Sage the Smart Oven Air Fryer Countertop Oven 22L, SOV860BSS, Stainless Steel

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It works brilliantly, too. Mid-week we made halloumi kebabs and rice in one pot, in just 15 minutes. That’s good going, and there’s very little mess at the end. The sides of the oven do become quite hot to the touch during and immediately after cooking, and Breville the Smart Oven Air Fryer does emits a little steam out of both sides of the door. We measured the temperature of one side at 85ºC after cooking the frozen chips, which means you should be mindful if the appliance is in reach of young hands.

We also look at other important factors like ease of use and key features. The number of drawers and how much they can hold are crucial details for those cooking for large households, as is the physical size of the appliance for anyone frying with limited counter space. And while the Ninja is so easy to clean, the Sage can be a real struggle, especially due to the glass door and the different inserts, which seem to hold grease like nothing else.Basket style with heating elements: tall, slim air-fryers feature a main unit with heating elements and fans. These have slide-out baskets or trays that slot into place inside. As they tend to have a smaller cooking area than oven-style fryers, in testing we found even results were more likely if the cooking was paused occasionally to rearrange or toss the food around. Some fryers will cut out automatically when you do this, some will need to be paused if you want accurate timings. The presets themselves can be handy, although a few are similar. For example, you’ll find Toast and Crumpet (which appear to vary by shelf position), and Bake and Roast, which differ by only 15ºC and duration.

However, the Fast Combi setting in particular proved to be really handy for shaving time off oven cooking times. Sage attributes this to its Element IQ system, which apparently pushes heat to where it’s needed most and we found it worked to great effect during air frying and roasting, but it can also be employed for baking duties too. What you effectively get is a mixture of convection oven heat, grilling and microwaving to produce fast and efficient cooking. It worked for us. This isn’t a huge issue because the main fast combi, microwave and air fryer modes offer everything you could possibly need in the way of customisation. But as Sage has made the decision to include these smart food menu settings, it would be helpful if they offered a little more flexibility.Surprisingly, at 28cm high, the air fryer will easily sit on a kitchen countertop, under the wall cabinets. Note, however, that it does need to be on a stable surface, leaving a minimum distance of 10cm on both sides of the appliances and 15cm above; it can become quite hot in use. A point of consideration, if you’re short on countertop space or have low-hung kitchen cabinets.