallons before they are replaced – it is published in a press release of the Association – the 5,200 counterfeit filters seized represent more than 33 million glasses of water. Counterfeit filters have flooded on-line marketplaces in recent years, attracting customers with discount prices. Last year, seizures netted more than 65,000 counterfeit filters. While it can be difficult to distinguish counterfeit filters from genuine models, the difference in quality and performance could not be more critical. Counterfeit water filters are built with cheap, subpar materials and do not effectively remove contaminants.” AHAM conducted testing on counterfeit filters and found that the counterfeits consistently failed to remove harmful substances like lead and cysts. In some cases, the counterfeit filters even added contaminants to the water. Furthermore, counterfeit filters create the risk for leaks and resulting property damage, as they are not designed to fit the specific model of refrigerator.
AHAM also gave some indication on how to understand if a filter could be counterfeit or not. Besides a lower-than-normal cost, other signs that a filter may be counterfeit are:
• Weight: Counterfeit and deceptively labeled filters often weigh less than genuine filters because they lack the amount of carbon and other filtration products needed to filter water properly.
• Certification Symbol: Many counterfeit and deceptively labeled products do not contain an authentic certification symbol on the packaging. Those that do may feature a small certification logo that is designed to trick consumers into thinking the product has been tested.

DeLonghi has mastered the art of coffee preparation with a bean to cup you get barista quality at home and all at a touch of a button

https://www.delonghi.com/en-gb/products/coffee/coffee-makers/pump-espresso

With Stekio and Fireluft, 3P Engineering introduces important news in the world of gas hobs: all the powers in the same burner, native digital control and exclusive design (thanks to the halving of the grids height) are the main plusses of these innovative technologies.

Innovation and design at the highest levels are the objectives that 3P Cooking (strategic project of 3P Engineering in the gas cooking sector) has set itself to achieve with Fireluft and Stekio technologies. The results obtained by the dedicated and highly specialized team of the company increase the possibilities that a gas hob can offer, renewing a sector that in recent years has found itself having to deal with the growing success of induction models. The innovation of the new technologies has been recognized since the beginning by the Marche Region (where 3P Engineering is based), which financed the Efesto project (Extra-Flux stoichiometric gas burner cooktop ), from which the Fireluft technology was born and from which the development of Stekio is derived. The technical data show the level of innovations achieved, starting with the fact that every single burner, both Fireluft and Stekio, is able to supply all the fire powers, from minimum to maximum. The advantage is remarkable because the user can use the same burner to make coffee or to cook pasta. «The range of powers that so far corresponded to four burners is now found in a single stove – explain Michele Marcantoni and Rosalino Usci, managing directors of 3P Engineering -. When cooking food, it is no longer necessary to change burner because the same burner can be used from the larger pans up to the coffee maker». Another important point to underline is the central minimum flame that reaches 400 W, «a record – Marcantoni and Usci declare – that did not exist until today in the gas hob». In practice, the Fireluft and Stekio burners create a “bed” of vertical flames without gaps in the center that allows cooking better and faster, avoiding heat loss. Performance are optimized: efficiency increases by 10%, with a 20% reduction in cooking time, and an energy saving of 10%. Furthermore, there is a 20% gas saving and a 10% decrease in emissions and thermal radiation during cooking. «With these performances – Usci and Marcantoni commented – we are able to reduce what today appear to be the limits of gas compared to induction».

Examining the distinctive features of each technology, Stekio is a pre-mix atmospheric burner designed primarily for those who love luxury kitchens and, at the same time, want hi-tech performance. A single burner of this type brings together the powers corresponding to the rapid, semi-rapid and auxiliary burners; moreover, aesthetics was developed in collaboration with professors of the Polytecnic University of Milan. With the Stekio technology, it is possible to realize hobs with very thin grids (height ≤ 20 mm, 50% less than a traditional grid), obtaining an elegant and sophisticated design. The distance between the pot and the burner is reduced by 33% and this involves not only aesthetic advantages but also greater speed in cooking and lower energy consumption. «With Stekio the goal was to make it possible that technological innovations will translate into aesthetic beauty – Marcantoni and Usci explain -. To achieve this goal, we have started a collaboration with the Polytecnic of Milan, a university that is in the world top ten of academic industrial design. We realized that the technical targets obtained were not enough, we also wanted to emphasize the impact on the aesthetics of the product, obtainable with this new technology. We looked for an interlocutor able to interpret these innovations, creating a design capable of communicating and enhancing them, and worked in close synergy, “freeing” the aesthetics of gas hobs from the constraints imposed by some construction problems, such as size and height of the grids, traditionally massive and far from the flame zone for technical reasons.

