Forget the air fryer; there’s a new must-have cooking gadget on the market. At less than 30cm square — smaller than most microwaves — it would look at home in a child’s play kitchen, yet it’s supposedly the only appliance you need.
Introducing the Wonder Oven. It can roast, toast, bake, air fry, grill and reheat. It’s proved a sensation in America, selling out just eight days after its launch.
The makers, online cookware brand Our Place, have plenty of A-list fans, including the Beckhams and Oprah Winfrey, and the oven itself has been endorsed by Gwyneth Paltrow, who described it as ‘adorable’ in a gift guide for her lifestyle brand Goop. But do we really need yet another faddy cooking gadget? Let alone a £195 one that, as far as I can tell, does the same things I’ve been doing for years without it.
Ahead of going on the sale in the UK at Selfridges next week, Sarah Rainey (pictured) put one to the test, under the guidance of Our Place co-founder Shiza Shahid
Ahead of going on sale in the UK at Selfridges next week, I put one to the test, under the guidance of Our Place co-founder Shiza Shahid.
‘This isn’t just another kitchen appliance,’ insists Shiza, 34, who lives in Los Angeles. ‘It’s a do-it-all product that makes daily cooking a little healthier, easier and more delicious.’
The Wonder Oven is a good-looking gadget. With its sleek, rounded edges and Instagram-friendly colours (mine is a shade of beige called ‘Steam’), it makes my clunky black air fryer look like a piece of industrial machinery.
There are just three dials on the front: one to choose the mode, one for temperature (up to 450F or 230C) and a timer.
Inside it resembles a mini oven, with two different levels for cooking multiple foods at once and a collection of wire racks, baking sheets and a crumb tray. Coated with non-toxic ceramic, Shiza says you can wipe it clean with warm, soapy water.
On first impression, it looks small and far from ground-breaking, and the Americanisms (F instead of C, ‘broil’ instead of ‘grill’) have the potential to be irritating to an English cook. Yet the manufacturers claim it uses half as much energy, pre-heats 75 per cent faster and cooks up to 30 per cent faster than a conventional oven.
But can it really replace my oven, toaster and air fryer? I put the various modes to the test to find out…
ROAST: WHOLE CHICKEN
My family loves a Sunday roast, and since buying my air fryer, I’ve been cooking the whole chicken in it to save space in the oven. Yet the Wonder Oven has a 12-litre capacity (compared to the air fryer’s 6 litres), so I can cook a medium or large bird — up to 2kg .
METHOD: Preheat the oven to 325F (160C) on ‘Roast’ while prepping the chicken. I rub mine in spices and rapeseed oil, stuff a halved lemon inside, then put it on the bottom shelf for 20 minutes.
Next, it gets complicated; you have to raise the temperature to 350F (175C) for 10 minutes, then change the mode to ‘Bake’, increase the temperature to 375F (190C) and cook for another 20-30 minutes until the internal temperature of the bird is 160F (70C). If the skin starts to char, add a teaspoon of water through the inlet at the top of the oven to create more steam.
TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
VERDICT: What a revelation. A perfectly-cooked, golden chicken with melt-in-the-mouth white meat inside. All that temperature adjusting is a bit of a faff, but the end result is worth it. 5/5
The Wonder Oven’s compact size is a drawback. It fits around six cookies on two trays — no use if you’re baking for a crowd
BAKE: COOKIES
The ‘Bake’ function of the oven has found viral fame on TikTok, with more than 20 million ‘Wonder Oven Cookies’ videos.
However, this is when the Wonder Oven’s compact size is a drawback. It fits around six cookies on two trays — no use if you’re baking for a crowd.
METHOD: You’ll need to set the oven to ‘Bake’ and the temperature to 325F (160C). There’s only one baking tray, but you can re-purpose the air fryer basket by lining it with greaseproof paper.
I make a half portion of my standard cookie recipe — butter, sugar, vanilla, egg, flour, bicarbonate of soda and chocolate chips — divide the dough into six and space them onto the two trays.
TOTAL TIME: 10 minutes
VERDICT: Although they look and smell delicious, the taste is a let-down. They’re still doughy in the middle and the outsides have an unpleasant crisp, almost fried, texture.2/5
AIR FRY AND REHEAT: CHIPS
My air fryer can cook oven chips in 20 minutes, but requires the basket to be shaken regularly to ensure they all crisp up. Could the Wonder Oven, which also blasts food with hot air from 360 degrees, do better?
METHOD: There are no official instructions for frozen chips, so I empty a portion of crinkle-cut fries into the basket provided (this is a deeper, criss-cross version of the wire rack), set the mode to ‘Air Fry’ and the temperature to 390F (200C).
After 15 minutes, they look golden and piping-hot. The kids take an age to come to the table but the ‘Reheat’ function saves the day; the chips only need a few minutes at 200F (95C) for the crunch to be restored.
TOTAL TIME: 18 minutes
VERDICT: Not only does it cook chips slightly quicker than the air fryer, but they’re tastier, too. The only downside is the capacity — there’s only enough room for two portions, so it wouldn’t accommodate a family meal.4/5
GRILL: SALMON AND MIXED VEG
We don’t tend to eat salmon much, but the Wonder Oven’s makers say its ‘Broil’ function (‘Grill’ to us Brits) makes ‘the juiciest meat and fish imaginable’. Could we be converted?
By adding a tray of mixed veg underneath, it’s also a chance to put the multitasking function to the test.
METHOD: I start by preheating the oven to 400F (200C) on ‘Broil’. Next, I rub olive oil on the salmon, glaze it with a mix of honey, sesame oil and lime juice, and cook it on the bottom shelf for 10 minutes.
I drizzle oil on the chopped vegetables and put them on the baking tray. Then, I turn the temperature up to 450F (230C), brush some more glaze over the salmon and move it to the top shelf while putting the veg on the bottom. Give the salmon five minutes, until the internal temperature is 140F (60C), and the vegetables 10-15 minutes.
TOTAL TIME: 20-25 minutes
VERDICT: It’s all perfectly tasty, but there’s not a discernable improvement to oven-cooked salmon.3/5
The exposed lower heating element makes this not just an oven, but a giant, trendy toaster
TOAST: CHEESE TOASTIE
The exposed lower heating element makes this not just an oven, but a giant, trendy toaster. The steam keeps the bread soft and chewy in the centre and it also works as a toasted sandwich-maker.
METHOD: I turn the dial to ‘Toast’ and set the temperature to 450F (230C). Next, I fill some fresh white bread with cheese and sliced tomato, lightly butter both sides to stop it sticking, and place it on the baking tray on the top shelf. I set a timer for five minutes, check the toastiness, and give it another three minutes until golden.
TOTAL TIME: 8 minutes
VERDICT: I’m impressed by how the oven has toasted both sides; it’s done the same job as a retro toastie-maker without squashing my sandwich flat. The tomatoes are hot without burning my mouth and the cheese is gooey, oozy perfection.5/5
OVERALL VERDICT
If you didn’t get on that well with your air fryer, this could be for you. It looks chic (albeit a little Fisher Price toy-style with its twisty knobs) and takes up minimal space in the kitchen.
The ‘Bake’ function is a let-down for me, but it makes a great roast chicken for the family and a decent cheese toastie… if you’ve got £195 to spare.