Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer review

The Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer is a relative newcomer in the air fryer game, but if you're considering making the investment, you may have noticed that it's not got the conventional drawer-style design as options from Ninja and Instant Brands. What it does have is more of a miniature convection oven design, with modes for cooking just about any dish you could possibly make. That includes a rotisserie function, four cooking presets, and temperatures up to 200°c.

I've tested each and every one of the best air fryers in our guide, so I tried out the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer to see if it's up-to-scratch. While it's not quite as good at air frying as other ovens I've tested, it more than makes up for this with its impressive range of functions and smart controls.

Specs

• Material: Plastic
• Power: 2000 watts
• Capacity: 10 litres
• Included: Three wire mesh cooking shelves, drip tray, rotisserie fork, rotisserie attachments
• Modes: Air fry, bake, dehydrate, rotisserie
• Weight: ‎9.59 kg
• Size: 44.2 x 41.6 x 39.4 cm

The Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer came in a very hefty box indeed. I did need some help when taking the machine out of the box and lifting it to my kitchen counter, but I was pleased to find that it didn't dominate my countertop any more than most air fryers. That's because while it has large dimensions, these are very square shaped and don't take up any more of a footprint than necessary.

The door pulls forward and you can insert the drip tray on the bottom of the machine and then slide in the three air flow racks onto specific shelves in the air fryer. You can't place this in the middle of the air fryer because it's dominated by a rotisserie controls, which hooks onto either side of the mesh rotisserie basket or the rotisserie spit. You can lift the basket and spit in and out using the included rotisserie fork, but I found myself using my oven gloves to remove the mesh shelves from the air fryer as there is no included way to take them out.

You'll find that I don't include many face-on photos of the Breville Halo, and that's because it has a reflective exterior that shows my hands clasping my phone to photograph it. It is an attractive and sleek machine though, with a touch-screen interface and curved edges with wipe-clean black plastic housing.

Cooking in the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer

When you switch the air fryer on, it will allow you to choose from either a chips, chicken, vegetables, or steak setting, as well as rotisserie, air fry, bake, and dehydrate modes. Increasing the temperature and timing is very easy using the touch buttons next to each display, and you can then simply start the machine to allow it to preheat. The temperature is shown to increase on the display until it reaches your desired temperature. It will then beep to tell you it's time to add your food.

Many air fryers speed up the cooking time of frozen and fresh foods significantly, but the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer didn't have quite the same effect. While it still did speed the cooking process along, it wasn't as significant as a drawer air fryer such as the Instant Vortex Mini air fryer.

That said, there was no need to turn over my food midway through the cooking process because the wire mesh allows the hot air to circulate around the bacon and chicken entirely.

I made lots of things in the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer, including fish fingers and bacon, and even homemade pizzas for quick lunches.

Because of the generous 10 litre interior capacity, this was very easy. I can't think of another air fryer that would allow me to do this, but because the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer acts much like an oven, it made the whole process very smooth and I had a cooked pizza in just 12 minutes.

Another thing I enjoyed was that the food came out very evenly cooked, and I didn't need to turn the pizza to get it to cook evenly (very unlike the best pizza ovens!) I was also able to simply turn on the interior light and watch it bubble away as it cooked from the brightly lit window in front of the air fryer.

Making chips in the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer

I got to experiment with something I'd never tried when testing the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer: a rotisserie basket. I used this to make more than just chips, but it's a good hands-free way of making tasty fries. You simply add in your ingredients, lock the mesh basket, and slide it into place in the rotisserie.

I say simply, but this actually took some fiddling as you have to shift the notch of the rotisserie over one more than you might thing to start the spinning process. This is tricky to do using the rotisserie fork, so it's worth doing it by hand first before turning the air fryer on to pre-heat.

The spinning of the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer means every chip is very evenly cooked, and it took a total of 30 minutes to cook chips in their entirety from start to finish. The end result was delicious, but not quite as crispy as in other air fryers I've tried such as the Ninja Dual Zone.

I did find opening the latch of the wire mesh basket very difficult after it had finished cooking, because it was hot to touch. In the end I used a fork to prize it open, but be prepared to get creative if you plan on using the basket a lot.

I also used the rotisserie basket to cook vegetables for a ratatouille. After adding enough vegetables to fill it to the brim, I then locked it down to started it spinning. I chose the vegetable setting for this, which felt fitting, and let it spin for 20 minutes. I was able to extend this when I wanted them to be a little more cooked though. It was simply a case of pressing the plus button on the side of the controls to add some time onto the cycle.

The results were seriously tasty and very juicy, because the tablespoon of oil I had added to the basket has been circulating as the basket spun. It also meant that all of the different veggies I added were able to cook evenly as they rotated around the mesh basket.

Cooking chicken in the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer

Rotisserie chicken became a love of mine after I tried the Tower Vortex 5-in-1 air fryer. It transformed my roast dinner game, and it's worth mentioning that it's a fraction of the price of the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer for a very similar rotisserie mode. There the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer has the edge is its internal dimensions which, despite technically being smaller, still accommodated a larger chicken than I would have been able to fit into the Tower.

The Piri Piri rub I had added did char (or indeed, burn) slightly as I cooked it, but I found that the chicken was ready to eat and deliciously juicy after just 1 hour of cooking, despite the advised 1 hour and 40 minutes from the chicken packaging.

Cleaning

The Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer is easy enough to clean. The inserts can go in the dishwasher, which is great because the mesh is tricky to clean by hand, and the drip tray wipes clean very easily.

I found that some chicken had stuck slightly to the top mesh layer of the heating element and this did require waiting for it to cool down before wiping it clean. I have covered how to clean an air fryer before, so if you want specific guidance, it's a good place to look.

Should you buy the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer?

If you're on a tight budget, the Tower Vortex 5-in-1 functions very similarly to the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer but lacks some of the more high-end features. If you do want an air fryer that also functions as a mini convection oven and rotisserie though, I would definitely recommend the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer. It also goes on regular promotions during shopping events such as Black Friday air fryer deals. The mesh rotisserie basket is quite unique, and I used it to make so many delicious meals throughout the testing process. I also really enjoyed the chicken and chips that I made in the Breville Halo, although it's a shame that this can't be cooked simultaneously thanks to the internal capacity, which will only take one chicken at a time and nothing else.

If you want something that's purely an air fryer, I feel that your money would be better spent on something with a drawer, which is an overall more straightforward experience but with way less added features.

About this review, and our reviewer

Millie Fender heads up all things small appliances at Ideal Home. There’s nothing she loves more than testing out the latest and greatest cooking gadgets, for indoor and outdoor use, from toasters to air fryers. She reviewed the Breville Halo Rotisserie Air Fryer from her own kitchen, testing it rigorously for a month before writing this review.

Millie lives in South London and is constantly squeezing more appliances into her modest kitchen.  If it makes it onto the kitchen counters full time, you know an appliance is worth the hype.