A Q&A with Chef John Pennington,CFSP, Vice President and Director of Sales and Marketing
How does the AccuTemp XLR8 Upper Heated Platen differ from other products on the market?
John Pennington: With the XLR8, you get more coverage in the platen itself. And when you’re using two together, there’s not a large gap in between the platens — a lot of others don’t have as much surface coverage as we have. We also have very precise temperature control; we do that with a digital thermostat so we’re getting plus or minus 10 degree surface temperature variance, which is a lot better than our competitors. And it recovers in about 30 seconds, which is a very fast recovery time.
Talk about how the XLR8 not only saves time and labor but it makes money, too.
JP: It’s definitely going to cut cook times — at least in half on any product. That means chefs are going to be able to get more table turns because they’re cooking proteins faster. They’re also going to get a more consistent, higher-quality product. The level of caramelization on product is always going to be the same. They’re getting a very consistent product, and it ensures food safety and proper temperature as well.
Once you get your food product dialed in, when you lower the arm, it automatically starts the countdown. At the end of that time cycle, it’s going to beep. When you raise the arm, it shuts itself off and resets the timer. We have also built in the capability to do two stages for putting a sauce or seasoning on the product. And, like all our products, the XLR8 is backed by our lifetime service and support guarantee, so you can actually reach a live tech seven days a week to answer any questions you might have on the product.
