As Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor, you best believe I've tested a lot of air fryers. But the launch of the Our Place (yep, the brand of Always Pan fame) Wonder Oven was a total curveball.
Normally, the best air fryers I test are packed with swathes of functionality but are lacking somewhat in design terms. While their hash browns might get cooked to perfection, it's no wonder that people sometimes confess to me that they've shoved their less-than-presentable black box air fryer to the back of their cupboard when not in use.
Even Ideal Home's kitchen and bathroom Content Editor Holly Cockburn has steadily refused my attempts to supply her with an air fryer so that she can learn all about their benefits. Until now.
The launch of the Wonder Oven means that the whole Ideal Home team, air fryer converts or not, are desperate to get their hands on this tiny air fryer oven. Here are three things that I've learnt about the new launch after getting up close and personal with it.
Finally launching in the UK after sellout success in the UK, the Wonder Oven aims to bring together performance and design. And trust me, it's even cuter in person.
3 things I didn't know about Our Place's new Wonder Oven air fryer
The Ideal Home team got an exclusive demo of the Wonder Oven courtesy of the brand's founder Shiza Shahid, where I learned that as well as having the ability to air fry, bake, roast, toast, grill and reheat, this product also has a steam setting.
This is the first steam-infusion setting I've found in an air fryer, and I've tested dozens by now. It's a popular feature in countertop ovens in the US, and can help inject moisture back into foods you're air frying.
To activate the steam setting, you pour a small amount of water into the cap located on the top of the oven and operate the oven as usual. It works on any of the settings, and in a test that I saw with the oven, it massively helped rejuvenate day-old bread, giving it back a fluffy texture. Other uses include on meat joints and with vegetables, to improve flavour and retain moisture.
During that toasting test, the second thing I learned about the Wonder Oven is that it can eradicate your need for a toaster entirely. Yep, you can lose one appliance and gain at least two functions in one instead in the form of this tiny little oven.
If you struggle for worktop space, then this will be welcome news. The rise of countertop ovens in the US hasn't quite made the same impact here in the UK, but with an oven that looks this appealing in your kitchen, I'm betting that more people will make the switch. After all, if you can combine two appliances into one, why wouldn't you?
The first thing that captivated me about the Wonder Oven and the last thing I learned is about the brand's colour range, which competing air fryers seriously lack. Unless you love your appliances in plain old black, there's not much in the way of choice on the market.
This is why I loved learning that as well as having three mainstay colours currently launching in the UK (Steam, Char, and Blue Salt), there's already a limited edition colour that you can snap up now - Spice, which allows you to get involved in the current peach fuzz trend.
It's easily my favourite colour of the lot. We hope there are plenty more colourways on the way, as with the ever-changing hues of the Always Pan. After all, as we've learnt from Kitchenaid over the years, you can never have too many colour choices.
