Review- These things came one after another. Okay, this is a father joke in every comment. But, to be honest, we tend to review many similar products at the same time. Sometimes they are variants of robot vacuum cleaners, and sometimes they are collections of power distribution blocks. Today’s taste is air fryer. Oops, two dads are jokes-I hope the human resources department will visit soon. In any case, the NuWave Brio 15.5QT air fryer is my first foray into the exciting world of less frying. How does this device compare to other devices? Please read carefully to find out…
What is it?
As the name suggests, the NuWave Brio 15.5QT air fryer is a convection oven and can double as an air fryer under appropriate conditions. However, compared to competitors, this is huge. Most air fryer has a capacity of about 6 quarts, but Brio has up to 15.5 quarts of air frying fun. In addition, Brio also comes with a barbecue grill attachment-but will be described in detail later.
What’s in the box?
- NuWave Brio 15.5QT Air Fryer
- A shallow and a flat wire frame
- A drip tray
- A barbecue rod and cage to keep your food in place
- Temperature probe
- A recipe book
- Various instructions and safety manuals
Design and features
Did I mention how big this is? Just in case, let me say now: This is a huge air fryer. It is only 13 inches deep, 15.5 inches wide and 17 inches high. This will take up a lot of counter space in your kitchen, weighing up to 26 pounds, and it is not recommended to put it in a cabinet between uses. As you can see in the first picture above, there is approximately a 2 inch gap between the top of the Brio and the bottom of the upper cabinet. Thankfully, Brio does not emit a lot of heat when it is running (unlike other air fryer), so you should be safe-but keep in mind that your mileage may vary.
Brio has standard temperature control (the temperature range of the oven is 60-400 degrees Fahrenheit) and provides a preheating mode to adjust the oven to the temperature before placing food. The shelf has 3 positions, and there is a position at the bottom for the drip tray. Due to the size of this fryer (did I mention that it is large), Brio also has a glass panel door and an internal light, which is unfortunately located above and to the left of the on/off button. The button board is very sensitive, I can’t tell you how often I turn on or off the light and accidentally turn off the fryer during the cooking process, which made me try to find the correct time and temperature to finish cooking.
Let’s get into actual cooking. When it comes to fried food, what do you think of first? Sorry, that is incorrect-the correct answer is tater tots. This is where we started-onion-flavored mashed potatoes.
Quickly add avocado oil and a pinch of salt, then put it in a 400 degree deep fryer for 10 minutes. The shelf with the child is located in the second position from the top position to keep it in the position where the heating element and the fan to circulate the air will produce the best results. Ten minutes later, I pulled them out, put them on the paper tray, and then went to clean the shelf. At this time…
Obviously, they are perfect. My wife and a friend of ours took responsibility for the team and ran a taste test on the children before I took the picture. At least they left me some.
So, assuming this test is successful, it’s time to try something more interesting. I want to roast chicken, but I can’t. Why, you might ask? Because even though this fryer is large (I may have mentioned it), its interior is much smaller than you think. It is a reverse TARDIS or maybe just a real world object. After going to 3 shops, I couldn’t find the whole fresh chicken suitable for rotisserie. The rotisserie itself is about 10 inches long, and I just couldn’t find a whole chicken that fits on the grill rod without touching the sides of the oven.
Plan B. Add salt and anchovy chili powder to the chicken thighs.
Again, quickly inject avocado oil with the help of a temperature probe and put it in the oven.
The probe is inserted into the front panel and the door is closed on it. The PROBE button on the front sets the internal temperature target, so there is no need to guess the time. Set the probe temperature to 165 degrees, set the oven temperature to 380 degrees and insert the probe into the thigh (chicken, not mine).
This is where things start to go off track. After preheating and placing the chicken in the oven, the cooking cycle begins. A few minutes later, I pressed the front LIGHT button to take this photo. When I went to turn off the light, I gently wiped the on/off button and turned off the oven. I reset everything and started again. Later in this cycle, I did it again. I swear I am not so dumb, the touchpad is very sensitive.
Anyway, when the thighs reached 165 degrees, I took them out of the oven.
Frankly speaking, they are the worst chicken thighs I have ever seen. They look almost cooked, not fried, and not fully cooked. The second meat thermometer confirmed that they were actually 165 degrees and cut into thighs. They appeared inside and were fully cooked. Taste wise, even though they have a fair amount of anchovy seasoning, they are tender but bland.
what do I like
- Brio is well-made, no matter how sensitive the touchpad is
- The temperature probe included is a good touch
What will i change
- Height is wide, your choices in rotisserie food are very limited
- The SEAR button doesn’t actually burn anything
- Move the LIGHT button to another position on the touchpad
Final thoughts
It is difficult to figure out who this air fryer is for. First, its size may exclude it from the kitchen of ordinary people. From the right perspective, we took my wife’s Nespresso coffee machine and my “space-saving” Keurig off the counter, just to get this. We just can’t find any cabinet space anywhere to store it between uses.
Even if Brio has a large footprint, it still feels strangely small when you want to cook. At 15.5 quarts, I guess I can cook enough food to eat two or more meals for my wife and myself. Not so-because chicken thighs are often small, I can cook 5 of them. But if we want chicken breasts, we can hardly get 2 in the deep fryer at a time. So this is not a good solution for a large family, and it is basically enough for 2 people.
Finally, there is the appearance factor. Fresh meats such as beef or chicken (without breadcrumbs or other coatings) look unattractive. Root vegetables come out very well, but others, such as Brussels sprouts (stir-fried with bacon cubes), look like a frustrated version when they come out. Appearance is a major factor, and unless you cook something that will brown or become crispy yourself, you will not be able to use this fryer.
When I first received the Brio for review, I could easily find it on the NuWave website. Today, when I write this article, the fryer no longer appears on their product page (its little brother, the 14.4 quart version, still appears). The following links are only available through Google search. I just can’t find the deep fryer through their own navigation, which is rarely a good sign.
All in all, I like the idea of an air fryer, such as French fries or frozen chicken strips. I’m just not sure what else I can do that looks like what I want to eat. On Amazon for $164.99 ($199.99 on the NuWave website, bundled with the pressure cooker, assuming it is still available because it is difficult to find) and strange size issues, you can certainly find a normal size fryer Don’t chew your entire counter.
Price: 164.99 USD Amazon, $199.99 New wave
Where to buy: Amazon
source: The sample for this review is made by New wave
