Rational

Rational

Rational AG is a leader of professional hot food preparation. The company was founded in Germany with a clear mission to give chefs the best possible cooking tool. Over the past five decades, Rational has done this by replacing the traditional jumble of single-purpose equipment found in most commercial kitchens with intelligent, adaptable cooking systems that do more with less. The turning point came in 1976 when Rational invented the combi-steamer, a machine that combined steam and hot air. Since then, the company has stayed focused on thermal cooking technology, accumulating over 600 patents and reinvesting heavily into research and development.

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Intelligent Cooking Systems

What separates Rational from competitors is rather than chasing multiple equipment categories, Rational builds cooking systems that reduce dependence on individual skill levels, and deliver consistent results whether in a single restaurant or across a global catering operation. Rational machines actively monitor what’s cooking. They adjust temperature, humidity and air speed in real time, learning from each batch and optimizing energy use. The practical result: better food quality, fewer mistakes, lower labour costs, faster throughput and demonstrable food safety compliance.

Key Products

Rational’s range is intentionally lean. Three core platforms handle virtually all thermal cooking tasks.

• iCombi Pro: It features iCookingSuite, which “sees” what’s in the oven, the size of the load, the density, the moisture content, and adjusts the cooking program moment-by-moment. iProductionManager allows a chef to cook several different dishes on different shelves at the same time, each at its ideal temperature.
• iVario Pro: A tilting pan, kettle, deep fryer and pressure cooker rolled into one. iVarioBoost heating gets it to 200°C in under 2.5 minutes, and iZoneControl creates distinct heating zones so one side can boil pasta while the other sears meat.
• iHexagon: Rational’s newest release (2024), combining steam, hot air and microwave energy. It was designed to cook complex dishes faster without sacrificing quality, adding microwave precision to traditional thermal cooking.
• ConnectedCooking: A digital platform that links Rational machines across multiple locations, allowing remote recipe updates, HACCP compliance monitoring and real-time alerts if something needs attention.

Why Choose Rational?

Rational is chosen by operators who see cooking equipment as a strategic investment, not a generic commodity.

• Market Dominance: Around half of all combi steamers globally are Rational units.
• Consistency in High-Volume Settings: Intelligent cooking removes the wild card of “does the chef know how to time this?”
• Kitchen Economics: Faster cooking cycles, lower energy consumption and less waste directly reduce daily operating costs.
• Built by Chefs, for Chefs: Hundreds of Rational’s own staff are trained chefs.
• Decades of Reliability: Rational machines are built for relentless daily use.