This air fryer is so clever that it could teach any novice to cook - here's why it's a total star buy

Just when I thought I’d reviewed air fryers from virtually every brand out there, along comes a brand I haven’t heard of, with an innovative concept that could be a game changer. The Dreo ChefMaker is the first cooking appliance from a brand that seems to be best known for making fans.

Like I said, I’ve tried some of the best air fryers, but this one is not like any other I’ve reviewed. It has an intelligent cooking system that uses a fancy algorithm in combination with a temperature probe to deliver perfect results for all kinds of foods, a weird quirk we looked into in our first look at this cooker.

Along with the clever chef mode, it also offers the more familiar cooking modes, such as air fry, bake, roast, and grill. So there was plenty to try out when I set the ChefMaker up in my kitchen at home, but can it do what it claims? Spoiler alert, I think it lives up to the hype. But it’s pricey and won't suit everyone.

Dreo ChefMaker product specs

• Capacity: 5.7 litre
• Water tank capacity: 200ml
• RRP: £359
• Dimensions: H:37.2 x W:26.9 x D:39.8cm
• Cooking modes: Chef mode, classic cook, probe cook
• Accessories: grilling rack, cooking tray, cook probe
• Dishwasher safe? Yes

Unboxing and first impressions

Unboxing was quick and easy, apart from the polystyrene packaging that always hits a nerve when I come across it. Nevertheless, like most air fryers, it comes out of the box ready to go.

In addition to the usual tray that sits in the bottom of the cooking drawer, this model also comes with a grilling rack to elevate some meats during cooking. Plus there’s the removable temperature probe that’s probably one of the main reasons to buy the Dreo.

Thankfully, despite boasting an unrivalled smart cooking algorithm, 40 cooking programs, and three main cooking modes, the touch control panel is incredibly straightforward to use. Browsing through all the options is simple and intuitive.

What’s more, in chef mode it alerts and advises you to complete certain steps. For example it tells you when the cooking probe is required, gives advice on the best placement of the probe, or even tells you to wrap certain meats in foil.

To help even further, there’s a dedicated app that connects to the Dreo, providing alerts when cooking ends, as well as recipes, advice and more. You can even adjust cooking time and temperature settings from the app and I’d definitely recommend connecting it, to add to the overall experience.

As well as the chef mode and app, another feature worth pointing out is the 200ml water tank that sits on the top of the air fryer. This is used for some of the chef cooking presets to keep meats moist. However there isn’t a dedicated steam cook program in the menu of cooking modes, which feels like an oversight, given that it has steaming capabilities.

Other useful features include the viewing window and internal light, so you can keep an eye on foods during cooking. And more advanced cooks can make use of the probe cook function that allows you to choose the internal temperature that you’d like your food to reach.

What is it like to use?

Chef mode

Fish

Fish is something a lot of people are nervous to cook, so I tried out the salmon steak option to cook up two salmon fillets. Before cooking it prompted me to insert the probe into the thickest part of one of the fillets, place them skin side up, and also to add water to the water container.

Then I just had to press start and let it take care of the rest. It begins cooking straight away, but for the first five minutes, it didn’t display a countdown timer. Instead it just said ‘calculating’, then the timer started counting down from 18 minutes. In the end, the total time between pressing start, and the end of cooking was 18 minutes, so it must have made some adjustments along the way.

It used a combination of steam and dry heat which resulted in beautifully crisped skin, with moist flaky fish underneath. For me, the salmon was perfectly cooked.

Meat

I followed a recipe in the app for rosemary garlic lamb chops and the great thing about this is that once they were marinated and placed in the basket, all I had to do was insert the meat probe and hit ‘cook now’ in the app. This then initiated the correct lamb programme within the chef mode.

The recipes in the app are very thorough, with step-by-step videos showing you everything you need to do. As with the above salmon, the display at first just said it was ‘calculating’ for several minutes.

Despite estimating 20 minutes on the timer, the whole cook took just 14 minutes. And while it’s great that it adjusts the settings and time to achieve the perfect finished results, this does make it tricky to get the timings right for any side dishes you might also be preparing.

I suppose if you frequently cook similar meats and fish, you’ll get used to how long they take and be able to judge when to have your sides ready. Nevertheless, the lamb was perfectly blush inside, with moist succulent meat and lightly crisped, rendered fat.

Vegetables

In addition to meat and fish, the chef mode also offers preset cooking programmes for a variety of vegetables. The time and temperature settings are predefined, so these presets don’t require use of the probe.

I tried out both the mushroom preset and the courgette one (listed as zucchini in the menu).

Neither tells you the quantity of mushroom or courgette to add, but they both advise only adding a single layer of the vegetable, which does in itself determine a maximum amount.

Coincidentally, both programmes cooked the vegetables for 15 minutes and I didn’t open it up to check or shake the food during the cook time. At the end of cooking, the results were perfect on both occasions.