With Stekio we have gone beyond these limits: the result is evident, so much so that a hob with this technology (already selected by the European Commission in the COSME program with the M- Stekio/Burnerway project and dedicated to campers, caravans and yachts) has been chosen for the Triennale in Milan.»
As far as Fireluft is concerned, 3P Engineering has developed a technology characterized by pressurized pre-mix burners. In this case, the distinctive feature is the extremely high power of the single fire (it exceeds 4 kW), managing to have in one only stove the equivalent of four burners (special, rapid, semi-rapid, auxiliary). This type of technical performance makes Fireluft a solution also suitable for vprofessional kitchens, where maximum firepower is sought as well as the top of technological innovation, without neglecting design. Furthermore, Fireluft also offers benefits in terms of Indoor Air Quality. «This technology – Usci and Marcantoni explain – is characterized by the presence of air provision that is used for combustion and also to increase the efficiency of fume collection by the hood combined with the hob.» Moreover, in terms of design, the new technology has a decisive impact on aesthetics: as with Stekio, even for Fireluft it is possible to halve the height of the grids compared to the standard, giving the appliance great refinement as well as improving performance (shorter cooking time and energy saving). In addition, Fireluft burners can be made with a circular or hexagonal design to adapt to any style requirement.
The innovations developed by 3P Engineering are patented both in terms of design and technology: with regard to the latter, eight industrial invention patents have been registered. «The technical skills of 3P Engineering in the gas sector – the two managing directors affirm – are the result of the experience accumulated over the years thanks to the collaboration with national and international customers, in particular as regards the gas combustion in domestic heating. This is the sector that first has used the pre-mix burners: to exploit the advantages of this combustion technology in home cooking is the challenge to bring a new and more efficient way of cooking into the gas cooking market.»

The plusses of digital also for gas

Stekio and Fireluft are characterized by digital native control in touch screen. «By introducing digital technologies into our solutions, we give gas many of the features that attract people about induction – Marcantoni and Usci underline -. This means an evolutionary step of domestic cooking technology , succeeding in integrating the benefits of induction cooking with the advantages of gas hobs.» And that’s not all. Fireluft and Stekio are also IoT Ready and therefore can interact with other systems from the perspective of the Internet of Things and smart home, as well as being manageable through a smartphone. Connectivity is the tool to enable future services and functions. «We are not far – the two managing directors explain – from the possibility of switching off the gas hob remotely. If I forgot the home appliance turned on and I only realized it when I am in my car, technically with Fireluft and Stekio it will be possible to turn off the stove at a distance.»
Safety is a topic that 3P Engineering has considered with particular attention, since both Stekio and Fireluft have equipped with a triple security level called SIL 3 (Safety Integrated Level), an international record. In detail, the two technologies provide a general safety valve that is integrated into the hob, and a safety valve for each burner. Moreover, since the burner consists of individual flame zones, these are also served by an interception device. Finally, another element that guarantees safety and brings Stekio and Fireluft closer to the functionality of induction hobs, is the ability to set the maximum cooking time and the related automatic shutdown. «Since the operation of the single burner is controlled by electronics – Marcantoni and Usci adds – power and time are easily manageable and programmable.»

Benefits for B2B
The Stekio and Fireluft technologies have been conceived to offer manufacturers of hobs a series of advantages in terms of performance, possibility of customization and reduction of management and logistics costs thanks to a single code for all burners. «With the new 3P Cooking burners – Marcantoni and Usci affirm – it is possible to realize a gas hob with superior yield at power parity, which translates into a market plus. Essentially, with the same number of burners, greater power and better performance are obtained in the hob.» Furthermore, having a single product code for all burners simplifies and speeds order and warehouse management, with the ability to automate assembly and make the production process more efficient. Finally, a non-negligible aspect is the maximum freedom of customization, choosing the number and position of the individual burners since the burners are all perfectly identical.

According to GfK data, in Europe about 26 percent of the 255 billion euro spent on Technical Consumer Goods this year will be for smart appliances like Visual cameras, Air treatment, TVs, Audio home systems, Robotic vacuum cleaners, Smart LEDs. GfK´s forecast indicates that the market for smart devices, excluding smartphones and smart watches, will grow by estimated 9 percent globally this year, up from 122 billion to 133 billion euro. Penetration of smart devices ranges in households. Smart TVs accounted in the first half of 2019 for 80 percent of TVs purchased in Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Spain, while robot vacuum cleaners for about 12 percent or 4 percent in the case of dishwashers.
In the first half of this year, Smart Appliances recorded a 42 percent value growth, while Smart Energy and Lighting increased by 25 percent. The trend is not so positive for Smart Entertainment & Connectivity, the largest smart category, that accounted for 6.3 billion euro of the turnover, but shows a 0 percent annual growth in the January to June 2019 period in the five European markets (Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Spain).
But what are consumers looking for when buying a smart appliance?
GfK Consumer research indicates that 53 percent of respondents would like optimized energy usage, 48 percent say ‘yes’ to remote home monitoring, and 41 percent would prefer their home appliances to communicate with each other.
Consumers would also pay more for solutions that really simplify their lives.
«It is not about whether or not Smart Home will happen, – explains Igor Richter, GfK expert for the telecom and smart domestic appliances industry – it is about how to remove barriers for its adoption. We are already witnessing the smart future today. Well-crafted individual solutions within a common ecosystem possess a tangible opportunity to bridge to contextually aware intelligent homes of the future.»