I must have had my head in the sand when the Dreo Chefmaker launched. It’s been available to buy for a few months already, and yet it was only while I was at CES 2024 that I saw it.
The small appliance is a thing of sophistication. It builds on the brand's success of air fryers to offer even more cooking abilities for the beginner or advanced chef of the home.
I turned some dials, pressed some buttons, and removed the drawer to establish any initial thoughts I had about it. We’ll be calling it in for a rigorous review shortly, but until then, this is my first impression of the Dreo Chefmaker.
Dreo Chef Maker: key specifications
Dreo Chef Maker: price & availability
Dreo raised $2 million on Kickstarter to launch it in April last year (2023). It's now available to buy not only direct from Dreo but also from Amazon (US) and Amazon (UK) for a list price of $359/£359.
At the time of writing, you can apply an $80/£80 coupon on Amazon to get your hands on the Dreo Chefmaker for less than $300.
Dreo Chef Maker: Design
The Dreo Chefmaker takes up a similar amount of space to an air fryer. It measures 15.67 x 14.65 x 10.59in (h x w x d) and weighs 15.36 lbs.
It conforms to a basket air fryer design with a handle at the front to pull to remove the said basket. There’s something that looks like a power button at the top of the handle, but this is purely for decoration.
The buttons on the control panel were fairly responsive, as were the dials. I was tempted to (and did) poke the display screen to command a response from the illuminated presets and cooking, but, alas, these are not responsive. This isn’t a cause of disappointment; it’s just more of a FYI.
If using the ChefMaker as a sous vide, you’ll need to ensure that the little water tank at the top is topped up. It can hold 250ml of water. You’ll also need to check that the included probe is neatly plugged into the outlet found around the rim of the basket if wanting to ensure that your steaks retain all the juices.
Dreo Chef Maker: Performance
While I haven’t personally cooked using the Dreo Chefmaker, I have tasted what it is capable of.
I tried some salmon that was cooked using the sous vide. This took 25 minutes. I also nibbled on some steak cooked in the sous vide, which was super tender and moist, but I must admit, I prefer my steak to be well done, so I didn’t clear my plate.
I toggled through the 8 presets (air fry, defrost, reheat, broil, roast, toast, bake, and dehydrate) to gauge how easy it would be to cook frozen fries. Within a few steps, I would be cooking. The air fryer preset was spot on at 350F for 15 minutes. If you prefer to increase the temperature or duration, then this can be done using the arrow buttons on the side of the display screen.
Programs to choose from extend the preset versatility. These include Chef Mode, Classic Cook, Favorites, and Probe Cook, which give way to additional settings such as Cod Fillet, Jumbo Prawns, Steak, and Lobster Tail.
It comes with a free app (Dreo), too, which is the highest rated on the Apple and Google store. In the app, you can select recipes, watch a video on how to make the recipes, and add your favorite recipes to the Favorites program.
All parts are dishwasher safe, although Dreo recommends that you don’t put the probe in the dishwasher so you protect it from the harsh cleaning chemicals and hot water. Just rinse the probe under a tap of running water when cooled after use.
Dreo Chef Maker: Verdict
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
After playing around with the Dreo Chefmaker and sampling some food, I’ve got a feeling that it’s onto something good by making everything more accessible. I found that the interface was really easy to navigate, and the app had a tonne of information to follow. It doesn’t take up much space either and, overall, feels like a solid piece of kitchen equipment that is suitable for all culinary abilities.
What is a hands on review?
Hands on reviews' are a journalist's first impressions of a piece of kit based on spending some time with it. It may be just a few moments, or a few hours. The important thing is we have been able to play with it ourselves and can give you some sense of what it's like to use, even if it's only an embryonic view. For more information, see Top Ten Review's Reviews Guarantee.
