For 40 years, RATIONAL cooking systems have been part of Australian professional kitchens. Now, a new generation of intelligent cooking technology is bringing together speed, quality and flexibility for hotel kitchens.
Australian hotel kitchens are always being asked to do more.
Diverse menus, functions, busy bar service and periods of intense demand must be balanced against rising costs, labour pressures and expectations of consistent food quality.
Hotels were among the early adopters of combi technology in Australia. Comcater CEO Rob Wood recalls hotels, alongside hospitals and airline catering operations, as some of the first commercial kitchens to embrace the technology.
Bringing three cooking technologies together
Launched in Australia at Fine Food Australia 2026, the RATIONAL iHexagon combines fresh steam, convection heat and microwave energy within one intelligent cooking system.
Professional kitchens have largely had to choose between the speed of microwave cooking and the quality and versatility of professional combi cooking. iHexagon brings those capabilities together.
At its centre is iClimateBoost, which intelligently coordinates convection heat, fresh steam, microwave energy, fan speed and cooking time according to the desired result.
Convection develops browning and roasted flavours, steam retains moisture, while microwave energy provides additional speed when required.
For Alex Jelitto, RATIONAL iHexagon Corporate Chef, the technology opens new possibilities for chefs.
‘Being in the iHexagon team right now is a big mission for me because it’s a new technology… I can actually do things that were impossible before.’
Jelitto also sees intelligent cooking technology supporting kitchens with different levels of chef experience, particularly as fewer chefs enter and remain in professional kitchens.
Speed when service demands it
Different foods can be prepared simultaneously across six racks, allowing hotel kitchens to replenish quickly or produce larger quantities in less time. iHexagon can cook up to 30 per cent faster than the iCombi Pro, while providing up to 20 per cent greater capacity for selected applications.
Steffen Hanselka, RATIONAL Director of Product Management iHexagon, says changing foodservice concepts increasingly require kitchens to balance several demands.
‘One of the challenges in the food segment is that we have a lot of new concepts coming and one concept definitely needs speed, it needs quality, it needs the combination of several factors.’
Responding to a changing kitchen
Peter Kelly, Head of RATIONAL Australia, identifies increasing energy, water, food and labour costs among the challenges facing commercial kitchens. Changing skill levels also mean equipment needs to be accessible to staff with varying levels of experience.
For RATIONAL, those challenges are influencing where cooking technology goes next.
‘We’re looking into the future with new products where our customers are continuing to get faster results and still the great food quality,’ says Peter.
For hotels balancing à la carte dining, functions, bar menus and periods of intense demand, that combination of speed, flexibility and consistency creates new possibilities from a single cooking system.
Forty years after RATIONAL technology first arrived in Australian hotel kitchens, iHexagon represents the next step in that story.
The beginning of a new era.
For further information, visit rationalaustralia.com.au