The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer takes the classic countertop toaster oven and adds air frying capabilities. Find out what you’ll LOVE about this machine and what you need to know before buying!
The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer is an amazing machine that is absolutely worth the price. It’s packed with high-end features that make cooking a breeze.
The Smart Oven Air Fryer is the latest combination toaster oven / air fryer made by Breville. It is a traditional oven, a convection oven, and an oven-style air fryer all in one device.
Breville is a well-known higher-end appliance brand, and their ovens currently occupy the top four spots as rated by Consumer Reports. (For the record, we’ve had great results from every Breville appliance we’ve tried. We also have their stand mixer and their Fast-Slow Pressure Cooker.)
The Smart Oven Air Fryer comes with an air fryer mesh basket that fits in place of the oven rack, as well as a simple nonstick pizza pan, and quarter-size roasting tray and rack that fits inside.
The Smart Oven Air Fryer is currently available in a 0.8 cubic ft standard model and a 1 cubic ft Pro model.
The size is the main difference between the two: the model we’re reviewing can toast 6 slices of toast. The larger Pro model can toast 9 slices of toast and comfortably fits 9×13 pans and muffin trays. (More on the size in a minute…)
The Pro also offers two more settings: Proof and Dehydrate.
Ultimately, if you intend to use a Smart Oven Air Fryer to replace your traditional oven, I’d go with the larger Pro if you have the extra space. Otherwise, either one will work well in your kitchen.
There’s SO much I love about my Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer! Almost a decade ago, Barbara won a gift card in a cooking competition and chose a Breville Smart Oven as her prize.
I’d never used a countertop toaster oven before, after one use, I became a superfan. All of my siblings have one and we’ve even gotten my in-laws on board.
Here are some of my favorite things:
AMAZING TOAST AND BAGELS
OK, first of all, you can absolutely give away your toaster. The Toast setting makes toast exactly how everyone wants it—barely golden for the pickiest kids to a very dark brown. We use it for sliced bread, English muffins, and reheating waffles.
The Bagel setting works great as well and only browns the top. (We love to butter and sprinkle a little extra sugar and cinnamon on a cinnamon-raisin bagel. It’s kind of dessert, kind of breakfast.)
Both settings deliver consistent, reliable results.
EXTRA CRISPY AIR FRYING
Compared to other air fryers I’ve tried, the SuperConvection setting gives things an extra crisp. Honestly, it’s perfect for making french fries and chicken nuggets from the freezer section.
FULL OF LITTLE WELL-DESIGNED DETAILS
This toaster oven is full of little features that make life easier. A few examples:
The middle rack lines up perfectly with a magnetic piece on the door that helps the rack pop out a little ways after cooking. So there’s no need for an oven mitt to get your toast or bagels out of the oven.
The power cord includes a little finger hole to make it easier to get out of the wall.
The oven light turns on automatically when it’s preheated.
When you push the Frozen (snowflake) button, it automatically adds a few minutes to the cook time so that your foods are done correctly when the timer sounds.
USE YOUR REGULAR OVEN LESS
The Smart Oven cooks as quickly and evenly as our regular oven, without heating up the house nearly as much when we turn it on.
The Bake setting allows you to bake on Traditional Bake, Convection Bake, or SuperConvection bake, so…options!
We use it to make cupcakes, lasagnas, and bake cookies from frozen cookie dough when a late-night craving hits. (Among other things.)
While, it hasn’t entirely replaced our regular oven—with growing boys, we’ve started making a double batch of blueberry muffins in these 24-cup standard-size muffin pans (also available from Walmart)—I estimate we choose our Smart Oven over our traditional oven around 90% of the time.
SEVERAL PANS INCLUDED
The Smart Oven Air Fryer comes with an air fryer wire basket that fits right into the grooves on the side of the oven. It also comes with a 13-inch pizza pan and a roasting pan that’s the size of a quarter-sized baking sheet and raised trivet that fits inside.
QUICK COOKING
Breville advertises that cooking with convection can shorten cook times by up to 30%. That’s definitely proven true in the items we’ve air fried so far—frozen chicken nuggets ready in 8 minutes instead of 12.
NOW IN COLOR!
For the first time (at least that we’re aware of), the Smart Oven is available in several different colors to coordinate your kitchen! The colors include
Brushed Stainless Steel
Black Stainless Steel
Black Truffle
Sea Salt (White)
Damson Blue
Oyster Shell (Darker Matte Grayish)
Royal Champagne
Smoked Hickory (Lighter Matte Grayish)
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING
HAS BIG COUNTER SPACE REQUIREMENTS
To work properly, there needs to be at least 4-inches of space on both sides and 6-inches above the Smart Oven. They also do not recommend having it come right to the edge of the countertop.
