Smeg launched their 10-in-1 countertop oven weeks ago and I’ve been watching as reviews and pictures pop up online. It’s the brand’s first foray into air fryers and multicookers, so I’m intrigued to see what they’re bringing to the market.
You'll have probably seen all the excitement a few weeks ago when Smeg launched their Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven. The leaflet promises that this can bake, steam, cook pizzas, and air fry, so I wanted to give this a thorough test. That way, I'll be able to find out whether this really is one of the best air fryers on the market.
We've already tested their portable induction cooker and it was a great success, so the team had high expectations of what the Smeg countertop oven might offer. Here's everything you need to know.
Specifications
Unboxing and first impressions
I’ll give you the full story of how this oven came to my house. Settle in. One Friday, a journalist messaged me saying ‘I’m sending the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven oven to you. Good luck’. Naturally, I was intrigued to find what she meant by good luck. As it turns out, this countertop oven is so big that the courier refused to lift it into and out of her house. Luckily for me, I had another person at home, so the two of us carried it from the courier’s van and into my house. With advice from my fellow journalist, I unboxed it right there, in the hallway to make the packaging a little smaller and more manageable.
The oven was still a two person job to get up and down the stairs, but it was made marginally smaller for the lack of box. The good news in all of this is that Smeg’s packaging is completely recyclable, so you can flatten it and get rid of it without anything weighing on your conscience.
Once I had it up the stairs and on my counter, I took a step back to admire this. It’s as beautiful as you would expect from Smeg. It’s huge — I don’t think you get a sense for how big it is until you see it in person — but it’s very attractive.
Who would it suit?
If you don’t already have an oven and you want the closest thing to one, this is for you. It’s the biggest countertop oven I’ve tested, with enough room or layers of trays to cook with. You could easily get a turkey in here and you’d probably have some spare room to play with.
This is more than just an oven though, which is brilliant for adventurous cooks who want to combine multiple appliances into one. It air fries well, steams well, bakes well, and reheats well too. It’s hard to fault from a functional point of view.
My one word of warning is that this is huge and heavy. So, if you live in a small home or apartment, this will be far too big. I can’t even imagine where I would put this in my city flat, even though I would love to show off a big Smeg oven.
What is it like to use?
As I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t the first journalist to test this, which means that I didn’t have to set up the clock or any functions. The instruction manual walks you through each step and I’ve been reassured that it’s an incredibly easy process.
On the top of the oven there’s a flap. It looks neat and subtle, but if you lift this up, there’s a menu guide that talks you through the different functions. Smeg has split this into a classic set as well as a chef’s set. If you need some help working out which functions go where, the classic is more savoury and the chef’s set is sweeter. It’s where the baking magic happens.
I filled up the reservoir, because I knew I would be steaming, kept the menu lifted for help, and got testing.
Test 1: air frying
I couldn’t resist testing the air fryer functions first. I’ve spent the last year testing over fifty of the best air fryers on the market and none of them look like the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven. Sure, this is big, but it’s really, very beautiful too.
I have a series of standard tests that I put every air fryer through, but the one I really wanted the Smeg to nail was fish fingers and chips. This is a classic, speedy, easy meal, so the Smeg should be able to cook it perfectly.
I set the oven to air frying and a progress bar at the bottom told me to wait while it warmed up. This took fifteen minutes in total. It was the first function that I used, so I wonder if in other circumstances, it would be quicker to cook. I’ve tested air fryers that don’t even need to reheat, but once this was up and running, it was speedy.
I put the fish fingers and chips in from frozen and set a timer for fifteen minutes. I thought I would try cooking them both at the same time, because, in an ideal world, they’ll be finished and ready to plate up at the same time.
After fudge minutes, I peeped through the door and I could see that the chips were already getting some colour. After fifteen minutes, they looked about perfect for how I like my chips — with crunchy tips, but a soft, fluffy inside. I gave the fish fingers another couple of minutes, because they’re thicker than the chips and I wanted them warmed through. True to form, they crisped up nicely. When I broke one open, it was steaming in the middle, so, the air frying was a success.
Test 2: roasting and baking
Smeg already make big ovens for kitchens, so I wanted to put the traditional oven function to the test too. I roasted vegetables and baked banana cake in the oven (at different times) and there’s actually very little to report. It’s a great oven.
I used this function for roasting vegetables straight after the air frying, so I didn’t need to wait for it to preheat. The vegetables needed about half an hour in total before they had tender middles and sweet, crispy, caramelised corners. I would have expected this to be a little quicker given that my normal, big oven takes that long too, but it did a good job.
I already planned to make cupcakes using the sweet, cake setting, so I thought I would bake my banana cake in the traditional oven. This was identical to my main oven’s performance. The cakes were cooked right through in twenty minutes. It was easy.
The one thing I did note was that the trays, whilst relatively stable, did tip towards me when I took them out. Normally, I pull my tray out a little and then lift food out my oven, but you need to take the tray completely out of the oven. I tried picking bits out and it’s just too narrow. You’ll burn your hand. It’s not Smeg’s fault, but it’s a tip worth sharing.
