Cuisinart TOA-70<\/a> oven, which seems to add a light crispness to kinda everything. I always wondered whether the much larger size of each Breville oven’s interior didn’t allow air to whip around well enough, the way it does in a little basket air fryer that’s basically a single-purpose catch-basin for hot air. If Breville made a smaller oven air fryer, I figured, the basket could get better circulation.<\/p>\nEnter the Smart Oven Air Fryer Compact, Breville’s smallest and lowest-cost air fryer model yet. The company began rolling the device out softly at the beginning of March. The 1,800-watt Compact is a good oven overall, with a number of very smart features, especially on the preset front. I don’t often like preset buttons for individual dishes, but I actually kinda love them here. The Compact is also versatile for its size, with three (or really kinda six) rack positions, an air fryer basket, a roasting pan that doubles as a grease catcher, and a broiler rack.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nBut size didn’t turn out to be the answer when it came to crispy fries and wings.<\/p>\n
Smart Oven, Smart Features<\/h2>\n
First off, here’s what’s great about the Smart Oven Air Fryer Compact. Across its appliance line, Breville has made an art out of the elegant hand-hold, little smart bits of automation, and convenience that offer genuine utility to home cooks. This compact air fryer oven is no different.<\/p>\n
The air fryer presets are the exact three things that an American audience will most often want in an air fryer oven preset: wings, fries, bacon. These are the food of the Rust Belt and the Midwest, of plains states and football fans. This is air fryer country. The correct rack position for each preset is helpfully marked on the interior of the oven, but especially what’s helpful is the customization of each dish.<\/p>\n\n![\"Smart](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\")
![\"Smart](\"https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/67f59da63f3a1ba033b273e1\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/SmartOvenAirFryerCompact_BOV680_Photography_Image3_-SOURCE-Breville.jpg\")
![\"Smart](\"https:\/\/media.wired.com\/photos\/67f59de03900a3ec308b727d\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/Breviller-Compact_detail-on-dial_Photo-SOURCE-Matthew-Korfhage.jpg\")