Giveaways and Reviews

Breville Smart Oven Pro Review

August 31, 2015
222 Comments

Breville Smart Oven Pro
By Tara Richter

At first glance, the Breville Smart Oven Pro looked to me like a glorified toaster oven that was good for nothing more than the occasional frozen waffle, slice of bread or heavily processed food. In my skeptic mind – it most certainly wasn’t for making an entire meal – let alone one that tasted good.

I knew fresh out of the box that it was in fact going to be a winner; it wasn’t just any regular oven or fancy toaster, it was a Breville, and therefore a quality product. The Smart Oven Pro comes with an LCD display for various cooking settings alongside a time-dial and a temperature dial. It has special settings for toast, bagel, bake, roast, broil, pizza, cookies, reheat, warm, and slow cook. Depending on the function it is set to, there are even further selections that can be made, such as for the size of the pizza, the darkness of the bagel, hours for cooking etc.

The Smart Oven Pro features Element IQ which is a cooking technology that adjusts the power of the heating element to cook food more evenly and quickly. I was super excited to see that it has a CONVECTION option which allows food to cook more quickly/evenly due to the circulation of hot air around the food. The slow-cook feature has options from 4-10 hours and automatically switches to Keep Warm when cooking is complete so the food is ready when you are!

My first test was to see how well it actually made the most simple of things – toast. The setting lets you pick how many slices you’ve placed inside (which can fit up to 6), as well as how light or dark you want it. I’m not even joking when I say it made the most PERFECTLY golden-brown toast I’ve ever seen! That goes a long way in this house for my son who complains it’s ‘burnt’ if toast a shade darker than beige.

nachos in Breville Smart Pro

With confidence that this fancy appliance could indeed live up to the “toaster” part of its specifications, I was ready to see how well the other features worked. Sure it said it could bake, roast, broil, and so forth but I really was more interested to see what the quality of of the food would be. To my surprise I successfully made 2 beautifully, and perfectly cooked banana bread loaves, roast vegetables, fish fillets, a game-day nacho platter, and of course a pizza (not all on the same day I might add).

My final and ultimate test for the Smart Oven Pro was making something I’ve never cooked before, but something that required absolute cooking precision – Lamb! I figured if this Smart Oven Pro could make a perfectly cooked lamb chop, I would be 100% convinced that this was an absolutely amazing product and worth every penny!

I modified the recipe found on page 37 of the Breville Smart Oven Pro Instruction Book for Herbed Leg of Lamb, and instead made lamb chops, courtesy of a local farmer, my dad & step-mom. I whipped up the heavenly smelling marinade with fresh herbs from my garden, and let the lamb sit for the afternoon. While it was marinating, I prepared an apple-crumble for dessert, and pre-cooked some mini-potatoes to roast later on.

lamb chops

When the time for baking arrived, I followed the simple instructions laid out in the book and within minutes the house smelled of fresh rosemary, garlic and oregano. I nervously awaited for the timer to beep to indicate it was finished – fully aware that lamb is easily ruined by over cooking. I was surprised to see the reading on the meat thermometer read a PERFECT medium-rare; now that’s impressive! As I prepared the table, I put in the potatoes on broil to brown for a few minutes and then plated the meal. Just before I sat down to eat with my sister, I quickly placed the apple crumble in the Smart Oven Pro on bake, with timing set to be ready just as we finished our main course.

herbed lamp chops

Aside from the fact that the lamb looked & smelled incredible, the taste & flavor was absolutely, mouth-watering perfection. The sudden pause and sigh of “Oh my god this is so good” from my sister and I reassured me of the success! The potatoes too, were a beautiful golden colour with a slight crispness.

apple crumble

The apple-crumble? That was the pièce-de-la-résistance to finish off a perfectly cooked meal. The proof was on the table – you really CAN make an entire (and delicious) meal with the Smart Oven Pro! The overall consensus? The Breville Smart Oven Pro IS an absolutely amazing product and IS worth every penny!

In a household of just two, I use the Breville Smart Oven Pro on nearly a daily basis now. I no longer need to heat up the large oven (or house) for small meals. This is invaluable to me since I live in a condo without air conditioning. I really notice a huge difference that convection makes in cooking in both quality and fast cooking times. With a busy house & running to evening sports – a quick and easy meal is a bonus! I found the instruction book that came along with the Smart Oven Pro really informative too. I’m not usually one to read the user manual of most things, but this one is definitely one you’ll want to flip through. It has really great (and simple) instructions & tips on how to use each of the cooking features & settings for the best result of your food as well as some great maintenance tips and of course a few recipes!

Here are some features that I think make this product truly amazing!

* Roomy 12×12 inch interior baking space (0.8 cu. Ft)
* Comes with 3 baking pans (broiler pan, baking pan and circular pizza pan)
* Perfect for small families, single parents, students, elderly (…so everyone really!)
* Makes for quick meal preparation
* Great for “extra” oven space when current oven is in use, or for multiple dishes
* Making a big brunch? Easily make up 6 slices of toast (or frozen waffles or both!)
* Small batch baking is a cinch (need a dozen muffins or cookies for school?)
* Great for homes without air conditioning – doesn’t heat up the house
* Counter-Top cooking lets you ‘watch’ as it cooks & it has an interior light!
* Convection makes food faster and more evenly cooked
* The settings really do make things ‘just right’ – The LCD options are easy to follow/read
* Easy to clean! Pull out the crumb tray at the bottom and wipe clean
* Eliminates multiple counter appliances. Now you can slow-cook with it too!
* Lots of recipes online!

There are so many more great things I love about the Breville Smart Oven Pro. It takes the guess work out of cooking and does the thinking for you. I’m certain this is a product worth having! The Smart Oven Pro can be purchased online and can also be found at many retailers such as The Bay, Sears and London Drugs, just to name a few.

Tara Richter works full time and is a(2)

 

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