Proscenic T22 air fryer
One-minute review
Proscenic is a Chinese brand that first made its assault on the home appliance market with a range of cordless vacuum cleaners and robot vacuums. However, last year it launched its first air fryer, the T21. That unit turned out crisp fries and even offered smart capabilities, which meant it could be controlled from an app.
Now the brand is back with the imaginatively named Proscenic T22 air fryer. Like other such appliances, the air fryer uses hot air to cook everything from fries to chicken wings, although Proscenic has made improvements to hot air circulation. As such, where it was claimed the T21 used 80% less oil over deep frying, with the new model this figure rises to 90%.
The Proscenic T22 also sports a new, sleeker design, and some additional presets mean it’s more versatile, since it can be used to cook vegetables and onion rings, in addition to the food items you’d expect it to handle such as fries, wings, bacon, and shrimp. This air fryer can bake, roast and grill, too, and Proscenic claims it’s quieter in use than the T21. However, the capacity is slightly reduced at 5 litres.
Like the T21, the T22 offers Wi-Fi connectivity, meaning it can be switched on or off remotely, with the temperature, cooking time, and any preset adjustable through the app. You can even schedule a turn-on time (although, of course, you’ll need to have left the food in the cooking basket ready to go). On enabling the Alexa or Google Assistant skill, you can even use your voice to control the Proscenic air fryer.
On test, we found the T22 performed well for browning foods, but with wings and homemade fries, it failed to create the crisp, crunchy exterior desired. At £129, it’s the brand's most expensive air fryer, but it’s worth considering for the smart features it offers.
Proscenic T22 Air Fryer price and availability
- RRP: £129.99
The Proscenic T22 is priced at £129.99 and is available in the UK, either direct from Proscenic or through Amazon. Currently, it isn’t available in the US or Australia.
As mentioned, this appliance is the successor to the Proscenic T21. That model can be had for $119.95 / £119.99 / AU$269, and is available worldwide through Amazon and Proscenic’s own website in the US and UK.
Design
- 5-litre capacity
- Wi-Fi for remote control from your smartphone or via Alexa
- Temperature set in five-degree increments
The Proscenic T22 is a more compact and streamlined air fryer over the T21. Measuring 36.1 x 27.1 x 30.6cm (h x w x d), it takes up a relatively small amount of space on a kitchen countertop. The touch controls have been moved from the front to the top of the kitchen gadget for a sleeker look. With a capacity of 5 litres, it holds slightly less food than the T21 – but it was easily able to accommodate the usual quantity of fries and chicken wings we use for testing air fryers.
The Proscenic T22 can air fry, roast, bake and grill. There are 11 presets to cook fries, chicken, steak, shrimp, fish, onion rings, pizza, bacon, cake, toast, and vegetables; however, you can manually adjust the cooking temperature in five-degree increments, and the duration in one-minute increments, too. Cooking temperature ranges from 70ºC to 205ºC for up to 60 minutes.
A keep-warm function maintains a temperature of 70ºC for up to 60 minutes, while the preheat function lasts for between three and five minutes, depending upon the cooking temperature selected.
The air fryer basket sports a slightly squared design and comes with a crisper plate on which food items sit. Both the basket and plate are dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. Note that there’s a handy safety button on the handle of the basket, which must be pressed before the basket can be removed from the air fryer.
As mentioned, the air fryer supports Wi-Fi connectivity and works with an app to offer remote control. There’s a plethora of recipes in the app, as well as a conventional recipe booklet in the box. However, if you’re looking for cooking charts and guides, you’ll be disappointed, none are included. This means you’ll likely have to experiment to find the best temperature and cooking times, especially when it comes to frozen foods, to ensure items are cooked to your liking.
Performance
- Evenly browned results
- Struggled to crisp chicken wings
- Keep warm function
For browning food, the Proscenic T22 did a good job. We started by cooking a 450g batch of frozen steak cut fries in the air fryer.
