Breville Air Fryer Oven

What it is

The Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro, model BOV900BSS. One cubic foot of interior, 1800 watts, and thirteen functions: toast, bagel, broil, bake, roast, warm, pizza, proof, air fry, reheat, cookies, slow cook and dehydrate. It measures roughly 21.25 by 17 by 12.75 inches and weighs about 39 pounds.

The engineering that matters is Element iQ: six independent quartz heating elements that are driven separately, so the oven moves power to the top or the bottom depending on what the function needs. A two-speed convection fan sits behind it, and the super-convection setting is claimed to cut cooking time by up to 30 percent. It will toast nine slices at once, take a 9x13 pan or a twelve-cup muffin tray, and roast a bird up to fourteen pounds.

Why it's on this list

The air fryer category is mostly junk: a plastic bucket, a heating coil, a fan, and a marketing budget. This is the opposite argument. It is a real countertop convection oven, built well enough that air frying is one of thirteen things it does rather than the only thing.

The practical case is that a full-size oven is a bad tool for most weeknight cooking. It takes fifteen minutes to preheat and heats an entire house to roast four chicken thighs. This preheats fast, cooks small batches properly, and dehydrates — which is a genuinely useful function nobody expects to use and then uses constantly. In a small kitchen, it is the oven.

What to know before you buy

• It is enormous. Nearly two feet wide and 39 pounds. Measure your counter, and leave clearance behind and above it. This is the most common regret.
• Air frying in an oven means smoke. Fat drips onto a hot element in an enclosed box on your counter, not under a range hood. Use the drip tray, clean it, and expect the kitchen to smell like dinner.
• Capacity is still countertop capacity. Crisping depends on a single uncrowded layer. Feeding six people means cooking in batches.
• The interior is a pain to clean. Quartz elements, a fan, and no self-clean cycle. It rewards wiping it out while it is still warm.
• If you only want to air fry, buy a basket. A $100 basket fryer crisps frozen food just as well and takes a third of the space. This is worth the money only if you will use it as an oven.