The Lotus Air Fryer and Convection Oven is definitely a winner for me as a convenient counter top oven for baking, toasting, and broiling with a bonus of air frying. In this article you’ll learn about the functions of the product, the product dimensions, the pros and cons, and my experience with testing it by baking and air frying.
What is the Lotus Perfectionist Air Fry and Convection Oven?
The Lotus Air Fryer and Convection Oven is a large countertop convection oven and air fryer. It’s functional enough that I read online that it can replace an oven all together.
It has the same features in a smaller capacity as full scale ovens that costs thousands. For example, it can air fry a whole chicken, and it has a probe feature, which is a thermometer probe connected to the oven that tells the oven when meat meets the desired internal temperature. When your meal gets to the right internal temperature, the probe tells the oven to automatically shut off.
The oven also has baking, broiling, and toasting functions.
How was my experience testing the air fry, bagel / toast and bake modes?
I’ve used the air fry function multiple times since unboxing. The first meal I made was a whole, medium chicken. I sprayed the outer skin with avocado oil and put dried chilies under the skin. I surrounded the chicken with quartered baby potatoes and carrots, put it in the oven and pressed the start button twice to begin cooking. After 30 minutes, I flipped the chicken to cook both sides. The meat came out so tender. The vegetables were wonderful but a little charred. (Next time, I’ll check on the veggies more because they cook faster and rotate them.) Since then, I’ve made veggies quite a few times with a 10 to 15 minute cooking time.
The toast function is fairly versatile. You can toast up to 6 slices of varying thickness. You can also decide how light or dark you’d like your toast or bagel to be. I sliced a challah loaf in both 1-inch and 2-inch slices to test it. While probably not the best pan to use, I used the air fry pain to toast both sides. You can also place bread directly on the racks and use the drip pan to catch crumbs. The toast came out toasty, but I did need a couple of tries to get it to the medium-brown color I wanted.
I used the baking pan to make both cupcakes and cookies at about 350 degrees. I was able to fit about eight medium cupcakes or cookies on the pan. Both came out perfectly. It was similar to an oven in terms of timing with the bonus of being able to view the cookies and cupcakes cooking from eye level.
Pros
- It fits a whole chicken. I cooked a medium chicken with the air fryer function. Small air fryers can’t do this.
- It comes in a wide variety of functions. It’s not just an air fryer, it’s an extra oven for when cooking for dinner parties or holidays. You can broil, bake, toast, or air fry with one appliance.
- The counter top design is ergonomic. A feature that isn’t discussed enough is it’s wonderful for anyone with difficulty bending.
- It’s built to live on countertops. I’ve read reviews of other ovens being hot enough to warp wood. I still put a silicone mat under it, but it’s not needed.
- It cooks meat to the desired temperature and then stops. If you use the probe thermometer, the oven will cook food to the desired temperature for that kind of meat.
- It can heat up faster than a full size oven. Because it’s smaller than a full size oven, it could rise to the desired temperature faster.
Cons
- You have to turn or flip food. While you would have to do this in an oven, you wouldn’t in a small air fryer.
- Longer cooking times than an air fryer. Smaller appliances can cook food faster, but you can cook so many more foods with this larger option.
- It needs a lot of counter space. I have the counter space because of my kitchen cart. Without it, I wouldn’t have enough space if I removed all other appliances from my counter.
- It’s pricey. An air fryer will likely set you back less than $100.
Specifications
- Price: $799.00 at Williams Sonoma.
- Dimensions: 22 1/2" wide x 16 3/4" deep x 12 3/4" high.
- Racks and pans includes: 2 racks, baking pan, broil rack, air fry basket and air fry tray.
Unboxing Tips:
- Make sure you have everything. There’s a list of parts in the manual. You’l want to make sure you have all the racks, pans, and the temperature probe.
- Unbox from an angle and a low height. Don’t flip it over. You don’t want to drop the item on the floor.
- Get a second person to help if possible. This isn’t a light weight item. It will help to both carry the item into your home and to unbox it to have a second person helping.
Who is this product for
- Someone who has trouble bending or would otherwise benefit from an eye level oven.
- Someone who wants an air fryer feature for larger items and doesn’t have the feature in their current oven.
- Someone whose oven is on the fritz, and a smaller model will fill the gap until you get a new oven.
- A professional chef or someone who throws a lot of dinner parties where oven space just isn’t enough.
Who shouldn’t buy this product
- You shouldn’t buy this product if you want just an air fryer, and you don’t need one that can make a whole chicken. You can get an air fryer for $100 or less.
- You don’t see yourself using the other features. No matter what the one feature is that you’ll use, it may not be worth it if you just want a toaster oven.
- You don’t have the counter or kitchen cart space. I wouldn’t have space for this item in my home if I didn’t have a kitchen cart.
In My Expert Opinion
I received the appliance as a review product from Hamilton Beach, the company that makes the Lotus brand. My eyes widened at the list price for the $799, until I watched reviews and used the appliance. It can do so much, and I do like to host dinner parties.
Overall, it’s a great appliance to have. I’ve used it as a fun oven to watch cooking at near eye level. I can safely say I use it at least every day or two. My biggest learning lesson was making sure I pressed the start button the correct number of times. For instance, when a mode has started and you set a timer, you will have to set the start button again after setting the timer. To start a mode, you’ll press it twice. I also had to learn by practice when to flip or rotate foods in air fry mode. Especially when cooking the first few times, take a look every few minutes.
