GeoSmartPro air fryer review

What are you able to add to an air fryer to encourage individuals to award it a few of their restricted kitchen countertop area? Some producers go for additional cooking strategies, similar to a rotisserie perform or grill. However that’s not the one option to go.

Once I was testing the GeoSmartPro, I discussed to a colleague that I used to be having points getting an air fryer linked to my Wi-Fi.

Instantly, he responded: “Why does an air fryer must be on-line?”

It’s an affordable query, and one cheap reply can be: it doesn’t. Nevertheless it does create a degree of distinction between one equipment and rival fashions. Much less cynically, it opens up some new potentialities, similar to distant operation, cooking alerts delivered to your telephone, and in-app recipes with computerized cooking occasions.

The GeoSmartPro isn’t the primary good air fryer we’ve examined. We’ve additionally seemed on the extra budget-friendly fashions, Xiaomi’s Mi Sensible Air Fryer and the Proscenic T21. However to get the GeoSmartPro’s good options, you’ll must pay extra. So, are they price it?

Design & Construct

• 8-litre capability
• Touchscreen show
• Shake alert however no preserve heat setting

It’s odd to assume that an equipment as fashionable as an air fryer can have a conventional type, nevertheless it does. Most unique air fryers have been cylindrical, with a single, pull-out drawer and that’s fairly near the GeoSmartPro’s construct.

It’s a squat, sizeable (39.9 x 30 x 30.5cm) equipment, with rounded-off edges and a brilliant LED show on the entrance, above a single-drawer cooking area. The door has a glass panel and the oven has an inside gentle, so you’ll be able to see how your meals is getting on.

It solely is available in black, like most air fryers, which implies it’ll really feel like a hulking countertop presence.

The GeoSmartPro has an 8-litre capability, that means that you should utilize it to make a family-sized portion of meals. You may also purchase equipment for it, together with silicone baking cups and a liner, and baking trays for muffins, though these add-ons can get dear.

Inside, it’s non-stick coated and comes with an aerated tray for the bottom, which can be positioned increased within the drawer for smaller parts of meals. Set-up is straightforward. You’ll simply want to connect the drawer deal with and wash and dry the inside of the cooking compartment. The basket and tray are dishwasher-safe, however as with all air fryers, we wouldn’t advocate placing them within the dishwasher too typically.

It’s managed through a touchscreen show with keys for time/temperature (which you then modify through the + and – buttons), begin/pause, energy and a menu key. There are eight cooking preset icons however you’ll be able to’t select them by urgent on the icon itself – you’ll want to make use of the menu button and scroll by, which isn’t fairly as useful.

It doesn’t have a preserve heat perform but when your meals must be turned over or shaken up midway by, it does beep to provide you with a warning to this.

When you’ve got the good options enabled, it’ll even ship a textual content alert to your telephone, though it’s verbose and weirdly translated: “Flip the pot to remind. The meals has been cooked for a time period. Please verify the cooking standing of the meals in time and switch the pot / aspect of the meals moderately.”

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The alert may as simply have learn: “Shake”.

The air fryer has a loud beep everytime you press a button, or to let you realize when to shake or flip your meals, and a sequence of 5 beeps when the cooking programme has completed. The beeps are loud sufficient to be heard from the following room, which is nice information if you’re within the subsequent room – a lot much less so if you’re standing proper subsequent to the equipment. There’s no choice to mute it.

App, Efficiency & Options

• Eight presets for various meals varieties
• In-app recipes will be hit and miss
• Doesn’t produce the crispiest outcomes

Many air fryers have presets similar to bake, roast, air fry, dehydrate – helpful, as they’re centered on the cooking end result you need. The GeoSmartPro doesn’t. As an alternative, its presets specify meals varieties: hen leg, steak, fish, cake, pizza, sausage, chips, bacon.

The issue is deciding on a setting if you wish to prepare dinner one thing that’s not specified on the above checklist. There’s some assist in the handbook, which has a desk of instructed cooking occasions and temperatures, nevertheless it’s fairly imprecise and never very complete.

That is the place its good recipe function ought to, in principle, come in useful.

The GeoSmartPro app accommodates 60 from-scratch recipes you’ll be able to browse and comply with. Most are easy dishes similar to baked potatoes, grilled cheese, egg toast or pita bread pizza, however a number of are extra difficult, like blended berry turnovers.

When you’ve ready the dish in keeping with directions, put it within the air fryer. Then press ‘Begin’ on the foot of the recipe web page within the app, and the proper cooking time and temperature will likely be chosen.  

Good in principle. Issues begin to crumble, although, if you realise that a number of the recipes don’t contain an air fryer in any respect, just like the one for wild mushroom gravy, which requires use of a skillet, whisk and hob – however no air fryer. Mmm. Air fryer gravy. It’s mind-boggling that it’s there in any respect.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Clearly, we’d count on to see included recipes optimised for air fryer cooking. That’s why it’s additionally curious that a number of the recipes specify that you simply pre-heat the air fryer – when the GeoSmartPro has no pre-heat setting.

The good options don’t really feel properly thought out or built-in usefully into its performance. And the recipes themselves are hit or miss.

The primary good recipe I attempted was for potato wedges – and it uncovered a key downside with the air fryer. I ready them exactly in keeping with the recipe and began the air fryer utilizing the app. After they’d completed cooking, they appeared completely executed – however they weren’t crispy in any respect. The recipe instructed that for crispier outcomes, you must add one other 5-10 minutes of cooking time. So I did. 5 minutes later, the resultant wedges have been blistered and barely overdone – and nonetheless not crispy.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

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The following good recipe I attempted was for roast potatoes, once more utilizing the instructed time and temperature. The end result was the identical. They have been properly cooked, however not crunchy. In an effort to crisp them up, I cooked them for longer and ended up with one other non-delicious waste of potato.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

However for those who’re cooking meals with much less moisture content material, like a cheese toastie, you’ll get crispy, crunchy outcomes. Typical beige air fryer meals like nuggets and fries come out fairly properly too. Simply don’t depend on the good recipes.

Worth & Availability

The actual problem with the GeoSmartPro air fryer is its value. With an RRP of £189.99 and a day-to-day value of £169.99, it’s one of many costlier air fryers we’ve examined. You should buy it from Amazon, or direct from GeoSmartPro.

Whereas it has a big, 8-litre capability, it’s not anyplace close to as enormous as an air fryer oven, neither is it multifunctional, neither is it dual-drawer – because the pricier fashions we’ve examined are. To see air fryers with these options and all of our high suggestions, take a look at our round-up of the very best air fryers we’ve examined.

Do you have to purchase the GeoSmartPro air fryer?

The GeoSmartPro is capacious and simple to make use of. Its good options may show useful for those who’d like alerts to your telephone when your meals is cooked, moderately than listening out for a distant beep, otherwise you need the choice to set the air fryer going remotely. Keep in mind, although, that distant operation is proscribed in its usefulness by the truth that you’ll want to put the meals into the equipment within the first place – and it’s not a good suggestion to depart most issues at room temperature for very lengthy.

That leaves the good recipes, which aren’t actually as good as they need to be.

Altogether, it’s a bit too costly for what it presents, and if you would like one, we’d advocate ready for the value to return down before you purchase.