Nuwave Bravo Pro Smart 21QT Toaster Oven

I love this oven – mainly because of its flexibility and high temperature (to 500 degrees). Over 450 allows only the broil mode (top elements) to work, however. It heats quickly and sounds/looks good (I like the fan sound) with an appealing blue display. Many cook modes and adjustable racks. It’s only slightly larger than my old oven yet accommodates larger pans and cook area. I almost never use my full-size convection oven these days.

However there are things I do not like and might have caused me to return it if it didn’t cook so well. First, the settings/control knob are cumbersome. The way in which you “dial” the cooking mode then press the dial to enter that mode and then have to press another button to switch between time/temp make little sense to me. I’m always accidentally turning it off when I think I’m engaging a cook mode. The power button is on the bottom right and the cook mode selector is on the top of the same cluster, then the rotating knob in the center…it seems over-engineered. I had to read the manual several times to program the default settings so I could not only figure this out but set the time to show minutes and seconds over the default minutes only. There are many configuration setting which I like, again, contributing to me keeping it because I can set it for my needs. The interior light is awesome, too.

The custom heating modes are the best I have seen. You can program (per use – simply and with one button) the top/bottom element heating ratio. The default is 50/50 for baking. You can infinitely change from 100% top to 100% bottom heating. I love that. Combine that with adjustable racks and you can really fine-tune how the cooking is regulated. Fantastic! You can set defaults for this, as well as default temp (when you first turn it on the baking default temp is 360). You can set a default for preheat before the timer kicks in or not. It’s really feature-laden for this stuff and if you make certain foods all the time that have specific temps/settings it’s awesome. Do other ovens do this? I don’t know but I haven’t seen any that do.

The adjustable racks are great but I bought it with a searing tray (it’s very heavy which is great), but there was no baking tray with it. What? I got a air-fry basket but no baking tray. The manual shows baking cookies and things on the tray but they don’t include it. I was going to return the whole thing because of that alone, but when I called the manufacturer about this omission they said you can purchase the tray separately for around $47 + $11 shipping. For an aluminum cooking tray that is non-standard? I was teed but then the offered it at no charge (I still had to pay shipping). Fine. But I’ve never seen a small oven NOT include one. Absurd. They also have a cooking/baking accessory kit for $89 + shipping that includes the tray. No thanks…I spent enough on this thing already. The tray arrived in a few days and is perfect – maybe worth $15. Customer service was very nice, however.

I did not want a dorky-looking top-load air fryer, so this conventional looking (basically) convection oven does the trick for me. I’ve had some splattering with the high temps and cleaning is a pain (when isn’t it?), but that’s on me, not the product nor its design.

Overall I’m very pleased. After all the nonsense and setup this thing works fast and well. I have only used some of the cooking modes but like what I’ve seen. There is a little learning curve and setup time, but it’s worth it in the end. The only reason I knocked off a star is the cumbersome control setup and the lack of a baking tray. They mentioned to me that there are variants that don’t include the grill/griddle but do include the baking tray, so pay attention to that. One other thing is that the print markings around the POWER button are already fading off after only two months of average (not daily) use. I paid around $149 on Amazon and it was worth every penny, especially compared to units that don’t heat as high or have the flexible settings/cooking modes/adjustable racks and a very pleasing overall appearance and a useful interior light.

First, I love that this does not heat my kitchen like my oven does. The preheat time is fast, and cooking time is also fast. I haven’t tried any of the programs. I started with a few of the included recipes, which I followed to the letter, then I started experimenting with those recipes to see how they work with other foods. The grilled asparagus recipe is an excellent one to start with. My asparagus came out wonderfully, but I found it is good to keep an eye on doneness until I understand how this oven works. After the asparagus, I tried salmon with the same method and it was perfect. As were the hamburgers and then meatloaf I tried next. I think one good point to this oven is that there is no one correct way to make anything. I really like the grill – it cooks quickly and efficiently. I suggest learning how to adjust the temp of the upper and lower elements – that is important if a food seems to be cooking too fast on top or on bottom. I have since baked cookies – they cooked in about 7 minutes per batch. French toast is amazing as was bread pudding. Get the hang of a few of the included recipes and then go from there.
I even made really good 5 minute a day artisan bread. I have a small vintage Descoware Dutch oven that fits into the Nuwave oven. I baked a small loaf in the Nuwave exactly as I would in my regular oven and the bread was excellent. And I didn’t overheat my house.
The oven isn’t complicated. I know there are an overwhelming number of ways to set it, and too many programs, and it all seems intimidating, but really, take the time to go over the instructions and understand what does what. I doubt I will ever use any of the programs – it is too easy to set it to bake, or roast, or airfry and then set time and temp, and maybe the top or bottom elements. I just check for doneness occasionally and it is so easy. That it will hold at very low temps is a real bonus to me. I like to make tempeh and finding anything that will hold a temp below 100 is amazing.
Also, it is not huge – I have a smaller home and this fits on my counter without overwhelming anything. But I still have a lot of room inside to do about anything I want to. It does get hot, but I don’t touch the top or sides when I use it and it doesn’t radiate a lot of heat into the space around it.
On the con side, I don’t think this is the best airfryer that I have ever had – my old Paula Dean airfryer beats this hands down. It’s okay, but I think its power is in replacing my huge oven for all those baking, roasting and toasting tasks. I also am not impressed with the rack that comes with it. I read reviews that said that rack is not really sturdy and I have to agree. With light foods it’s fine, but I had a casserole on that rack and the weight made the rack sag and it fell out of its slots on the side of the oven. The company I bought this oven from responded immediately to my request for a new rack (excellent customer service!!) but it did the same thing, so I have to say it is a design error. But this is not a deal breaker. This oven is too good, so I will always use the air fryer basket/rack for heavy things and the regular racks for light things. That’s just not a big deal.
I am somewhat a gourmet cook, and I am so pleased with what I can do with this oven. Just be patient with it. I now use it pretty much every day and I would recommend it.