Committed To Building The Best
Celebrating 160 years serving the foodservice industry, Blodgett Oven Company is one of worlds leading manufacturer of commercial ovens. Located in Burlington, Vermont – just a mile and a half from where company founder and namesake Gardner S. Blodgett built his first oven for a local tavern owner in 1848 – restaurants, fast-food chains, hotels, small businesses and large corporations alike all rely on the Blodgett name.
The recipient of numerous industry accolades, including Think Global 2014 Exporter Of The Year, Blodgett’s new self-contained ventless Hoodini hood was just named winner of the National Restaurant Association 2016 Kitchen Innovation Award.
The ultimate in ventless hood technology, Hoodini is a completely self-contained ventilation system that frees up valuable kitchen space by allowing the user to place an oven just about anywhere. Thanks to its innovative closed recirculating system, the Hoodini removes steam, smoke and fumes even when cooking raw proteins. The best part being there are no filters to clean or replace. Food trucks, kiosks, fast food outlets and anywhere hood space is limited are all perfect candidates for Hoodini.
Designed to improve speed and power to locations where installing a hood is difficult, Hoodini is currently available on Blodgett Mini Combi 6 and 10 pan ovens.
Roger Kreager
Founder/Owner Chef Source
Canton, Michigan
We have always loved Blodgett’s quality and service, and went with the ventless Hoodini oven because it saved us a ton of money and we no longer had to expand our hood. This meant not having to worry about the disruption of construction in my kitchen and dealing with the hassles that come along with that.
The installation process was seamless as Blodgett set us up with local installers at A&R Bakers Kneads and they did a fantastic job. The features of this oven are what ultimately sold us though – the Hoodini is able to handle not only steam condensate but also grease-laden vapor. The Hoodini can also be used as a full blast steamer, proofer for croissants and to roast/grill items, which makes it the perfect combination for our operation.
At Fisher Nickel, a leader in energy research and sustainability for the commercial foodservice industry, senior engineer Mark Finck was instrumental in putting the Hoodini through its paces. He says that its recent Kitchen Innovations Award was not any easy recognition to come by but paid testament to its good design and energy efficient operations.
“Some of Hoodini’s strongest selling points are its versatility and unique features, such as the easy to use computer-based controls for adjusting fan speed and moisture content. When it came to producing high-quality bacon we found it to be ‘best in class’, while another great feature was its impressive self-cleaning capability. Thanks to its narrow width and longer depth, the Hoodini also has a nice footprint and takes up the least amount of linear footage, so is ideal for putting into smaller kitchens where space is critical”.
Chef de Cuisine Jeff Stoneking of ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro in Denver, Colorado recently installed Hoodini in the main kitchen of the city’s 120-year old Union Station after taking over culinary operations there. The kitchen supports ACME Delicatessen, Cooper Lounge, Terminal Bar Beer Garden, Pig Train Coffee, and Milk Box in addition to all events and conference services for the Crawford Hotel.
Why did you choose to go ventless?
Our kitchen is the basement of a historic train station, so getting approval to make changes is very tricky to impossible.
Did Hoodini save you time and money on installation?
The Hoodini was already installed onto our oven, allowing us to simply move it into the kitchen when we were ready. If we had to install a hood in our situation the cost would have been enormous.
What other factors influenced your decision process?
Our equipment supplier brought it to our attention that we could be one of the first kitchens in the country to have one of these awesome units. It sounded too good to pass up and so far we are thrilled with the Hoodini.
