Smeg Multifunction Countertop Oven review

Air fryers, steamers and other small appliances: Smeg’s 10-in-1 Multifunction Countertop Oven seeks to replace them all while providing a similar amount of capacity to a combi microwave. To which end, it features a water tank on top, so that it can steam food, and an air fry setting, plus a perforated tray.

However, it’s not just functionality that this countertop oven brings to the table: it boasts a menu of preset programmes, allowing you to do everything from proofing dough and baking, to roasting potatoes and steaming veg.

Design & Build

• Overhangs a standard kitchen counter when open
• Huge capacity
• Multifunction controls

Those with small kitchens may struggle to make space for the 10-in-1 Multifunction Countertop Oven: it’s a whopping 50cm/19.75in wide and deep, with a height of 40cm/15.5in that means it might not fit below wall units (plus the 800ml/27oz water tank on top needs to be accessible). With the door down, it takes up the entire depth of a standard 60cm worktop and goes over the edge.

It also weighs a hefty 17.5kg/38.5lbs, so be sure to find it a permanent home. If you do have the space, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the 30-litre/32QT cavity: there’ll be no compromising on the size of a joint of meat or cake, which can be a common issue for countertop ovens.

On the outside, it’s more attractive than most: finished in glossy cream or black – although there are more colour options in the US – there are just two control knobs with buttons in the centre, giving it a pleasing symmetry.

Varying combinations of turning the knobs and pressing the buttons allows you to select either one of its standard cooking modes (which include combi steam as well as defrost), or one of the preset recipe programmes, plus food weights and a timer.

In the middle, there’s a screen to show what’s been selected, although abbreviations and symbols means you’ll need to keep the manual to hand for a while. There’s no shortage of power though: its 1800W translates to a 900W grill, 700W lower heating element and a temperature range of 40-230°C/104-445°F.

Performance & Features

• No suggested timings for steaming
• Timer can be adjusted during cooking
• Oven and accessories difficult to clean

One of the Multifunction Countertop Oven’s most appealing aspects is its versatility, followed closely by the amount of cooking space inside. This makes it ideal for medium-sized households and families who either often need a second oven, or are keen to try different methods without buying multiple appliances or upgrading an existing oven. It would also be great for renters.

We began our testing by steaming fresh broccoli using the pure steam cooking setting and the perforated tray. The temperature can be altered but we went with 100% steam for faster cooking. The oven heated up and beeped when it was ready to add food.

There’s no guidance for times for steaming different foods, but we estimated 15 minutes would suffice. We found the timer quite awkward to set – it wasn’t clear how it could be set while heating up, but we were able to set it once the oven had started cooking. A separate timer button would be useful.

One of the Multifunction Countertop Oven’s most appealing aspects is its versatility

After the time had elapsed, the broccoli was still a little firm but edible, and retained its bright green colour. We liked that you could add or subtract time to the timer while the oven was cooking, and that the timer paused when the oven door was opened.

Next, we made chips using washed and dried potato pieces tossed in a small amount of oil, using the air fry setting. Once the oven had heated up, these were distributed across the hot perforated tray and cooked for 27 minutes on 230°C. The chips were turned halfway through cooking.

However, many of them stuck to the tray and were difficult to clean off afterwards. We had to soak and scrub the tray with a non-scratch brush to remove the debris as the instructions advise against dishwasher cleaning for any of the accessories.

We found the inability to easily clean the oven frustrating, and felt it could be a barrier to using it often

One of the Chef recipe programmes is for a whole roast chicken: this uses a combination of steam and conventional cooking. However, it’s limited by the weight of the bird: our chicken weighed 1.62kg, but the maximum option for this programme is 1.5kg. We chose this weight and it estimated 1hr 22 minutes of cooking.

Once at temperature, we liked that the programme started to count down automatically (for standard cooking you have to start the time counting down yourself).

When the programme had finished, we found the chicken was actually overcooked and fell apart when we were removing it from the enamelled tray. However, the meat wasn’t dry and the skin was dark brown and crisp. The tray also needed soaking and scrubbing as before.

Cooking the chicken and chips caused a fair amount of burnt-on grease to be left in the cavity. Running the oven’s steam function helps with softening some of it for cleaning, but overall, we found that it took several rounds of this and plenty of scrubbing to sufficiently clean it away. We found the inability to easily clean the oven frustrating, and felt it could be a barrier to using it often.

Price & Availability

Complicated controls, size and cleaning issues aside, the real issue with the Smeg oven is its extraordinary price. Granted, you’ll always pay a little more for Smeg kitchen appliances thanks to their sleek, covetable designs, but when compared to other multifunctional countertop ovens, the difference is huge.

In the UK, it’s available for £849.95, and you can buy it direct from Smeg and Freemans at this price. At the time of writing, The Appliance Depot is selling it for just £769 – but this is still wildly expensive when compared to rival models.

Its US price is similarly high. It’s $999.95 from Wayfair, Crate and Barrel and Williams-Sonoma.

The most expensive appliances that we’d recommend in our round-up of the best air fryer ovens we’ve tested are less than half the price of the Smeg oven. If you can manage with a little less space, without the Smeg design and the steam setting, there are excellent alternatives available.

Should you buy the Smeg Multifunction Countertop Oven?

Smeg’s 10-in-1 Multifunction Countertop Oven is appealing in a lot of ways. It’s more attractive than most countertop ovens, offers more space inside than many, and the variety of functions provide excellent flexibility: we were happy for the most part with the actual cooking.

However, there’s a trade-off for its beauty and brains. It’s far from easy to programme – without the instructions, a new user is likely to be puzzled – devilishly difficult to keep spotlessly clean, and be prepared to say goodbye to a decent chunk of your kitchen worktop.