Launched in 2005, the KI program honors “the most promising and cutting-edge advancements in kitchen equipment for the foodservice industry,” according to the NRA announcement. This year’s panel of judges, internationally recognized food facilities consultants, chain executives, and design experts, noted the accelerated-cooking Matchbox as “an intelligent, self-loading and unloading oven design” using two side-by-side cooking surfaces that alternate, sliding into and out of the enclosed cooking chamber in a matchbox motion. 

 

The countertop Matchbox is a compact, accelerated cooking oven that cooks very quickly without using damaging microwaves, instead employing only an advanced, unique “Precision Impingement” form of convection. The Matchbox layout allows preloading one surface while the other is in the cooking chamber. Programmable touchpad controls, one display for each cooking surface, let the operator select menu items, with customized cooking time, temperature, and independent top- and bottom-heat set for each.

 

In short, the Matchbox Oven takes the accelerated cooking category to the next level in cooking quality, flexibility, speed, and efficiency: 

 

Superior Cooking: A new level of temperature flexibility and cooking control, combined with timed, automatic loading and unloading, give breakthrough cooking quality and versatility. That lets you cook a breakfast sandwich, pizza, fresh veggies, chicken Panini sandwich, chocolate chip cookies, and fresh shrimp one after another, perfectly and nonstop.

 

Self-Loading/One-Touch Controls: Thanks to a breakthrough in product handling and oven management, the Ovention Matchbox establishes a new standard in ease-of-use.

 

Side By Side Sliding Cooking Surfaces: Unlike conveyors that flow from one side to the other and lose energy from every opening, the compact-footprint Matchbox works like, well, a matchbox.  Partitioned cook surfaces alternate back and forth, keeping cooking zones closed and controlled.

 

Immediate Variable Temperatures: Unlike anything else you’ve seen, the Matchbox lets you change temperatures from one menu item to the next by as much as 100°F instantly, which means you can cook different items at different temperatures with no lag time waiting for temps to adjust. You can cook one item at 450°F, bake another at 375°F, and then cook again at 465°F in a matter of seconds.

 

Faster Service Times: Without microwaves, the Ovention Matchbox uses sophisticated upper and lower “Precision Impingement” convection energy to move food quickly in and out of the oven. Food is done much more quickly than if cooked in any conventional oven platform.

 

Lower Operating Cost: Unlike a traditional conveyor, Ovention’s closed cooking chamber holds heat in efficiently during the cook cycle.  Energy usage and heat extraction costs drop by 50 percent, saving thousands of dollars annually.

 

No Hood Required: With Ovention's revolutionary closed cooking system and UL certified vent-less operation, operators can install the Matchbox anywhere, even stacked.

 

Smaller Kitchen Footprint: Variable cook times, temperatures, and heat profiles mean the Matchbox does the work of conveyor, convection, and toaster ovens, as well as broilers, grills, and Panini presses.

 

No Microwaves: Service times are comparable to traditional rapid-cook ovens, but with no microwaves damaging cell structures, food quality is exceptional.

 

This year’s Kitchen Innovation Award isn’t the first for Ovention founder and inventor Phil McKee. He invented the original TurboChef oven, which in Tornado form was honored in 2005. And his Planar Plume technology received a KI Award in 2012.