GEA CookStar spiral oven

GEA has introduced the CookStar First, a compact twin-zone spiral oven designed for small to mid-sized food production operations seeking to transition from linear to spiral cooking.

The oven extends the GEA CookStar product family and addresses requirements for consistent product quality, controlled processing conditions and improved resource efficiency from initial start-up. The machines are designed to create the ‘home cooked’ experience for a broad range of applications, including steam-cooked products, coated poultry, plant-based foods, baked or grilled items and ready meals.

The oven features a twin-zone spiral configuration with integrated booster impingement. By combining horizontal and vertical airflow, the system achieves more uniform heat transfer across the conveyor belt. According to GEA, the core temperature variation across the belt is limited to approximately 1°C, compared with deviations of up to 6°C in conventional ovens. This uniformity enables cooking times to be reduced by 10–30% while maintaining consistent product colour and internal doneness. Throughput can reach up to 1700 kg/h, and more stable thermal conditions contribute to yield improvements of up to 3%.

The oven is equipped with GEA SmartControl HMI, providing operators with access to real-time process data, alarm management and a 24-hour timeline for tracking events and parameter changes.

With an overall height of less than 3.9 m, the oven is designed for installation in existing facilities, including brownfield sites with limited ceiling height. The oven’s cooking technology supports a wide variety of products and process parameters.