The Breville Smart Oven and a Breville Microwave are both premium countertop appliances, but they cook food in fundamentally different ways. The Smart Oven uses convection and radiant heat to bake, roast, and toast, producing browned and crispy results, while a microwave uses microwave energy to quickly reheat and steam food, prioritizing speed over texture.
Here’s everything you need to know to choose the right Breville appliance for your kitchen.
Breville Smart Oven
The Breville Smart Oven is a high-performance countertop convection oven designed to be a versatile powerhouse in the kitchen. It uses an advanced Element IQ system to intelligently distribute heat where it's needed for precise cooking results. This appliance has become a favorite for those who want the functionality of a full-size oven - like baking, roasting, and broiling - in a more compact and energy-efficient package.
- What it is: A countertop convection oven that excels at baking, roasting, toasting, and reheating foods that benefit from a crispy, browned finish.
- Key features: Element IQ technology for precise heat control, multiple cooking functions (bake, roast, broil, toast, warm, pizza), a spacious interior that can fit a 13-inch pizza, and an intuitive digital display.
- Price: Typically $250 - $350.
- Dimensions: Approximately 20 x 16 x 11 inches.
- Materials/Construction: Durable stainless steel exterior, a double-paned glass door for insulation, and an easily cleanable non-stick interior.
- Style: Sleek brushed stainless steel with clean lines and a modern digital interface that fits seamlessly into contemporary kitchens.
- Pros: Extremely versatile, cooks food evenly with excellent browning and crisping, can replace a toaster and supplement a full-size oven, and is more energy-efficient for smaller meals.
- Cons: Slower cooking time compared to a microwave, takes up significant counter space, and has a higher initial cost.
This oven is for the home cook who values precision and versatility and wants to prepare high-quality baked and roasted meals without using their main oven.
Shop this product: breville.com/us/products/ovens/bov800xl.html
Breville Microwave
A Breville microwave focuses on delivering speed and convenience with advanced technology. Models often feature inverter technology for more consistent power delivery (eliminating the on-off cycling of traditional microwaves) and sensor cooking that automatically adjusts time and power levels. It is designed for the fast-paced kitchen where quickly reheating leftovers, defrosting ingredients, and steaming vegetables are daily tasks.
- What it is: A high-tech microwave designed for rapid and even heating, defrosting, and simple cooking tasks.
- Key features: Inverter technology for precise power control, sensor cooking and reheating, one-touch auto buttons, and a child safety lock.
- Price: Ranges from $150 to $250, depending on the model.
- Dimensions: Approximately 20 x 17 x 12 inches.
- Materials/Construction: Features a sleek stainless steel design that matches Breville's other appliances, with a durable interior cavity.
- Style: Follows Breville's modern, minimalist aesthetic with a clean digital control panel and a recognizable handsome look.
- Pros: Heats food incredibly fast, user-friendly with intuitive presets, generally more affordable, and is perfect for quick tasks like melting butter or reheating drinks.
- Cons: Incapable of browning or crisping food, limited cooking functionality, and can sometimes give food a rubbery or soggy texture.
This appliance is perfect for busy individuals and families who rely on an appliance for quick meal prep, defrosting, and reheating.
Shop this product: breville.com/us/products/microwaves/bmw735.html
Breville Smart Oven vs. Microwave Comparison
Cooking Method & Results
The most significant difference lies in how each appliance cooks. The Breville Smart Oven uses dry heat from heating elements, much like a conventional oven. A convection fan circulates that hot air, ensuring food cooks evenly and develops a browned, crispy exterior. This is ideal for roasting chicken, baking cookies, crisping up leftover pizza, or toasting bread.
A Breville microwave uses microwaves to vibrate water molecules in food, generating heat from the inside out. This method is incredibly fast but essentially steams the food. The result is quick heating without any change in exterior texture, which can lead to soggy crusts or rubbery meats if overdone. It excels at heating liquids, steaming vegetables, and reheating dishes where crispiness isn't a factor.
