There is a reason more restaurateurs are investing in ventless oven technology — and convenience store operators should take note. Ventless ovens work in small spaces, save money on expensive hoods and produce clean emissions.

They also meet the need to limit food handling, a top priority for C-stores seeking to implement sanitation recommendations amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Learn more about the top three benefits of going ventless in your C-store:

1. Save money
As the name suggests, ventless ovens don’t require large and expensive hoods. Commercial hood systems can double or triple your initial installation expense. Many hoods can cost $2,000 per linear foot to install and $30/hour to operate! They also have an ongoing effect on operating costs from a cleaning and maintenance perspective.

The money you save on an expensive hood system can be reinvested in your C-store to improve the customer experience through automation or a drive-through.

2. Save space
Operating a C-store with limited square footage shouldn’t impede your ability to serve great food. In fact, it’s common to want to make the most of small spaces due to rising rent and operation costs and a dwindling labor pool.

Ventless ovens are a contained solution that decrease your food service footprint. They provide flexibility for your kitchen layout and design. Many can fit on a countertop! This is a preferred solution for small C-store operations that don’t have the food service volume to justify a larger oven. For example, a ventless, fully enclosed deep fryer can fit on your counter and cook hot finger food like chicken fingers, nuggets, jalapeno poppers and wings to perfection — with no exposed oil.

3. Clean emissions
Most commercial cooking equipment releases smoke, heat, grease and odor. Kitchen hoods hang above ovens, fryers and grills to remove these grimey byproducts from the air with a mechanical fan. All of this creates buildup in kitchen hoods. For this reason, cleaning your kitchen hoods is required to prevent buildup and reduce a potential fire hazard.

Ventless ovens, however, either do not produce these byproducts or use built-in technology to release only clean air. This is done through air recirculation and catalyst technology. It converts grease and VOCs into harmless CO2 and H20.

In simple terms, a catalyst is a chemical machine that takes apart the molecules that are fed into it and puts the atoms back together in a different arrangement to form new molecules.

Sound complicated? It’s surprisingly easy — on you as the operator. Ventless oven technology produces clean emissions, reduces your food service footprint and saves much needed capital for your C-store.

Explore all that ventless ovens have to offer here.