Since there’s no dedicated frozen food program, we used the ‘fries’ pre-set, which sets a default temperature of 195ºC and a pre-defined cooking duration of 20 minutes. After this time, we found that while many of the fries were brown and crisp, some were still pale and raw inside. So, we added a further two minutes. That was long enough to create results we were happy with. However, the T22 wasn’t quite as fast to get to that point as some rival air fryers on the market.
Bear in mind that this air fryer doesn’t have an automatic preheat function. Instead, once you’ve selected the desired cooking program, you need to add the desired pre-heat duration. The manual offers some recommendations based on the temperature selected.
The T22 does have a ‘chicken’ preset, which we used to cook chicken wings. This recommends a temperature of 195ºC, with the default cooking duration of 25 minutes. Based on our previous experience of reviewing air fryers, we considered this time to be too long. As such, we reduced the cooking time to 15 minutes and set the air fryer to preheat for five minutes, as per the manual’s recommendations. We also followed the advice to liberally coat the wings in spray oil.
Once the cooking time had passed, the wings were evenly brown but the skin wasn’t crisp. So, we added a further five minutes to the cooking time. The skin still hadn’t crisped once that time had elapsed, and the meat had gone past juicy and succulent and was starting to become dry and tough.
Finally, we cooked a 450g batch of homemade french fries. After consulting the manual, we soaked and drained the potato batons, before drying and tossing them in 1tbsp of oil. We cooked them for 20 minutes at 195ºC. The resulting fries were evenly browned and cooked through, although some weren’t as crisp as we’d have hoped.
We were impressed that the air fryer has a built-in reminder to shake the basket’s contents part way through cooking, to ensure every inch of the surface can be reached by the hot air. This comes by way of an audible and visual alert on the air fryer itself, as well as a notification through the app.
It’s possible to keep any dish cooked in the air fryer warm for up to two hours once cooking is complete. Do be aware that the front of the frying basket reached 33ºC during cooking, so we’d advise using this kitchen appliance in an area with plenty of space, to avoid accidental contact during use.
Like most air fryers, the T22 does make some noise during cooking, measuring in at 55db on our decibel meter. This is similar to the gentle hum of a refrigerator; and while it isn’t as low as the 48dB Proscenic claims, it is quieter than the T21 in use.
The app was simple to use and allowed us to remotely select a cooking program and tweak the temperature and time, before starting cooking remotely – even when we weren’t close by. We were also able to schedule the air fryer to start cooking for up to three hours and 59 minutes later, although the food does need to be in the frying basket ready to be cooked. The Proscenic T22 also supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for voice control.
Should I buy the Proscenic T22 Air Fryer?
Buy it if...
You want Wi-Fi connectivity
The ability to connect the air fryer to your home Wi-Fi network and control it via your smartphone will be a welcome feature for some. The Proscenic T22 is one of very few air fryers to offer such support.
You cook a variety of foods
With 11 presets for everything from fries and chicken to shrimp, bacon, and even toast and vegetables, each with its own predefined temperature and cooking duration, the T22 is ideal for those who cook an array of foods in an air fryer.
You need a reminder to shake
Shaking or turning food part way through cooking is important when air frying to achieve even results. If you’re looking for an air fryer that offers a reminder, then this fits the bill.
Don't buy it if...
You cook a lot of frozen food
With no dedicated preset, you'll find cooking frozen foods in this air fryer requires a degree of experimentation. If you’re not comfortable with that, then the T22 may not be for you.
You’re on a budget
At £129.99, this is one of the more expensive air fryers we’ve tested. If you’re on a tight budget, consider more affordable brands such as Tower.
You want versatility
The Proscenic T22 can roast, bake, grill, and air fry, but similarly priced rivals from Instant and Ninja can dehydrate and reheat food, too. If you’re looking for a kitchen appliance that offers multiple uses, there are better options available.
First reviewed: January 2022
- Check out more great air fryer deals
0 comments:
Post a Comment