GE Cafe Couture Smart Countertop Oven with Air Fry Review

GE Cafe Couture Smart Countertop Oven with Air Fry Review

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Buy it at Amazon: GE Cafe Couture Smart Countertop Oven with Air Fry [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Great countertop oven, versatile, preheats quickly, lots of space inside.

The toaster oven measures 14” tall, 18.5” wide, and 17” deep. It has a stainless steel finish, weighs nearly 30 lbs, and the door handle and control knobs are a copper accent color. At the back and sides are heat dissipation vents, and the plastic bracket on the back acts as a cord wrap and wall spacer.

The oven comes with a 12” non-stick pizza pan, wire cooling rack with feet, 1” tall air fry basket, and a drip tray/roasting pan. Inside the capacity is 0.8 cu ft and entirely stainless steel. One drawback to stainless steel is that it picks up fingerprints easily. There are three rack levels with four ceramic heating elements on top and two along the bottom, protected by wire cages.

The chunky feet in each corner lift the unit off the counter about ½” which allows the handle of the door to hover above your countertop when open. A safety switch turns off heating while the door is open and turns on the light inside. For controls are a start and cancel buttons, LCD, light, settings, convection, and crisp finish buttons, and two clickable dials for more and time/temperature. The quickstart card has a QR code for the smartphone app. You’ll also receive a user manual and recipe booklet.

The top and sides of this machine get very hot during operation, so don’t store or leave anything on top of it during or after cooking. The unit requires 4” of clearance at the back, sides, and top for ventilation. Mode options are: Air Fry, Bake, Broil, Roast, Reheat, Warm, Slow Cook, Dehydrate, Proof, Cookies, Pizza, Bagel, and Toast. Each mode has its own range of times and temperatures appropriate for that cooking method with a minimum of 80°F (dehydrate) to 450°F (Crisp Finish/Air Fry). Select modes allow you to toggle convection on/off while other modes will always use or not use convection.

Pressing ‘Start’ begins pre-heating, trackable via the progress bar on the LCD. Cook time will not start counting down until you press the start button again, which you can do at any time, even if the unit hasn’t finished pre-heating. Once started, the progress bar resets to show the cooking progress based on the remaining time.

Each mode also remembers the settings you used the last time you used that mode which is convenient if you tend to make the same things again and again. This gives you potentially 14 different pre-sets you can have for your favorite foods. This countertop oven can accommodate small baking trays and cake pans. It did a nice job with making muffins, pizza, crispy home fries, and reheating BBQ chicken, heating the food evenly and cooking everything through thoroughly. When you open the oven door during cooking, this will pause the timer until you close the door again (within 10 minutes), allowing you to check its doneness, add ingredients, or stir your food without losing any time.

Just under the door is the handle for removing the crumb tray for cleaning, but make sure to replace it before using the machine again. Cleaning is a breeze by wiping the interior down with a damp cloth after the unit has cooled. I recommend always using the baking tray in the lowest rack position to avoid drips and spills onto the heating elements. This smart oven can connect to your WiFi network so you can monitor and control cooking using the GE Smart HQ app. For safety reasons, the oven can only be started remotely after pressing and holding the ‘Start’ button on the front of the machine for 3 seconds, for safety reasons, which limits its practicality. Changing the setting at the machine automatically updates in the app after a few seconds and vice versa, but note that if you change the cooking mode remotely, cooking will be cancelled.

Overall, this machine is a great countertop oven with a variety of options making it a versatile small appliance. It preheats quickly and is great for small batch baking so I don’t have to fire up my big oven and the added convection cooks food faster, more evenly, and with less work than traditional baking. This is ideal for crisping up frozen fried foods too like French fries and fried chicken. You do need to remember to press ‘Start’ a second time after preheating and putting your food in the oven, or you have the option of turning off preheating in the settings altogether. While the thing that makes it ‘Smart’ is the app remote control, I rarely find a use for this feature.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned
Buy it at Amazon: GE Cafe Couture Smart Countertop Oven with Air Fry [Affiliate Link]