Now, for a device that can switch between steaming and baking to roasting and air/stir frying, the OneChef is reasonably sized, about the same size as a large pressure cooker – not too large, but not something you can tuck away out of sight either. The stylish and well-built OneChef ships with a cooking pot, an air-frying basket, an idli plate, a steaming basket and a heavy, transparent lid to keep an eye on the cooking without having to lift the lid. A recipe book is a handy inclusion for beginners. Plug the 1.8m cord into a 15A socket and you’re set.
Powered on, the OneChef uses Philips’ 360-degree AmbiHeat tech to perform a variety of cooking functions – air frying, stir frying, cooking curries, steaming/boiling and keeping cooked food warm. It circulates heat from all sides of the 6-litre pot simultaneously rather than from a fixed single element above or below, with constant adjustments to temperature based on what you’re cooking and the phase of the cooking process. Temperature and cooking time are controlled via the digital control panel, and there are presets for everyday dishes like rice, vegetables, fish/chicken and paneer, plus indulgences like cake, pizza and fries.
Running through its culinary portfolio, there are many things OneChef gets right on the first attempt. Idlis were soft and fluffy and evenly steamed, and other steamed items like momos, baos and banana leaf-wrapped Khao Tum turned out well. Next, one tried out chicken and paneer kebabs in the crisping baskets, although one had to fiddle around with temperature settings to get the cook just right. Daily staples like rice and dal were cooked well, although this did bring out one weakness – OneChef doesn’t pressure cook, so some dishes just take longer, particularly in the hands of someone who knows their way around a kitchen. The flipside is that curries and slow cooked gravies that need a lower flame while cooking fare better, plus there’s the benefit of being able to lift the lid, taste and adjust as you go along. Try doing that with a pressure cooker (no, seriously, don’t). Stir frying was easy as well.
Bear in mind, the cooking pot is suitably large for cooking dishes for a family of 3-4, and if there are just a few functions you want to perform, you will find dedicated alternatives that allow you to cook for more folks at one shot, with larger containers and multiple racks. Elsewhere, you’ll find pressure-first multicookers for faster, one-pot cooking. Or even steam air fryers ovens which steam and roast large quantities of food quicker. But few offer the sheer versatility of OneChef, and once you have calibrated your cooking style with OneChef, you’ll find that it effortlessly switches between a kadhai, a steamer and an air fryer, while still turning out a mean gravy. That’s quite a bit for a one-vessel appliance. One just wishes Philips had opted away from non-stick coatings for this device to earn itself an unqualified recommendation as a one-stop countertop appliance. Just don’t go getting rid of your good old gas stove – as good as OneChef gets, it’s still not going to cover every aspect of the wide spread of Indian cooking.
Rating: 8/10
Price: ₹19,995
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