Versatility & Functions
The Breville Smart Oven is the clear winner in versatility. With dedicated functions for baking, roasting, broiling, toasting, and more, it can act as a toaster, a second oven, and even a dehydrator or air fryer in some models. It cooks a wide variety of meals from start to finish. The microwave is more of a specialist. Its main functions - reheating, defrosting, and power-level cooking - are all built around speed and convenience for specific tasks rather than creating a meal from scratch.
Dimensions & Footprint
Both appliances demand a dedicated spot on your countertop. The Breville Smart Oven is typically wider and requires a few inches of clearance around it for ventilation due to the exterior heat it generates. A Breville microwave is often deeper but may have a slightly smaller overall footprint. Before buying either, measure your counter space to ensure a proper fit, particularly noting the clearance needed for the Smart Oven.
Price & Value
The Smart Oven's higher price tag (around $250-$350) reflects its multifunctionality. If it allows you to replace a separate toaster and a small oven and you use it regularly for baking and roasting, it provides enormous value. The Breville microwave is more affordable (around $150-$250) and offers excellent value for what it does best: saving you time every day with near-instant reheating and defrosting.
Which One Should You Choose?
Both are high-quality appliances from Breville that excel in different areas, the right choice depends entirely on your cooking habits.
Choose the Breville Smart Oven if:
- You want to bake, roast, and broil small batches without heating up your large oven.
- Crispy and browned food texture is important to you (e.g., reheating pizza or french fries).
- You need an appliance that can also function as a high-end toaster.
- Versatility is more important to you than sheer speed.
Choose a Breville Microwave if:
- Your primary need is quickly reheating leftovers, soups, and beverages.
- You frequently defrost frozen meats and meals.
- Speed and simplicity are your top priorities in the kitchen.
- You already have a full-size oven and just need a reliable tool for quick heating tasks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the main difference between the Breville Smart Oven and a microwave?
The main difference is the heating method. The Smart Oven uses convection and radiant heat to cook food from the outside in, allowing for browning and crisping. A microwave uses microwaves to heat water molecules within the food, cooking it quickly but providing no browning.
Can the Breville Smart Oven act as a microwave?
No. While it can reheat food, it does so like a true oven. It's much slower than a microwave and will take several minutes to reheat a plate of food, but it can restore the original crispy or firm texture, unlike a microwave.
Which is more energy efficient?
It depends on the task. For quick jobs like melting butter or reheating coffee, a microwave is more efficient. For baking a small dish or roasting vegetables for 30 minutes, the Smart Oven is significantly more energy-efficient than using a full-size conventional oven.
Do I need both a Smart Oven and a microwave?
Many modern kitchens have both, as they perform very different functions. The microwave handles the ultra-fast "zap and go" tasks, while the Smart Oven serves as a versatile workhorse for actual cooking and better-quality reheating. If you can only choose one, pick the appliance that best matches your daily cooking habits.
Which is better for reheating pizza?
The Breville Smart Oven is far superior for reheating pizza. It will make the crust crispy and melt the cheese evenly, returning it to its original quality. A microwave will make the crust soggy and the cheese rubbery.
Is the Breville Smart Oven worth the money?
For those who frequently cook smaller meals and value performance and versatility, the Breville Smart Oven is widely considered worth its price. It often becomes the most-used appliance in the kitchen, replacing several other devices.
Which one is easier to clean?
Microwaves are generally easier to clean. Their sealed, box-like interior can be wiped down quickly. Toaster ovens like the Smart Oven have exposed heating elements and crumb trays that require a bit more effort to clean thoroughly.
Can I toast bread in a microwave?
No. Attempting to "toast" bread in a microwave will result in a soft, hot, and steamy piece of bread. Toasting requires the dry, radiant heat that only an appliance like the Breville Smart Oven can provide.
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