Plus, you CANNOT set anything on top of the oven unless you use the bamboo tray. I am a HUGE fan of the bamboo tray, but it would be tricky to fit pans on top with low cabinets. (The Breville-branded version is in stock at Williams Sonoma. Here’s a similar version from Amazon.)
NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR THE MICROWAVE
I definitely use my microwave less often since getting the Smart Oven. It’s great for reheating meals without making them soggy. However, the Smart Oven does not have a microwave function and definitely is not a replacement for a microwave.
DOES NOT FIT ALL STANDARD PANS
Not all pans will fit in the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer—it’s just not quite wide enough for most 9×13 pans with handles and 12-cup muffin trays.
However, it’s not a deal-breaker. Click here to see what pans fit in the Brevile Smart Oven Air Fryer.
NO COVERING OVEN PARTS IN FOIL
It’s a common practice in traditional ovens to cover the bottom with foil to help with clean-up. However, in the Breville, covering the crumb tray with foil will cause the oven to overheat.
ADJUST BAKING RECIPES FOR CONVECTION
Generally, when baking with convection, recipes need to be adjusted down by 25°F, so a traditional recipe that calls for baking at 350°F should be adjusted to 325°F on convection.
If you choose to bake with SuperConvection, you will need to adjust the cook time and maybe the cooking temperature as well.
How do you air fry with a Breville oven?
There are a few different ways to use the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer. These are just the ones I’ve tried, but I know there’s a lot more out there.
The way we use it most is with frozen foods and reheating foods, so you’d place them in your air fryer basket or directly on the wire rack that comes with your air fryer and put on one of the baking cycles (Bake or Frozen). If something doesn’t need further heat, like reheating leftovers, you can even put it directly in your AirFryer basket then pop it into the AirFryer without using the oven at all.
How do you air fry French fries in a Breville air fryer?
You can use the wire basket or you can use the roasting pan and place the French fries directly on the wire rack.
Airfryer French Fries:
More air fryer recipes:
How do you make air fried chicken nuggets?
Reheating food in the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer:
Tips for using your Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer effectively:
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Do you need to preheat breville air fryer?
This question comes up a lot! The answer is no. You don’t need to preheat the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer, but it’s recommended that you cook with the convection option so that your item cooks more evenly and thoroughly.
How do you cook bacon in a breville air fryer?
To cook bacon or large chunks of meat, choose “bake” (not “frozen”). Place your meat directly onto the wire rack. Make sure to crack the oven door open at least one inch during cooking so that you don’t create any issues with smoke or fire.
How do you use a Breville microwave air fryer?
The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer works the same way a regular oven works, only the air is circulated by a convection fan and the temperature is much more consistent. You don’t have to preheat, but you should cook with convection to make your cooking more even and thorough.
How do you make fried chicken in an air fryer?
Fried chicken was very popular when we first got our Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer. I like to make mine in my air fryer by coating it with aluminum foil and cooking it for 30 minutes at 375 degrees F. For more tips and tricks for making fried chicken using your air fryer, check out this post.
How long do you cook frozen foods in a breville smart oven?
You should be able to cook frozen foods in the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer in about half the time that it would take in a regular oven. Fries will definitely be done faster with an air fryer, depending on how crispy you like your fries to be. The Smart Oven is designed to cook food up to 30% faster than a standard oven. The fan circulates the hot air around food so it cooks more evenly and thoroughly.
How do you air fry chicken wings in a Breville smart oven?
I love my air fryer for cooking chicken wings. I don’t know why it took me so long to get one! I just have to remember when it comes to wings, the more time you put them in the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer, the better.
What temperatures can you cook at?
You can set the temperature anywhere between 160°F to 400°F. Generally speaking, it’s best to cook your food at around 375 degrees F. If you want to fill the Smart Oven with hot air directly from the oven, see my instructions for doing that here. The temperature will stay consistent no matter how much hot air you add in. (If you notice that your food is done sooner than expected when using this method, just give it an extra minute or two.
If you love fast, convenient food at home, then the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer is a great choice for you. I think this is the perfect way to use your Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer, and my only wish is that it had a microwave function as well.
In fact, we buy frozen air fryer bags of wings and french fries so that we can make “fried” food at home all the time!
I hope these tips and tricks were helpful.
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