It really removed the guesswork from cooking these two vegetables. The downside is that you can’t use these presets for bigger batches.

Classic Cook Mode

Air fry

The vegetable presets in chef mode are all for individual vegetables, so when I wanted to cook up a medley of tomato, red pepper, and onion to blitz into a pasta sauce, I used air fry.

The vegetable mix took just 15 minutes at 190C and cooked to perfection.

Obviously I had to make homemade chips to test out its air frying capabilities properly. I cut up potatoes and after a brief stint soaking in cold water, I dried them and spritzed them with some oil. I set it to air fry at 200C for 20 minutes.

During cooking I gave the chips a couple of shakes, and I ended up adding an extra four minutes to the timer. But the finished chips were delicious, crisp and golden. And when cooking chips for two people, there was more than enough space, in fact the basket looked virtually empty.

Bake

It’s not always advisable to try out a new recipe in a new appliance, but I wanted to try the bake function and I had some beetroot in the fridge that needed using. So I tried Jamie Oliver's epic chocolate and beetroot cake recipe.

I followed the recipe, but when it came to baking it, I reduced the cooking temperature by 15C to account for the fact I’m cooking it in an air fryer and the bake is often more fierce than in an ordinary oven. And thankfully, my victoria sandwich tin fit nicely into the drawer.

I kept checking the cake and after 30 minutes it was looking well browned on top, so I covered it in foil for the final 20 minutes. At the end of the 50 minutes the cake had risen nicely and a skewer came out clean.

I was pretty impressed that it cooked within the time stated on the recipe, despite me reducing the temperature. Though I’d probably cover it with foil five minutes earlier next time as it came out a bit darker than I’d like. The texture however, was light and moist. I’m on the fence about the earthy beetroot backnote flavour though.

Roast

I thought about roasting meat, but the chef mode takes care of most meats, so instead I made roast potatoes to try out this function. I cut up raw new potatoes and coated them in olive oil, I also slung in some raw chunks of beetroot, three unpeeled garlic cloves, and some sprigs of rosemary.

I set it to roast at 190C for 25 minutes. I gave it a couple of good shakes during the cook and everything roasted beautifully. The potato and beetroot were cooked through and golden on the outside. The garlic cloves had also roasted to a soft sweet texture that I could squeeze out into the mixture.

My only complaint is that the rosemary sprigs fell down below the cooking tray, so I’d probably just add them at a later stage next time.

Broil (grill)

Broil is the American term for a grill. I used it to melt and brown a cheesy topping on a pasta bake. The default temperature is 230C, so I left it at that temperature, and it took just six minutes to melt the cheese. This is even more impressive given that there’s no preheat stage beforehand.

Other cooking modes I used during the week were toast and reheat, both of which worked as expected. Unlike reheating in a microwave, this reheat function warms foods and crisps at the same time. And the toast mode successfully toasted bread, so you could in theory, ditch your toaster.

What's it like to clean?

All the accessories are dishwasher safe and have non-stick coatings too, making for quick and easy hand washing. So general cleaning is straightforward enough. But the shiny touch control panel gets marked quite quickly with greasy fingerprints so I had to keep buffing it to make sure it looked clean and pristine on my worktop.

How does it compare to other air fryers on the market?

If you’re not buying this Dreo for the smart chef mode, then you really should consider some of the other, cheaper options on the market. For example, the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 which has the same cooking capacity. Along with the main air fry function, this model still offers multiple cooking modes such as roast, bake, grill, and reheat. However, it’s frequently on offer at under £100, so will save you a chunk of cash.

Or you could consider the Ninja Combi, this incredibly versatile multi-cooker might not have a meat probe, but it takes steam cooking to the next level. Plus, it can do all kinds of clever combi cooking where it’ll brown proteins while simultaneously cooking up pasta or rice. It can also air fry, slow cook, bake and so much more, but it’s not cheap.

Should you buy the Dreo ChefMaker?

My first thought is that if you can’t cook, or you’re learning to cook, the Dreo ChefMaker can help fastrack your ability to create tasty and impressive meals by removing the guesswork from cooking perfect meat, fish, and vegetables.

But even the most confident cook might not know how to translate their knowledge and skills into air fryer cooking. So in this instance the chef mode will help you to transition from more traditional cooking methods to this style of cooking.

The downside is that it’s expensive, and it’s also worth pointing out that if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, most of the smart functions that utilise the cooking probe, will be of little use to you. Similarly, families are likely to need a larger capacity air fryer to meet their needs. These issues aside, it’s a great all-rounder if you can justify the price tag.

About this review, and the reviewer

After completing a Home Economics degree, Helen went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and has been reviewing home appliances ever since. She lives in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK, where she reviews all sorts of home and garden appliances using her wealth of experience.

Despite having reviewed so many air fryers she’s totally lost count, Helen still welcomes the opportunity to try the latest and greatest models. She set the Dreo up in her own kitchen and spent a week putting it through its paces.