When a retired pastry chef and restaurant owner chooses the oven for her Skoolie… which one does she choose?  Ha!  It took me a while and a stack of research, but here are the reasons I choose the Breville Smart Oven Air (not an affiliate link).

1. Since it will be the only oven in the Skoolie, it needs to be able to actually bake things.  In other words, it needs to be more than a toaster oven.  We had a glorified toaster oven in our first Tiny and it was good for many things but sometimes the limitations were vexing.  I read the product material and the reviews until I was confident that this oven could handle any baking challenge we are likely to throw at it.  Furthermore, after extensive testing, I now know that it cooks anything we like to eat (and then some) and we love it!
2. Size: It’s a small oven that is roughly the same size as the larger toaster ovens on the market.  It takes less space than a small size range, and since our Skoolie will have less than 130 sq ft of living space, that was important.  It still has enough space inside the oven to roast a 14 pound turkey, as long as the turkey is square.  LOL!  Just checking to see if you’re paying attention.
3. Power: It takes less power than a small range.  It may still require more power than a small solar power system can handle, however… it takes MUCH less power than a microwave!  So that’s a bonus.  And this will be great for those times and places where we are able to plug in an umbilical cord.
4. Features: This oven has some really fancy features!  The one that really caught my attention was the dehydrate function.  When we sold the restaurant, the new chef/owner wanted my Excalibur dehydrator and so I gave it to him.  I’m still kicking myself – can you tell?  I’ve missed having fresh yogurt, kale chips, and pineapple flowers (among other things).  Now FINALLY, I can do all of those things again – without an additional appliance in my home.  SCORE!
5. The air fry feature was a revelation!  We LOVED sweet potato crisps made in this oven, then drizzled with olive oil and sea salt!
6. Another perk is that it doesn’t overheat the kitchen when we use it in the summer!
7. Price: The Breville Smart Oven Air is $399 pretty much everywhere.  I checked.  This is not a cheap item but there are cheaper oven models in the product line.  Less bells and whistles = more affordable.  It is still a better value than buying a full size (or even a fun sized) range.  And we already have a induction cook top.

NOTICE: There is a lot included in the box with this oven, so wait to purchase bits and pieces until you’ve seen what comes with it.  I didn’t realize that and now I have an extra air fry basket that I don’t need.

Living tiny for a foodie doesn’t have to be a sacrifice!

I recently saw a Skoolie with an Excalibur Dehydrator, so I will also mention…

Having used both the Excalibur Dehydrator in our restaurant, and the Breville Smart Oven Air Dehydrator more recently, I am very happy to say that both are excellent!  I expected to find the Breville dehydrating function underwhelming because it was small.  However, the Breville really isn’t that much smaller than the Excalibur, and I prefer the door on the Breville.  I was able to make a lot of yogurt very comfortably in the Breville, and that was the feature of the Excalibur that I missed the most.  Knowing what I know now, having used both, I prefer the Breville because it has so many features without adding an extra piece of equipment to the kitchen.  What makes this deal even sweeter is that I can have all those features at my finger tips in a tiny house kitchen.  Now that’s brilliant!

The Breville Smart Oven Air =

The IDEAL Tiny House Kitchen Oven.