Following the current market trend of inventive kitchen tools, which can make you cook with the use of minimum oil, comes this stylish gadget called Halogen Oven. It can be placed along the lines of air fryers, but it provides much more substance than them. This oven not only brings you a solution for oil-free frying but also a long list of other cooking techniques.Going by the name, one would assume that the halogen oven is primarily meant for baking and roasting, but as you explore, you will realise that it is also useful in slow cooking, braising and frying.It has a look of a space ship, especially when you put the power on, the halogen bulb inside it lights up as if it is going to take off any moment. The InfinitiCook is a smart, trendy looking gadget and would improve your kitchen aesthetics wherever it is installed. It is light, portable and takes a little less than the amount of space an OTG would.
(Kitchen Appliances Review: The Best Toaster In India)
How it Works
The oven has a halogen bulb with a motor fan on its lid. When the oven is turned on, the heat passes onto the food from all the sides, thus evenly cooking it. It has a glass bowl so the food which is being cooked can be easily seen and the progress supervised. The oven has a very simple operational style and needs just a few buttons to carry out the functions. One needs to open the lid, place the food in the correct rack, close the lid, choose the time and temperature, and put it on. There are a few preset buttons to cook different types of food like cakes, pizzas and fish, but we suggest you use them as a reference only and go by your own judgement to cook the food.(Roast Chicken with Apricot & Mint Stuffing)It does take a while to get used to choosing which rack or plates to use to cook different types of foods. There are around 6-8 attachments which come along with it to assist in cooking. The manual suggests which ones to use for best results. In the beginning you might have to go through the manual more than 4-5 times to get a hang of the plates and racks, but once you understand the principle, it should be a cake walk.(Kitchen Gadgets Review: The iKettle - A World off Its Rocker)Cooking with ItWe tried cooking a range of foodstuffs in the oven. Our first attempt was roasting a batch of potato wedges. We placed the wedges on the rack and let them roast for a few minutes before changing the sides to cook the bottom half. The result was perfect as the wedges were baked really well, had a nice golden colour, perfectly crisp from outside and soft from inside.(Home Appliances: The Basics to Buying the Right Refrigerator)Next we tried making a pizza, which had a golden, bubbling, oozing cheesy effect on its surface but the base could have been a little crispier - the base was faint brown as compared to a well-cooked, brick oven variety.(10 Fun Products Every Kitchen Needs)The French fries we tried next were surely a winner. The ready-to-fry chips were crisp and golden and we didn’t need to add even a drop of oil. A few of the sticks did manage to fall off the rack and into the glass bowl beneath, so you need to be a little careful of how you place them. The chicken nuggets we fried didn’t brown as evenly as the fries but we were still happy because of the fact that they didn’t consume any excess oil.We even tried baking bread rolls, and they came out nice and soft, with an even browning on the surface. Our next attempt was baking a ready-mix cake according to the preset buttons on the oven, but it didn’t work out too well for us. The top cracked very soon and the insides were still raw. So, the next batch we baked, we did it according to the pack instructions and it came out perfectly moist with a smooth surface.(Kitchen Appliance Review: The Best Refrigerator In India)The ConclusionThe InfinitCook halogen oven is a great gadget if you are looking for something chic and trendy to spruce up your kitchen. It is good for healthy cooking, and its multiple functions help you stir up various dishes. However, if you are picky about perfection, especially when it comes to crispness, which is a trademark of deep-frying, it may disappoint a little as you may be happier with your old-style OTG or kadai. But imagine the amount of greasy oil that you are cutting down on!Another positive of the oven is its cleaning; the base bowl which holds all the drippings can be taken out and cleaned with soap and water, which is difficult in an OTG.The brand claims that the oven uses 80 percent less power than conventional ovens and also the time taken to cook is much lesser. However, in our case, we found that the time taken was almost the same as a regular OTG in terms of baking.Market price: Rs. 9995Disclaimer:The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
(Kitchen Appliances Review: The Best Toaster In India)
How it Works
The oven has a halogen bulb with a motor fan on its lid. When the oven is turned on, the heat passes onto the food from all the sides, thus evenly cooking it. It has a glass bowl so the food which is being cooked can be easily seen and the progress supervised. The oven has a very simple operational style and needs just a few buttons to carry out the functions. One needs to open the lid, place the food in the correct rack, close the lid, choose the time and temperature, and put it on. There are a few preset buttons to cook different types of food like cakes, pizzas and fish, but we suggest you use them as a reference only and go by your own judgement to cook the food.(Roast Chicken with Apricot & Mint Stuffing)It does take a while to get used to choosing which rack or plates to use to cook different types of foods. There are around 6-8 attachments which come along with it to assist in cooking. The manual suggests which ones to use for best results. In the beginning you might have to go through the manual more than 4-5 times to get a hang of the plates and racks, but once you understand the principle, it should be a cake walk.(Kitchen Gadgets Review: The iKettle - A World off Its Rocker)Cooking with It
We tried cooking a range of foodstuffs in the oven. Our first attempt was roasting a batch of potato wedges. We placed the wedges on the rack and let them roast for a few minutes before changing the sides to cook the bottom half. The result was perfect as the wedges were baked really well, had a nice golden colour, perfectly crisp from outside and soft from inside.(Home Appliances: The Basics to Buying the Right Refrigerator)Next we tried making a pizza, which had a golden, bubbling, oozing cheesy effect on its surface but the base could have been a little crispier - the base was faint brown as compared to a well-cooked, brick oven variety.
(10 Fun Products Every Kitchen Needs)The French fries we tried next were surely a winner. The ready-to-fry chips were crisp and golden and we didn’t need to add even a drop of oil. A few of the sticks did manage to fall off the rack and into the glass bowl beneath, so you need to be a little careful of how you place them. The chicken nuggets we fried didn’t brown as evenly as the fries but we were still happy because of the fact that they didn’t consume any excess oil.
We even tried baking bread rolls, and they came out nice and soft, with an even browning on the surface. Our next attempt was baking a ready-mix cake according to the preset buttons on the oven, but it didn’t work out too well for us. The top cracked very soon and the insides were still raw. So, the next batch we baked, we did it according to the pack instructions and it came out perfectly moist with a smooth surface.
(Kitchen Appliance Review: The Best Refrigerator In India)The ConclusionThe InfinitCook halogen oven is a great gadget if you are looking for something chic and trendy to spruce up your kitchen. It is good for healthy cooking, and its multiple functions help you stir up various dishes. However, if you are picky about perfection, especially when it comes to crispness, which is a trademark of deep-frying, it may disappoint a little as you may be happier with your old-style OTG or kadai. But imagine the amount of greasy oil that you are cutting down on!Another positive of the oven is its cleaning; the base bowl which holds all the drippings can be taken out and cleaned with soap and water, which is difficult in an OTG.The brand claims that the oven uses 80 percent less power than conventional ovens and also the time taken to cook is much lesser. However, in our case, we found that the time taken was almost the same as a regular OTG in terms of baking.Market price: Rs. 9995Disclaimer:The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.Advertisement