The average kitchen counter its often a graveyard of RIP appliances. Often bought with high hopes and the promise of time saving happiness and transformation of your kitchen mastery. It could be a grinder, blender, mixers, frothers, slow cooker, rice cooker, spiralisers and more. There are a few things I personally can’t live without. My airfryer, rice cooker and hand blender. Airfryers now have got so complex with a range of features and Sunbeam is one of my brands of choice. This is the first time trying their new 5-in -1 fryer.
The unboxing & utensils
Unboxing is easy, there are lots of elements to unbox, untape and help escape from plastic bags.
Once on the counter the real work starts. Like a Mini Countryman’s double back doors. This Sunbeam is the same. Doors open outwards to reveal two bucket style fry baskets, one right and left. They sit on already assembled shelves. A clever design feature is the secret door underneath which houses two small air fry trays, one large air fry tray, and 3 roasting trays. There is also a basket handle (more on that later). There are two rack positions which are handy.
Led display and functions
The Cook
One of the things I really like about Sunbeam is the user experience. It has a big screen with 10 functions. I can select from 4 air fry pre-sets which include fries, chicken, meat and vegetables. It also has Turbo Crisp, Roast, Grill, Bake and Reheat. The cooking temperature goes up to 230˚C. It’s on the more powerful end of the range with 2400W with a total 11.4L capacity which can be broken into two zones of 5.5L.
Two Zone into One – Cooking Area
The key selling point here is the two zone cooking area which can be changed into one by simply moving the moveable metal wall. Not many offer this and it’s a HUGE bonus especially if you want to cook a whole chook or T-bone.
I had a dinner of roasted barramundi which I placed on one side in a basket, whilst I cooked veggies on trays on the other. This could be a painful mathematical challenge but no fear! The Sunbeam peeps have created clever Match and Sync cooking features. The ‘Match’ to ensure both zones have the same temperature and time while the ‘Sync’ function lets me cook 2 dishes in 2 different ways, both finishing at the same time.
One feature I am not so keen on is that you have to open the glass doors, then attach a handle to pull out a basket. Then if it’s not ready, push back in, detach again and close the doors, it’s a bit of a faff compared to the ‘pull drawer, check, push back in’ method.
Anything frozen works a treat. Chips, quiche, dumplings. It’s particularly good with high fat products. Turbo Crisp, Roast, Grill, Bake and Reheat.
Bake: It did a decent job of baking my own homemade sourdough loaf, which was an even rise and good crust. The big cooking area means it has ‘height’ room for baking. I can’t tell you how many fryers say ‘bake’ and have no height for you to bake anything other than a cookie! This fryer doesn’t have a steam option which is a shame. It also cooked up a treat with a quiche. The pastry was lovely and crisp especially underneath, which with some ‘drawer style’ airfryers fail to achieve.
Turbo Crisp: The second dish to try is a frozen premium woodfired pizza. I didn’t really need the turbo charge but gave it a whirl anyway. The turbo at the beginning helped to get the crust, then moved to bake – and it was cooked in 10 minutes. In fact, compared to my other Sunbeam air fryer this is faster and hotter. This is most likely due to the large space which means the air can move around more easily.
Grill: I tested out the grill with cheese on toast and it was super quick with an even cook.
Reheat: I had cooked a veggie lasagne in my normal oven and did a reheat here, replacing my microwave in a better way with more crispy, rather than soggy elements. LOVE!
Roast: A whole free range chicken also did really well, cooking on a rack with a large tray below to catch the juices and this is how I roasted my carrots, pumpkin and fennel -instant stock. The Sunbeam has Nutricrisp Technology ensures fast, circulating even results.
The Verdict
What we are addicted to? – If you want a dual zone machine, it needs to be adaptable. With the removable wall, it changes everything whilst other machines leave you with two small spaces which are inflexible. A good range of cooking options too. It replaces an oven in many ways given its wide ranging versatility. Easy cooking and a great price.
What do we need to be more addicted? – What it gives you in versatility, you lose in simplicity, so there are lots of accessories, and it can be a bit of a faff to set up and change. I am not a fan of the double door opening and then the need to attach a handle. So for me it misses the simplicity and ease of cleaning which is the appeal of an airfryer. It feels more like an oven, but then kind of better!
To buy RRP 279.00 See major retailers or on line here
