[0 - 1] - Hi, this is Lisa McManus
[1 - 3] from America's Test Kitchen Gear Heads,
[3 - 4] and I'd like to answer some
[4 - 6] of the great questions that you left at the bottom
[6 - 9] of our best gear of 2021 video.
[10 - 12] First someone asked about the smart oven
[12 - 15] and the June smart oven was one of the products
[15 - 18] I talked about. They want to know how easy it is to clean
[18 - 21] especially if you have splattered bacon
[21 - 26] or other food on the walls of the inside of the oven. Juneoven.com
[26 - 29] has its own cleaning video on that site.
[29 - 32] You can look it up and you can watch the whole thing.
[32 - 34] It breaks it all down for you step by step
[34 - 36] and it's very easy to follow.
[36 - 39] Basically, you're going to use easy off oven cleaner.
[39 - 42] So they actually have you put masking tape over
[42 - 45] the little port for the temperature probe
[45 - 47] and don't spray it on the heating elements.
[47 - 49] And you warm the oven a little bit.
[49 - 51] There's sort of a little process that works right off
[51 - 53] of the controls on the oven itself.
[53 - 55] You spray it, you wait 10 minutes, you wipe it off,
[55 - 58] you spray it with water, you wipe that off.
[58 - 60] And then the oven blow dries itself
[60 - 63] which is I think hilarious, but it's great.
[63 - 65] So that's it, that's it, basically.
[65 - 66] It doesn't get that dirty.
[66 - 68] You wipe it down after you use if you do anything
[68 - 70] really grubby in there, but it, you know,
[70 - 72] over time a little bit of grease does accumulate
[72 - 74] and brown on the walls and this,
[75 - 78] easy off and a few steps it will watch you right through
[78 - 80] and the cleaning program will help you clean it.
[80 - 83] It does not have a self-cleaning function
[83 - 85] but it's not that bad.
[85 - 89] Okay, someone else asks about the,
[89 - 92] comparing the Breville air fryer toaster oven
[92 - 95] to the June smart oven, which also does air fry.
[96 - 99] I'd say they're very similar in that they both are,
[99 - 101] you know countertop ovens. They have air frying capability.
[101 - 103] They have toaster oven capability,
[103 - 106] which means you could use 'em like a small oven.
[106 - 109] The difference is that this oven, the June oven,
[109 - 112] has programs in it that make it,
[112 - 117] and has features in it that basically help it help you.
[117 - 120] So, for instance, you saw me cooking shrimp.
[120 - 123] I don't need to know what the internal temperature
[123 - 125] for shrimp is.
[125 - 126] I don't need to be able to think,
[126 - 128] well gee what size are my shrimp,
[128 - 130] shrimp compared to this recipe.
[130 - 133] I would put the probe in, put it in the oven
[133 - 136] and you know, the nice part it says is air shrimp
[136 - 139] and you go yeah, and you hit a little button and it goes.
[139 - 142] And it knows what temperature shrimp should be cooked to.
[142 - 146] They did a really a job of, of setting it properly.
[146 - 147] A lot of times when there's presets
[147 - 149] we go crazy because they're wrong.
[149 - 151] They have you overcooking food or whatever.
[151 - 154] The June is very well programmed to cook food
[154 - 156] to the desired temperature.
[156 - 158] And I don't even, to this day,
[158 - 159] I've cooked a ton of shrimp in there.
[159 - 161] I have no idea what the actual temperature,
[161 - 163] I have to go look it up on our website,
[163 - 165] but for shrimp.
[165 - 167] I know steak and salmon
[167 - 169] and chicken and pork, but for some reason,
[169 - 170] shrimp I don't know.
[170 - 171] And then I don't have to think,
[171 - 174] well gee are my shrimp considered medium or large?
[174 - 177] You put that temperature probe in, it cooks that shrimp
[177 - 179] to the ideal shrimp temperature.
[179 - 182] It cooks very evenly across the surface
[182 - 183] and then all the shrimp is done.
[183 - 186] So that kind of hands off,
[186 - 189] you know a lot of the knowledge and the, the worry
[189 - 194] is taken out of your hands with a smart oven, like the June.
[194 - 196] And you can also, you know, put it on and go work
[196 - 199] in the other room and check on it from your phone.
[199 - 202] And it will remind you that it's gonna be ready
[202 - 204] in a couple minutes and then again when it is ready.
[204 - 207] And then it'll ask you do you want to keep cooking?
[207 - 209] Or are you finished?
[210 - 213] And you know, if you change something about the program
[213 - 216] it says do you wanna save the longer time for next time?
[216 - 218] So, you know, even when you're toasting a bagel,
[218 - 221] if you like it a little darker than the medium setting,
[221 - 222] it automatically comes up with,
[222 - 225] it'll say do you wanna save that adjusted time?
[225 - 227] And so you don't have to. If you're doing the same kind
[227 - 229] of bagel tomorrow, you don't have to adjust it again.
[229 - 230] You don't have to worry about it.
[230 - 231] You don't have to watch it.
