Breville and ChefSteps (which was acquired by Breville a couple years ago) recently released the Joule Oven, which is a Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro with integrated software control via a smartphone app. There's not a ton of information on what exactly it can do online, but the app is a free download and you can browse the recipes on there even if you don't have an oven. This is very interesting, but it seems that the oven isn't programmable by the end user and that you're locked into using the ChefSteps recipes if you want to do put a cook on "autopilot" (where there are several programmable stages). This is in contrast to something like the APO which allows users to program their own recipes. The Joule Oven is $499 (or $549 for their black stainless version, which looks cool but would probably be less easy to clean in the long run). This is a $100 premium over the normal price of the SOAFP, which happens to be $50 off right now at $349. I wonder if having a smartphone controllable version of the SOAFP is worth a $150 premium. If it's not programmable, I'm sort of dubious. If it is worth the premium, I hope they make some more in-depth marketing videos that explain what it's capable of.
The CS promo video:
I've wanted a new countertop oven for many years but have held off. I am attracted to the APO, but it is huge and doesn't make decent toast. I've thought about getting the APO and a Breville Bitmore toaster (well reviewed online) but having one giant thing and a toaster on my counter would cramp things. The combo would also cost $700. The normal SOAFP, by contrast, is smaller and makes decent toast -- at least in the middle. It seems there are some colder zones on the sides of the oven that don't toast as evenly. It does lack steam, which kind of bums me out. Actually, what bums me out is that the Joule Oven lacks steam. In my imagination, a Joule Oven is a countertop combi. (Your imagination may vary.) But I already have a few circulators, so the sous vide mode wouldn't be that interesting... and I don't bake bread, so getting improved oven spring isn't a top priority for my usage. Which makes me wonder if paying twice as much for the giant APO and a toaster is worth it when I can just get a non-smartphone-ified SOAFP for $350 and (probably) be very happy with it.
