Proscenic T31 Air Fryer Oven review: A rotisserie revolution
The latest offering from Proscenic, the T31 is a highly capable oven-style air fryer with a range of rotisserie-focused accessories
Pros
- Large capacity
- Rotisserie accessories produce great results
- Viewing window and interior lighting
Cons
- Bulky design
- Lots of accessories to keep track of
After having put out two well-liked basket style air fryers, the T21 and T22, Proscenic has released its biggest and boldest model yet, the T31 Air Fryer Oven. As the name would suggest, the T31 largely functions like an auxiliary countertop oven, albeit one that can cook up crispy treats as efficiently and healthily as any basket-style air fryer.
Helping to set the T31 apart from the competition are its large size, with its 15L capacity being one of the biggest we’ve seen, and rotisserie functionality, which can cook a whole chicken in as little as 45 minutes.
Proscenic T31 Air fryer review: What do you get for the money?
Retailing at £179, the T31 skirts the bottom of the high end for air fryers in terms of price, though by dint of its capacity and exhaustive set of rotisserie accessories, it does offer some things that its more expensive rivals don’t have.
Plump for the T31 and, alongside the appliance itself, you’ll get a slotted crisping tray, a drip tray, a rotisserie fork, rotisserie cage, wheel of skewers and rotisserie tongs for retrieving them. The air fryer itself has a glossy plastic body, which feels solid and well put together. It opens via a clear hinged door on the front and the inside has three different tiers for slotting in trays and racks, as well as an opening for inserting the rotisserie accessories.
Above the door, you’ll find the T31’s digital control panel, which allows you to access the air fryer’s 12 presets. These are all fairly standard, with settings for classic meals such as chips, chicken, fish, vegetables and more. The panel also has controls for the air fryer’s preheating, rotisserie and keep warm functions, as well as its interior light. Just to the right of this is the main control knob, which allows you to adjust both time and cooking temperature manually.
Offering many of the same accessories and functions as the T31, the Tower Xpress Combo 10-in-1 (£140) is another worthwhile option to consider if you’re looking at oven-style air fryers. It’s a little smaller than the T31, with a capacity of 11L, but is also a good bit cheaper.
If you’re also open to basket-style fryers, we’ve tested some seriously impressive models in roughly the same price bracket, including the cleverly designed Instant Vortex Plus Dual Drawer (£200), whose twin baskets have clear viewing windows, and the self-stirring Tefal Actifry Genius+ (£220). Both of these will set you back a little more, but offer their own premium features, which you can read about in our reviews linked above.
Proscenic T31 Air fryer review: What’s good about it?
From the off, the T31’s familiar shape and simple controls make it a breeze to use. The digital control panel is sleek and responsive, with time and temperature easily adjusted, even midway through cooking. If you’re so inclined, you can also control your air fryer using the companion app. Though it took a few tries to get it synced correctly, with the app up and running I did find it somewhat handy to be able to check and adjust timings from my phone, though I mostly found myself using the controls on the device itself. The clear viewing door and interior light also make it handy to check how your food is getting on, allowing for easier adjustment and monitoring than with a basket-style model, which usually requires pausing the cooking cycle to open up the drawer and check on your food.
When it comes to cooking performance, the T31 really impressed. Using the slotted tray, I tested the standard air-frying mode with nuggets, hash browns and ready-made oven meals, all of which cooked quickly and thoroughly, with a fine crispy exterior. Using the rotisserie fork, I was able to cook a whole 1.2kg chicken at 205ºC in just 45 minutes and was delighted with the results. Underneath the well-browned and crispy skin, the chicken was fully cooked, while remaining brilliantly moist and flavourful throughout.
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One of the T31’s more interesting accessories is the rotisserie cage, which is designed to slowly rotate food for a more even finish, and is well suited to things such as vegetables, chicken wings and especially potatoes. In testing, it produced 450g of crispy chips in 20 minutes at 190ºC, without the need to parboil in advance or shake mid-way through. Better still, they only required one tablespoon of oil. The wheel of rotisserie skewers also impressed during testing. While perhaps the most fiddly of the three accessories to assemble, they proved a great way to make tasty meat and veg kebabs from my countertop – ideal if you don’t have access to a BBQ.
I also found the clean-up process for the T31 to be quick and straightforward. While the removable parts are dishwasher-safe, the trays are very easy to wash by hand due to their highly effective non-stick coating. Similarly, the non-stick coating on the inside of the oven itself, along with its large interior, meant it was simple to reach inside and wipe clean after use.
Proscenic T31 Air fryer review: What could be better?
While largely happy with the T31’s performance, abilities and accessories, I do have a couple of quibbles. First – and there’s no getting around it – this air fryer is large. While necessary for its commendable capacity and power, at 39 x 41 x 34cm (WDH), the T31 has a significant worktop footprint that makes it unsuitable for smaller kitchens. While its boxy shape helps it to slot in neatly next to other items and appliances, the carry handle on the back prevents it from sitting flush with the wall, making it a bit bothersome to find a decent spot for it.
While I enjoyed the novelty, variety and solid results the T31’s rotisserie fork, skewers and cage accessories provided, putting them together and manoeuvring them in and out of the oven was quite fiddly at times. Furthermore, with the number of accessories included, among them some easy-to-lose screws and other small components, finding a simple and secure way to store all these bits and bobs isn’t easy, especially if you’re not a tidy, organised person in the kitchen.
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Proscenic T31 Air fryer review: Should you buy it?
For those with sufficient countertop space, the Proscenic T31 should make a fine addition to your kitchen. Capacious, easy to clean and offering great cooking performance, the oven-style setup of this air fryer minimises hassle while producing consistent, tasty food. Though its price may put it in competition with some high-end air fryers, its rotisserie-focused set of accessories give the T31 a unique edge, allowing you to cook perfectly crispy chips, kebab skewers and even whole chickens with ease. If standard basket-style air fryers haven’t quite won you over, the T31 is well worth a spin.