Test 3: steam
I’ve always wanted a steam oven for vegetables and, with the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven, my dreams have finally come true. I thought that the best test for this oven would be steaming carrots and sweet potatoes, so I chopped them up and set the steam setting running. This is a little different to the other options on the list, because it makes use of the water reservoir. I put the vegetables on the special steaming tray and left them in for ten minutes. They were soft after ten minutes, but I wanted them to be softer. After fifteen minutes, I could put a fork through the sweet potato and almost get it right through the carrot, which is perfect for me. I imagine this would be really useful for steaming fruits and baby food too. It’s a feature that’s not to be underestimated.
Test 4: baking cakes and bread
Now onto the sweet functions. I was testing a stand mixer at the same time as this, so I had some bread dough spare. Naturally, I popped the loaf in the Smeg oven to see how well it could cook. In a normal oven, rhe loaf needs forty minutes and the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven is no different. I kept checking on it through the glass door, which is really useful, because I didn’t need to open up and let all the heat out. At exactly forty minutes I took the loaf out and it looked perfect. The rise was tall, the bread was light, and it was cooked right through. I would have loved to see some sort of steaming function paired with the bread, because this could help to give a really soft crust. This was great nonetheless.
My other test was on cupcakes. This is a simple task that any oven worth buying should be good at. By now, you can probably guess how the test went. The cupcakes went in, they had 20 minutes and they came out perfectly. It was like I was using a normal oven.
Test 5: pizza
Another option on the baking function is pizza. Now, I used to work for a pizza company and I once calculated that I’ve made over half a million pizzas over the years, so I set the standard quite high. You can get specialised home pizza ovens, which will do a great job of delivering a crisp base, but I wanted to see how an everyday oven would fare. The bread settings are a little complex to navigate through, because once you have the bread icon, there are other nuances to work out: are you cooking focaccia or pizza, for example? It’s great for confident cooks, but maybe a little too detailed for the average homeowner. Nonetheless, I cooked my pizza in half an hour. It was fine - the base was quite crispy, the cheese had bubbled and turned golden, so I can’t fault it. If you’re buying this for pizza, I would recommend picking up a pizza stone too, because you’ll get a crispier base.
Cleaning
There’s no specific clean function on the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven, but if you’ve ever used a countertop oven, you’ll know a few tricks for getting it sparking. I use the steam function for a few minutes to soften any burnt food or splatters that might have been baked onto the windows or sides. Then, wearing gloves, I use a microfibre cloth to wipe all the insides down. It’s a simple task. The outside of the oven doesn’t get very messy, so you could give the dials a clean if you wanted to. Then the trays are dishwasher safe, although I washed them by hand, because I like to be gentle with appliances like this. It makes them last longer.
How does it compare?
The Smeg sits in direct comparison with the Ninja Combi Oven, which is a tough competitor. The Smeg is definitely more spacious and much more attractive, but I preferred using the Ninja by quite a long way. The dials and icons on the Smeg are fine — I’m sure people get used to them — but they were fiddly and frustrating to get to grips with. Whereas, the Ninja has a clear, simple screen that you don’t need an instruction manual to navigate. I also found the Ninja to be quicker across all of the tasks, which isn’t a surprise, because it’s smaller, but I would have expected the Smeg to also be a little speedier.
My takeaway from testing both is that the Ninja is simpler, cheaper, and quicker. However, the Smeg is much more spacious. We're talking nearly 20l more spacious and it's also very beautiful. If you're a keen chef, you'll also appreciate all of the extra settings too.
Should you buy it?
If you don’t already have an oven, you’ve got room in your home, and you want a beautiful appliance, the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven will be a wonderful treat. There are other options on the market that are worth considering though.
How we test
At woman&home, we carefully consider how we evaluate air fryers and countertop ovens. Our team of specialists continuously researches the newest products on the market. As soon as we find one we believe will appeal to you, we bring it in for testing.
Our evaluations aim to mimic everyday use, focusing on tasks that are part of a typical weekly routine. For some appliances, we tailor our approach depending on the model, as we did with the Smeg 10-in-1 Countertop Oven. I subjected it to our usual air fryer tests, which include cooking bacon, roasting a chicken, making chips and fish fingers, and grilling Mediterranean vegetables. These tests assess a range of textures, needs, and capacities, ensuring every air fryer is thoroughly evaluated. After completing these tests, it became clear that the Ninja Combi had much more to offer, so I explored every function to determine which features would be most valuable for a typical home cook. I began by using Ninja’s recommended recipes, but soon started experimenting on my own.
In addition to performance, we also evaluate whether a product is a good value, how it compares to competitors, its aesthetics, and how easy it is to clean. We carefully weigh all these aspects before answering the crucial question: should you buy it?
When we deliver our final verdict, fairness is our priority. We value your trust above all else, which is why we never exaggerate or mislead. After all, you're the one who will live with the product, and we aim to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises when you bring it home.
