TechRadar Verdict
The Dreo 6-Quart Air Fryer is a versatile kitchen appliance that can turn out crisp, crunchy fries and chicken wings. Simple to use, it sports a stylish design that incorporates a handy window with light through which you can keep an eye on your food while it’s cooking. Unfortunately, cooking with the appliance requires the use of more oil than rival air fryers, which may be an issue for those looking to make indulgent treats as healthy as possible.
Pros
- +
Produces crisp fries and chicken wings
- +
6.8-quart capacity
- +
Stylish design
Cons
- -
Uses more oil than most air fryers
- -
Lacks a ‘keep warm’ function
- -
Expensive
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One-minute review
Dreo may not be a familiar name in the kitchen appliance space, where brands such as Instant, Philips and Ninja dominate. However, it’s making an assault on the market by launching a couple of new convection cookers that it hopes can rival the best air fryers from more established brands.
The Dreo 6-Quart Air Fryer is a basket-style unit with a 6.8-quart capacity, which the company states should be sufficient for up to six people. As well as air fry, it can roast, broil, bake and dehydrate too.
In a style similar to the Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer L501, this air fryer features a glossy black top from which you can adjust the various cooking settings. Rather than physical buttons, it has touch controls that only illuminate when the air fryer is switched on, creating a more stylish-looking kitchen appliance than you’d expect.
The Dreo is also the only air fryer we’ve tested that includes a window on the top half of the appliance, with a light, which ensures you can keep an eye on your food while it’s cooking. There are six presets with pre-defined temperature and cooking durations for everything from fries and vegetables to poultry, seafood, bacon and even steak.
The Dreo also comes with a pre-heat function, and both the basket and the crisper plate can be cleaned in the dishwasher.
At $119.99, this is one of the more expensive air fryers on the market; but given the array of cooking methods it offers, we think it's ideal for anyone looking to create crisp, crunchy treats such as fries and chicken wings and plenty more as quickly as possible.
Dreo 6-Quart Air Fryer price and availability
- List price: $119.99
The Dreo 6-Quart Air Fryer is the brand’s top-of-the-range model, and will set you back $119.99. It’s available direct from Dreo or through Amazon. Currently, it isn’t available in the UK or Australia.
Dreo also offers a smaller 4-Quart Air Fryer that has a circular design without a window for $89.99.
Design
- 6.8-quart capacity
- Touch control panel on top
- Six presets
The Dreo 6-Quart Air Fryer is a sleek matte-black kitchen appliance with an angular design. Measuring 14.9 x 12.4 x 13.6 (h x w x d), it isn’t the most compact basket-style air fryer we’ve tested, and a weight of 12lb means it isn’t an appliance you’ll feel comfortable regularly moving from the countertop into a cupboard.
As we’ve already mentioned, it apes the design we first saw on the Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer L50, with a touch control panel located on its glossy top. The basket has a button on the handle, which must be pressed before it can be removed from the air fryer, to stop any accidents. Both the basket itself and the crisper plate are dishwasher-safe, which makes for easy cleaning.
The Dreo has a 6.8-quart capacity, which the brand says is enough for up to six people. It can cook for up to one hour at a time, and reaches a maximum temperature of 450ºF.
It’s possible to manually set the temperature and cooking duration, or you can choose one of six presets that have defined times and temperatures. The Dreo also offers five cooking functions – air frying, roasting, baking, broiling and dehydrating – along with a pre-heat setting.
A recipe book with more than 100 dishes is included in the box.
Performance
- Crisp homemade fries and chicken wings
- Uses more oil than other air fryers
- Manual re-heat required
The Dreo 6-Quart Air Fryer turned our crisp, crunchy fries and chicken wings during our time with it. Although, in the case of homemade fries, this was down to the quantity of oil that Dreo recommends you use.
The recipe book included with the air fryer suggested the use of 2tbsp of oil for two large potatoes, which create a 1.1lb batch of fries. At the recommended temperature of 380ºF, we had a basket of homemade fries in 22 minutes. They were crisp and evenly browned on the outside with soft, fluffy potato on the inside.
Our experience was similar when cooking chicken wings. However, while most air fryers can cook these to perfection as a result of the fat in the skin, the Dreo again recommended the use of 2tbsp of oil for six chicken wings. We were served up evenly browned chicken wings, with crisp skin and succulent meat on the inside – but with a higher calorie count than if cooked in other air fryers.
Thankfully, frozen steak-cut fries didn’t require any additional oil – and, once again, following the suggested cooking temperatures and times resulted in a super-crunchy, evenly browned exterior, while the potato inside remained soft and fluffy.
It’s worth noting that Dreo recommends pre-heating the air fryer – although, unlike the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer, this doesn’t happen automatically. As such, you’ll need to activate the preset first, adding food items once this is complete.
During cooking, the air fryer registered 59.4db for noise on our decibel meter, which is the same level as the gentle hum of a refrigerator.
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First reviewed: January 2022
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