[231 - 235] You know, the, the Breville air fryer smart oven,
[235 - 237] it's called the smart oven but it isn't actually smart
[237 - 239] in that it just, you know, doesn't have the,
[239 - 242] the software built into it that the June does.
[242 - 245] That takes a lot of those thoughts about is stuff done
[247 - 250] out of the worry. There's no, there's no temperature probe
[250 - 252] in the Breville oven.
[252 - 254] So that's kind of how it compares.
[254 - 256] I have done air frying in the June.
[256 - 261] I did our recipes, so good, for potatoes with cod and lemon
[261 - 263] and, it's beautiful, came up perfectly.
[263 - 266] So, you know, it really can air fry
[266 - 269] just like that air fryer toaster oven can,
[269 - 272] but it does so much more beyond what a toaster oven
[272 - 274] air fryer can do.
[274 - 278] And you know, take a look at the June oven website
[278 - 280] and it will break it all down for you. They do a nice job.
[281 - 282] They also have a ton of built-in recipes
[282 - 284] that guide you through step by step.
[284 - 287] So, I have made all kinds of things off of their website
[287 - 290] which are quite good, and I've also gone completely manual
[290 - 293] and done my own recipes or ATK recipes.
[294 - 298] It's very very simple to just let it do its thing
[298 - 301] and you can do yours and you feel safe with it
[301 - 303] because it actually does a decent job on all the things
[303 - 305] that it sets out to do,
[305 - 307] which is not always the case with products.
[307 - 309] That's why we like it.
[309 - 310] Hope that answered the question,
[310 - 311] it's kind of a long way about it.
[312 - 316] Someone asked, what's ATK's brown rice brand recommendation?
[316 - 318] Yes. Well, our favorite brown rice,
[318 - 320] we did a tasting a couple years ago.
[320 - 324] Our favorite is Lundberg organic brown long grain rice.
[324 - 326] That was our favorite.
[326 - 329] At second place was Riceland extra long grain
[329 - 331] natural brown rice.
[331 - 336] One thing to know is that a lot of times brown rice
[336 - 339] directions on the package are not very good
[339 - 341] and they have you add too much water and,
[341 - 342] and brown rice is kind of notoriously
[342 - 345] a little bit difficult to cook.
[345 - 348] I think I, in the video I talked about Zojirushi rice,
[348 - 351] rice cooker, and I, you know throw brown rice in there
[351 - 353] all the time and it makes it perfectly.
[353 - 356] So, I really like that aspect of it.
[356 - 359] Someone was asking about the grill press I was using
[359 - 360] on the grill pan.
[361 - 364] That one happened to be my own one,
[364 - 367] some kind of no name brand I got as a gift a long time ago,
[367 - 372] but we have, I actually used in the past our,
[372 - 375] during the testing of grill pans, I used our favorite,
[375 - 379] which is by Lodge's, rectangular grill press.
[379 - 380] And the model number is LGP3.
[382 - 383] I like that one better than mine.
[383 - 386] It's a little heavier, which you know, it really helps
[386 - 388] keep it on the food, keep it stable,
[388 - 389] help you press down food.
[389 - 392] So when you're doing panini or anything else
[392 - 395] where you're gonna use the press, it really does a nice job.
[395 - 397] I actually like our winner better
[397 - 399] but because I'm a cheapskate and I have one
[399 - 401] that kinda works, I've been sticking with it.
[401 - 404] As you saw, it works fine but I prefer the one
[404 - 407] that we actually tested and and it won.
[408 - 410] So. Never thought I would need a rice cooker,
[410 - 413] have lived with some, I have lived with having
[413 - 415] some burnt rice, but what would convert me
[415 - 417] is if it can cook couscous. Can it?
[420 - 424] Actually, the Zojirushi is not designed to cook couscous,
[424 - 426] but as you know I was looking at couscous
[426 - 428] and a lot of it, it cooks in like nine or 10 minutes
[428 - 430] on the stove.
[430 - 434] I think that it's a kind of a too short cycle for the,
[434 - 435] for the rice cooker.
[435 - 438] I don't know. I mean, I could try it. I have not tried that.
[438 - 441] It does have settings for, you know oatmeal
[441 - 446] and all kinds of rice, brown and white and different.
[446 - 447] And you know, because it's Japanese
[447 - 450] there's a lot of very different, specific kinds of rice
[450 - 454] like sweet rices and, you know, rinse free rices
[454 - 456] and all kinds of things that it has settings for.
[458 - 460] So it's, it's, you know, terrific at all of that.
[460 - 462] It doesn't have a couscous setting.
[463 - 464] I have not tried it.
[464 - 466] I'm just a little concerned because couscous really
[466 - 469] only takes about 10 minutes to cook and I think it would,
[470 - 472] you know, maybe try to cook it too long
[472 - 474] thinking it was rice.
[474 - 476] So I'm sorry. I don't think it does to do couscous
[476 - 479] but I think you would like it as a rice cooker.
[479 - 482] So, thanks again for all those great questions.
[482 - 483] We always appreciate it.
[483 - 488] Well, we'll see you next time on Gear Heads. (upbeat music)