Breville just introduced a way to upgrade your cooking skills and save kitchen counter space with an intelligent multi-function kitchen appliance. The Breville Combi Wave 3-in-1 is a combines the functions of an air fryer, convection oven, and microwave oven. The Combi Wave joins Breville’s Smart Oven lineup.
You can use each of the Combi Wave’s functions separately or take advantage of Fast Combi mode. Fast Combi is a smart cooking method that automatically combines convection cooking, grilling, and microwave to reach and hold the desired temperature.
The Combi Wave comes with a trivet (a round wire rack with three rubber-tipped feet) and a crisper pan that has three foldable legs so it can be used either low (legs folded) or high (legs extended).
I had the chance to use a Breville Combi Wave before its launch and prepared (and consumed) more than a dozen recipes from Breville’s Inspiration site.
The stainless steel Combi Wave measures 20.4-inches wide x 20.2-inches deep x 12.5-inches high. Inside there’s a 12.2-inch diameter turntable and an overall 1.1-cubic foot cooking capacity. The oven comes with a trivet and a crisper pan. The trivet is a 9.75-inch diameter round wire rack with three rubber-tipped feet. The 11.5-inch diameter x 2-inch high crisper pan has three foldable legs.
You’ll notice the Combi Wave is quieter than most microwave or convection ovens (Breville says it’s 80% quieter). What surprised me was how little noise the oven’s soft-close door makes when the mechanism pulls itself closed the last inch or so.
I wondered how complicated it would be to use the Combi Wave’s various features, especially the signature Fast Combi mode. I was pleased to find that operating the Breville was easy thanks to a comprehensive menu system on the oven’s LCD screen, six function buttons, and two main dial-type buttons that control most operations.
The function buttons are Fast Combi, Microwave, Air Fry, Oven, From Frozen, and Food Menu. After you press one of the function buttons and set the temperature and cooking time, the LCD screen displays directions for each step. The From Frozen button cooks in two stages, using the various oven functions as needed depending on the food and quantity you select.
There’s also a helpful column of 12 shortcut buttons just inside the door for essential tasks like making popcorn, melting chocolate, and softening butter. There are two small buttons on the front, A Bit More, which cooks for a little more time, depending on the mode, and a turntable rotation toggle switch.
I followed Breville’s instructions for the Combi Wave to cook a variety of recipes, including air fries, banana bread, panko-breaded shrimp, loaded potatoes, artichoke frittata, triple chocolate brownies, and more.
There were no recipe bombs or flameouts, and the test recipe results were so successful I only managed to get photos of a few. My favorites by far were the panko shrimp and air fries, although the triple chocolate brownies also made quite an impression while they lasted.
There were no surprises while cooking, and the oven functioned as expected, although I used the “A Bit More” button with the air fries and the banana bread.
The Breville Combi Wave 3-in-1 oven retails for $450 and will be available at Best Buy and on Breville’s website through the holidays, after which it will be sold by retailers nationwide.
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